Naver is the name of the skin (bark) of birch.
It is pronounced similar to the English word "never". It is spelled with
an "a" with two dots
on top of it.
This is actually an "a" and an "e", put together.
A letter only found in Swedish language.
The most common horns
have been made from wood and wrapped in birch skin.
Horns made only from birch skin have been used mainly as "emergency" horns.
The wooden horns have been much more durable.
The horn is one of the oldest instruments known in Scandinavia.
There are finds of bronze horns and also stone-carved pictures
(hällristningar) dated back to
4 000 BC.
These horns carry ornaments and that resemble the wooden horns, and some
of the bronze horns
carry fragments of birch skin.
There are no finds of wooden horns from that time, possibly due to
wood's
habit of quick
decay.
The oldest finds of wooden horns date back to the Viking era around 900
AD.
The wooden horns have had an important role as a communication device over
big distances.
Both in the forest and mountains during animal herding and by the sea.
It has also often been used, by the night watch, in cities and towns.
In some small towns in southern Sweden they still use horns from the city
tower as an
attraction.
