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Lokk (herding calls)

Lokk is singing or calling to barnyard animals to beckon them home to be milked or fed. This type of singing can range from improvised melodies to elaborate calls that are sung the same way each time and are preserved by being handed down from singer to singer.

Lokk is a tradition with deep roots that is strongly connected to life on the mountain summer dairy farms, called seter or støl. As the old dairying methods faded away and along with them an entire way of life, the lokk tradition fell into disuse. Today it is being preserved by dedicated traditional singers. Another related style of singing, called laling or huving, was used to communicate between people over long distances.
 


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