See Also: kobdas(encyclopedia)

kobdas (sh)




Drum used for inducing trances and for divination by Sami shamans.

It consisted of a wooden frame over which a reindeer hide was stretched; the hide was covered with designs representing spirits or deities. In divination, the drum was beaten with a hammer made of reindeer antler, causing a triangular piece of bone or metal called an arpa to move along its surface. From these movements the shaman divined the nature of an illness or learned the location of lost or stolen objects.