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Pulk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pulk or ahkio pulled by a skier
A children's sledding area in the Swedish city of Visby. Here you can see the basic toy sled, as well as the saucer style one.

A pulk (from Sami languages: puhlke, via Finnish: pulkka; Swedish: pulka; Norwegian: pulk; Northern Sami: bulki) is a Nordic short, low-slung small sled used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog or a skier, or in Sápmi pulled by reindeer.[1] They are classically made out of wood and other natural materials but are nowadays made of plastic, which makes them inexpensive.

Pulks are originally meant to carry supplies such as a tent or food, or transport a child or other person. In Norway and Sweden, pulks are often used by parents to pull small children on skiing trips. In Finland and Sweden, pulks exist as a winter toy, mainly for children, for going downhill. Besides the classic toy pulk there are similar alternatives like "saucers" (pulks shaped like a disc), as well as sleighs of different configurations.

A larger pulk, designed for transporting larger amounts of goods, is called ahkio [ɑhkio] in Finnish. This word is also used by the US Army for a human-drawn snow sled.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Sámi and their reindeer – University of Texas at Austin
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