In the Sami-tradition was «Runebommen» a ritual instrument that the Shaman (naioaden) used to enter a trance-like state, in order to enable the soul to travel to other places and dimensions in order to retrieve information. Using the drum as an oracle that could give answers to where the reindeers should be moved, was usual. At that time, this tradition was seen as practicing religious heresy and was forbidden. Representatives of the church confiscated all the drums they came by, and the owners risked brutal treatment.

The drum on the picture has been given the name “Gunnerus-trommen”, is part of the NTNU University Museum’s collections and is today exhibited at the museum. The name comes from that it probably used to belong to Johan E. Gunnerus, one of the Royal society’s founders, who received a runebomme fram a priest in the North of Norway.

The shape of the drum and the pattern on the skin varied from district to district. But it was usual that the patterns on the drum depicted its owner and his family’s worldview. The oldest drum we know of, stems from the 1600s, but it still happens that old drums; hammers and other equipment reappear from hiding places such as cracks or gaps in the mountains. Text: NTNU University Museum in collaboration with Halldis Nergaard, Adresseavisa.