Arrows

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Arrow Heads
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Completion Rating
This article's completion rating is 2 out of 5. Article structure and content is subject to change as data is still being collected.
Viking Age Compendium articles on Archery:
VA Arrows.JPG
Arrows Overview
Viking Age Compendium articles on Archery:
VA Arrows.JPG
Arrows Overview

Arrows would have been made from suitable locally available materials. Although we have found thousands of arrow heads, we have very few finds of arrow shafts. Because of this paucity of evidence we are forced to look earlier in time to determine how arrows were constructed and here we consider evidence from the late Roman period to the end of the Viking Age.
There were a number of words in Old English for arrows: earh, arwe, flā, flān, wifel, strǣl, strǣle . [Manley 1985]:p.225

Arrow shafts

For a full list of finds please refer to Catalogue of Archery Evidence.

We have very few finds of arrow shafts. What we have found shows a diverse use of woods. The following woods have been found at:

Wood Found at
Birch Oppdal, Femund, Hedeby
Scots Pine Scar, Dublin
Yew Hedeby, Cork, Waterford
Willow Dublin
Ash Altdorf
Honeysuckle Altdorf
Hazel Altdorf

As well as the woods mentioned above, poplar, hornbeam, alder and elder could also have been used for making arrows during the Viking Age as we know that they were used in the medieval era for this purpose.
The shafts were made by one of two methods:

  • From small branches or saplings. Cut, straightened by steaming and then finally worked to shape.
  • From splitting and working down a block of wood (Scar). This is how most commercially available modern arrow shafts are made.

The maximum diameters were typically between 9mm to 10mm although most of the arrows were shaped. Typically the arrows were wider at the tip, thinning towards the nock and then with a bulging nock.
Lengths are typically 60-70cm long (Dublin, Scar) - shorter and wider than the earlier Nydam and Thorsberg arrows.

Arrow nocks

Most arrows would have been ‘self-nocked’, although the earlier simple flat-nock may sometimes have still been employed. In Hedeby we have a unique find of separate brass nocks that had been inserted into the ends of the arrow shafts.

  • Flat-nock. The simplest style but also the most dangerous. This can only be used on very low poundage bows. for crossbows
  • Self-nock. The most common form of nock, being quick and easy to make as well as much safer than using a flat-nocked arrow.
  • Brass nocks. These are very rare, having been found in only 2 locations. They are made from cast brass. These arrows were more likely to have been used for hunting rather than battle.[PEDERSEN 2014A]:p.96
  • Old Denmark, Hedeby. Boat grave with at least 9 arrows with inserted brass nocks. The grave was dated to <><> and is thought to have been that of a King, possibly <><>. [PEDERSEN 2014A]:p.96 [PEDERSEN 2014B]:p.104, 153 cat.372
  • Germany, Oldenburg. 2 brass nocks were found of similar form to those from Hedeby and dated to the C9th. [PEDERSEN 2014A]:p.96


The arrow shaft just below the nock was often bound with twine (sinew or hemp) to help stop the arrow shaft from splitting.

Flights

Taken from the pinion feathers of large birds such as geese, swans or eagles. [Paulsen 1999] Eagles (sea eagles more popular in Denmark) - Finish story?. Arrows from the Viking Age seen to use the traditional three feather style. They were probably cut long and low (Dublin arrow had fletching’s 12cm long).
Most were attached to the arrow shaft in ‘European’ style with a cock feather mounted at 90o to the cut of the nock and two other flights attached equidistantly around the arrow shaft.
Flights were attached straight, with no spiralling, and each of the 3 flights coming from the same wing side of the bird. So either all left-wing feathers or all right-wing feathers.

Flights were usually attached to the arrow shaft by twine although sometimes they were simply glued to the arrow shaft using a glue such as birch tar (Hedeby & Snohetta, Norway). The most common twine used seems to have been of sinew.

  • Sinew
  • Horse hair
  • Linen

The above image from Oppdal, Norway shows the typically tight bindings and the swollen nock typical of arrows from the Viking Age. The number of binds tends to vary between 16 and 64 spirals (Nydam).
The very limited evidence we have for flight shapes implies that flights were usually cut straight and not parabolic although it is impossible to state this with any certainty.

Attaching arrow heads

Socketed arrow heads

Tanged arrow heads

  • Sinew and tar
    • Femund, Norway, 800-1000AD, birch shaft with tanged head attached by lashing with tendon (sinew), then covered with birch bark. [ROESDAHL & WILSON 1992]:p.249 cat.88
  • Brass wire:
    • Hedeby. Paulsen mentions the use of brass wire to reinforce the tanged arrow heads at Hedeby. [PAULSEN 1999]

Decoration

Roman examples from Duro Europos show black and red paint on the nocks, [BISHOP & COULSTON 2006]:p.167-168. Similar painted nocks can also be seen on arrows found at Qasr Ibrim, Nahal Tse’elim as well as Asian arrows. [BROWN 2007 B] 36 arrows with red paint on their shafts where found in the late C5th grave at Högum, Medelpad, Sweden. [RAU 2007]:p.143
It is possible that the nocks of arrows in the Viking Age could also have been painted to assist in identification.

Arrow heads

For a full list of finds please refer to Catalogue of Archery Evidence.

Attachment

There are two main ways of attaching arrowheads, socketed or tanged. Generally the socketed type was more common in England and the tanged, more common in Scandinavia.

  • Socketed heads are glued onto the sharpened end of an arrow shaft
  • Tanged heads are inserted into a hole drilled into the end of the arrow shaft. The tangs themselves tend to be about 2cm long. To reinforce the head they were sometimes bound in twine such as sinew or were wrapped in birch bark stuck on with tar. At Hedeby and Birka some of the tanged arrow heads were bound on with brass wire.

Materials

Arrows were usually of iron but it is possible that bone or simple fire hardened tips may have also been used (Manley 1985 p.223).

Tip types

During the Viking Age 3 main shapes of arrowhead dominate

  • Leaf. There are the generic early form of arrow head that can be used both for hunting and for war. Numerous finds of these come from all of Regia’s periods.
  • Shouldered. Just like the leaf shaped heads, these are multi-purpose heads and were used throughout Regia’s period. Many arrowheads are not strictly either leaf or shouldered and were often something in-between.
  • Bodkin. These are used purely for war as they are less efficient at killing unarmed warriors or animals than the broad-bladed leaf or shouldered arrow heads. They were absent in Regia’s early periods and only start to appear from around AD 960 onwards. Very quickly becoming the dominant form from then on. Bodkin heads are designed to split open mail shirts and are used by archaeologists as an indicator as to the amount of volume of armoured warriors. Some bodkins could be quite long, with an extreme example being a 23cm long bodkin having been found from C13th Dublin).


There is no easy way to categorise broad-headed arrow heads into leaf-shaped or shouldered (angular) shapes. Many arrowheads do not easily fall into either category. [HALPIN 2008]:p.81-85. Leaf shaped and tanged very common in Scandinavia [OTTAWAY 1992]:p.711. Later C11th appears an abrupt change to socketed elongated tapering heads (bodkins). [OTTAWAY 1992]:p.714

As well as these common forms we have evidence for many other types of arrow heads:


Many of these are regional or period specific.

Tanged Arrows - leaf or shouldered

Usually a ‘leaf-shaped’ or lentoid blade usually with a diamond shaped cross-section.
The arrowhead is glued into a hole drilled in to the end of the arrow shaft by its tang. The end of the arrow shaft is then often reinforced with a sleeve of wood or bark, or by whipping linen or more rarely brass wire around the shaft. [HALPIN 2008]:p.66-70

Archaeology

  • York, England C9th – C11th [OTTAWAY 1992]:p.710 14 finds; length:102-155mm;width:10-21mm
  • Sonning, C10th/C11th [OTTAWAY 1992]:p.710 3 finds?
  • Walton, Bucks, England
  • Carlisle Cathedral, England
  • Norwich, England
  • Dublin, Ireland
  • Lagore Crannog, Ireland
  • Hedeby, Denmark
  • Ladby Ship, Denmark
  • Arhus, Denmark
  • Trelleborg, Denmark
  • Oppdalsfjella, Norway
  • Kaupang, Norway
  • Birka, Sweden
  • Loddekopinge, Sweden
  • Lund, Sweden


Socketed Arrows - shouldered or leaf

Usually a shouldered blade usually with a diamond shaped cross-section. The arrowhead is attached to the end of the arrow shaft by means of gluing the socket.
Art
--
Archaeology

  • Thetford, England [OTTAWAY 1992]:p.710 2 leaf shapped heads
  • Dublin, Ireland


Bodkin heads

Archaeology

  • Dublin, Ireland Late C10th/C11th [HALPIN 2008]:p.169 54% of heads
  • Trellborg, Denmark C11th [HALPIN 2008]:p.169 56% of the arrows
  • Staigard/Oldenburg, Germany C11th [HALPIN 2008]:p.169 majority of heads

Discussion
A range of sites across Northern Europe show comparable evidence for a shift towards bodkins in the second half of the C10th. It has been argued that this may reflect the emergence of the armoured and mounted aristocratic warriors. [HALPIN 2008]:p.169

Although the Roman’s had bodkin arrow heads they seem to have gone out of fashion in England until the C10th.

Notched blade

Archaeology

Discussion
For hunting birds such as woodcock or grouse. The notched blade prevents the arrow from glancing off the birds feathers. [ROESDAHL & WILSON 1992]:p.249 cat.88

References

Bishop, M. C., and Coulston, J.C.N. (2006) Roman Military Equipment. From the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome. Second Edition. [BISHOP & COULSTON 2006] ^ 1 2 *
Brown, Paul (2007) Romanarmy.net - Roman Arrows. [Accessed 2012] (Available Online) [BROWN 2007 B] ^ *
Halpin, Andrew (2008) Weapons and Warfare in Viking and Medieval Dublin. Medieval Dublin Excavations 1962-81: Ser.B Vol.09 [HALPIN 2008] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 *
Manley, John. “The Archer and the Army in the Late Saxon Period.” Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 4, 1985: 223 - 235. [Manley 1985] ^ *
Ottaway, Patrick (1992) Anglo-Scandinavian Ironwork from Coppergate. York Archaeological Trust: 17/06 [OTTAWAY 1992] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 *
Pedersen, Anne (2014) Dead Warriors in Living Memory. A study of weapon and equestrian burials in Viking-age Denmark, AD 800-1000. Publications from the National Museum. Studies in Archaeology & History Vol. 20:1 1 Jelling Series.. [PEDERSEN 2014A] ^ 1 2 3 *
Pedersen, Anne (2014) Dead Warriors in Living Memory. A study of weapon and equestrian burials in Viking-age Denmark, AD 800-1000. Publications from the National Museum. Studies in Archaeology & History Vol. 20:1 2 Jelling Series.. [PEDERSEN 2014B] ^ *
'Pfeil und Bogen in Haithabu'. In Geibig, A. and Paulsen, H. (1999) Neue Ausgrabungen in Haithabu; Band 33: Das archäologische Fundmaterial VI. Ausgrabungen in Haithabu. Hedeby-Ausgrabungen in Haithabu [PAULSEN 1999] ^ *
Rau, Andreas (2007) 'Remarks on finds of Wooden Quivers from Nydam Mose, Southern Jutland, Denmark'. (Available Online) Archaeologia Baltica: Vol.8 [RAU 2007] ^ *
Roesdahl, Else, and Wilson, David M. (eds.) (1992) From Viking to Crusader, The Scandinavians and Europe 800-1200. Nordic Council of Ministers. [ROESDAHL & WILSON 1992] ^ 1 2 3 4 5 *