Norse-archery-msg - 4/6/01 Norse and Viking archery. Norse longbows. NOTE: See also the files: Norse-msg, Norse-food-art, books-Norse-msg, Norse-crafts-bib, amber-buying-art, Norse-games-art, archery-msg, bow-making-msg, arrows-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:42:04 MST From: "C. L. Ward" Subject: Re: Viking bow plans To: gll at inreach.com CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" Michael Lykinsg wrote: > I am looking for plans for viking period bow. Thank you. > Michael Lykins gll at inreach.com The Vikings used longbows. The bow was used both for hunting meat and for hunting men. Saxo Grammaticus described the Norwegians as "famous bowmen." Icelanders, on the other hand, apparently did not use the bow much at all. Longbows were probably the most common type of bow, but one find has turned up a composite bow from Norway strengthened with iron bands. Like other weapons, bows could be ornamented, and examples are known of bows with engraved runes, and others with carved knotwork designs.=20 There are a wide variety of Viking Age arrow head types, some for fowling, deer hunting, warfare, and other specialized uses. Arrow heads were typically iron, and could be tanged or socketed. The typical arrowhead was leaf-shaped, but arrow heads could be barbed (kr=F3kr), blunt, or even trefoil in cross section, sporting three cutting blades. The typical quiver was cylindrical, worn on a baldric and hung at the hip. These were fairly large quivers, and examples have been found holding up to 45 arrows. Arrowheads are one of the most common weapons finds in men's graves, and are often found in women's graves as well. Though I don't have time to go dig up all my sources documenting the use of bows in the Viking Age, there is a famous anecdote about a warrior standing on deck with his king during a sea battle. He is struck in the chest by an arrow, and when he pulls it out he says, "See how well the king keeps his men! There is fat by my heart!" right before he dies. Another famous tale is that of the man who made the fatal mistake of slapping his wife. Later, when his enemies have cornered him in his home, he is able to hold the attackers off by means of his superlative marksmanship. That is, until his bowstring broke. He then cried to his wife to plait him a new bowstring of her hair, but she refuses, bidding him to remember that last slap he gave her. There is also a theme of magical archery found in association with accounts of seir, where wizards are seen to be able to shoot multiple arrows at one time, often from their bare fingertips. They never run out of arrows, or the arrows return to the sender to be used again, and often the magical archer of this type cannot miss his mark. Some sources that mention Viking archery and archery equipment include: Peter G. Foote and David M. Wilson, The Viking Achievement. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1970. pp. 181, 278 Johannes Brndsted, The Vikings. New York: Penguin. 1960, 1965. pp. 123. cc: Lord Stefan li Rous ::GUNNORA:: The Viking Answer Lady To: Norsefolk at yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 03:44:38 -0000 From: baronboar at yahoo.com Subject: Viking bows I don't believe you can characterize Viking bows into any one type. Yes, some have been found that are similar to the English longbow (without the horn string nocks), but there were others that were of different design. I don't believe there was a standardization of type in the Viking Age, as occurred later in England, as evidenced by the bows found on the Mary Rose. There may have been local styles, or even some widely accepted styles, but different types coexisted. Some of the first bows found in Scandinavia were with the Nydam ship. These bows were pictured in "The Viking Age" by DuChaillu in 1889. Though no cross sections are shown, the two bows illustrated on page 228 appear to have a round cross-section. Using the scale on the plate to determine the length, they were around six feet long. The Nydam ship has recently been dated by dendrochronology to 310 - 320 AD. - obviously before the Viking Age. However, they show characteristics that are also found on Viking age bows. One such characteristic is the nail in one end of the bow to keep the string from sliding down the bow when it is unstrung. These same two bows and another bow are also described in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society for 1963, New Series, vol. XXIX, Clark, J. G.D., ed. The third bow illustrated has a roughly D-shaped crossection. The Ballinderry bow was found in Ireland, and dates to the 10th Century. It is believed to be Norse because of the related items found in the dwelling. It is described in great detail in "The Bow: Some Notes on its Origin and Development", by Gad Rausing. It was 73 inches long with a D-shaped cross section in the middle, which became more oval toward the ends. More recent work on the subject of bows in Scandinavia can be found in "Bue Og Pil Fra Danmarks Sten-, Bronze- og Jernalder" (Bows and Arrows from the Stoneage, Bronzeage and Ironage in Danmark), by Dan Hoj. He illustrates many scandinavian bows and arrows. I do not have a copy of his book, only a few pages that the author sent me. It looks to be an excellent book. It is in Danish, but the author is attempting to find a publisher to translate the book into English. I have ordering information if anyone is interested. The most recent (1999) work on Viking bows is "Pfeil und Bogen in Haithabu" (Arrows and Bows in Hedeby) in "Das Archaologische Fundmaterial VI". This is in German and is difficult to obtain. It took me over a year to find a copy. There are only two copies in the US to my knowledge. It has both photographs and line drawings of the bows found in Hedeby. They are around 6' long (one measured 75 inches - 191 cm) and have various cross sections. They do not necessarily have the same type of crossection throughout the length of the bow. The most interesting aspect of these bows is that they have the last few inches of the bow bent backward toward the archer (Dan Hoj has informed me this is accomplished by immersing the tip in boiling water)! The string is attached below this bend. On the top of the bow, there is only one notch cut in the side of the bow. On many of the bows there is a nail a few inches below the notch to catch the string when the bow is unstrung. There is no notch on the other limb of the bow. The string was apparently tied in place so that the majority of the knotwork was on the backward bending part of the limb, with the string attached just at the bend. These bows appear to be roughly circular in crossection. Some that had a D- shaped crossection became more oval near the ends of the limbs. That this bow design was somewhat widespread is evidenced by an illumination on an English manuscript from the eleventh century that shows a similarily shaped bow. This publication also has photographs and descriptions of reproduction bows and arrows and their performance. Arrows and arrow points are illustrated in most of these books. Du Chaillu states that the arrows from the Nydam ship were four fetched. The reproduction arrows found in "Pfeil und Bogen in Haithabu" are three fletch. As to quivers, DuChaillu describes and illustrates a wooden quiver, roughly circular in crossection. A leather quiver (actually parts of at lest two different quvers) is described in "Die Lederfunde von Haithabu" and a drawing shows how the quiver may have looked. I hope this has been of some interest and help. Ragnar To: Norsefolk at yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 03:44:38 -0000 From: baronboar at yahoo.com Subject: Viking bows I don't believe you can characterize Viking bows into any one type. Yes, some have been found that are similar to the English longbow (without the horn string nocks), but there were others that were of different design. I don't believe there was a standardization of type in the Viking Age, as occurred later in England, as evidenced by the bows found on the Mary Rose. There may have been local styles, or even some widely accepted styles, but different types coexisted. Some of the first bows found in Scandinavia were with the Nydam ship. These bows were pictured in "The Viking Age" by DuChaillu in 1889. Though no cross sections are shown, the two bows illustrated on page 228 appear to have a round cross-section. Using the scale on the plate to determine the length, they were around six feet long. The Nydam ship has recently been dated by dendrochronology to 310 - 320 AD. - obviously before the Viking Age. However, they show characteristics that are also found on Viking age bows. One such characteristic is the nail in one end of the bow to keep the string from sliding down the bow when it is unstrung. These same two bows and another bow are also described in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society for 1963, New Series, vol. XXIX, Clark, J. G.D., ed. The third bow illustrated has a roughly D-shaped crossection. The Ballinderry bow was found in Ireland, and dates to the 10th Century. It is believed to be Norse because of the related items found in the dwelling. It is described in great detail in "The Bow: Some Notes on its Origin and Development", by Gad Rausing. It was 73 inches long with a D-shaped cross section in the middle, which became more oval toward the ends. More recent work on the subject of bows in Scandinavia can be found in "Bue Og Pil Fra Danmarks Sten-, Bronze- og Jernalder" (Bows and Arrows from the Stoneage, Bronzeage and Ironage in Danmark), by Dan Hoj. He illustrates many scandinavian bows and arrows. I do not have a copy of his book, only a few pages that the author sent me. It looks to be an excellent book. It is in Danish, but the author is attempting to find a publisher to translate the book into English. I have ordering information if anyone is interested. The most recent (1999) work on Viking bows is "Pfeil und Bogen in Haithabu" (Arrows and Bows in Hedeby) in "Das Archaologische Fundmaterial VI". This is in German and is difficult to obtain. It took me over a year to find a copy. There are only two copies in the US to my knowledge. It has both photographs and line drawings of the bows found in Hedeby. They are around 6' long (one measured 75 inches - 191 cm) and have various cross sections. They do not necessarily have the same type of crossection throughout the length of the bow. The most interesting aspect of these bows is that they have the last few inches of the bow bent backward toward the archer (Dan Hoj has informed me this is accomplished by immersing the tip in boiling water)! The string is attached below this bend. On the top of the bow, there is only one notch cut in the side of the bow. On many of the bows there is a nail a few inches below the notch to catch the string when the bow is unstrung. There is no notch on the other limb of the bow. The string was apparently tied in place so that the majority of the knotwork was on the backward bending part of the limb, with the string attached just at the bend. These bows appear to be roughly circular in crossection. Some that had a D- shaped crossection became more oval near the ends of the limbs. That this bow design was somewhat widespread is evidenced by an illumination on an English manuscript from the eleventh century that shows a similarily shaped bow. This publication also has photographs and descriptions of reproduction bows and arrows and their performance. Arrows and arrow points are illustrated in most of these books. Du Chaillu states that the arrows from the Nydam ship were four fetched. The reproduction arrows found in "Pfeil und Bogen in Haithabu" are three fletch. As to quivers, DuChaillu describes and illustrates a wooden quiver, roughly circular in crossection. A leather quiver (actually parts of at lest two different quvers) is described in "Die Lederfunde von Haithabu" and a drawing shows how the quiver may have looked. I hope this has been of some interest and help. Ragnar Edited by Mark S. Harris Norse-archery-msg Page 5 of 5