Changes

Bows in the Viking Age were made from a single piece of ‘D’ section wood, usually yew if available [HALPIN Halpin 2008: p.40-41] (Dublin, Hedeby, Wassenaar), but elm (Dublin, Hedeby) and even scots pine (Dublin) were also used. Bow varied in strength up to around 100lbs (Hedeby). <br>

<!--{| classgallery mode="wikitable"|+ alignPacked heights="top" 130px style="captionPadding-sideleft: top30px; text-align: left;" | Recreation Guide>|Archery -parts of the bow (Gav).jpg| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|800-899]]Parts of the bow| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|900-979]]</gallery>| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|980-1040]]| scopeBow Grips="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|1041-1100]]|None of the bows found in the Viking Age have any distinct swelling around the area of the handgrip or show any evidence of having a separate handgrip attached. The bow-| colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|Optional]]|}--> staves run roughly parallel along their entire length. The only unique finds of bows that do have a distinct handgrip come from the C7th Alemannic graves at Oberflacht in southern Germany.

'''Art'''===Bow nocks===To attach the bow string a simple notch or ‘self-nock’ was cut into the bow stave, near both the bow’s terminals. Self-nocks can be either double-nocks or single-nocks, otherwise known as ‘side-nocks’, with similar numbers having been found of each type. The nocks were always cut into the sides of the bow-stave and never into the front or back. <br><gallery mode=Packed heights=250px style="Padding-left:30px; text-<bralign:left;">'''Literature'''Archery - Side-nock (Hedeby - Paulsen 1999).jpg|Single-nock or Side-nock<br>* (Hedeby [MANLEY 1985Paulsen 1999])* [STEPHENSON 2007]'''Archaeology'''Archery - Tied on bow String (Stuttgart Psalter f.146v).jpg|Tied on bow string<br>(Stuttgart Psalter fol.146v)* Waterford, Ireland</gallery>* BallinderryWhen bows were single-nocked, Ireland, late C10th. [HALPIN 2008: p.184or side-185] 1 Complete nocked, then the cut notches are cut into the opposing sides of the bow.* Dublin-stave, Ireland, C11th / C12thtop and bottom. [HALPIN 2008<br><gallery mode=Packed heights=40px style="Padding-left: p.18430px; text-185] 1 Complete bow, 7 bow fragments.align:left;">* Hedeby, Denmark, [PAULSEN 1999] 1 Complete, 6 fragments* Leiden, Netherlands, 800Archery -950AD [DE STOUTE 2008] 1 Complete bowOpposing side-nocks (Gav).jpg|Bow-stave showing opposing single-nocks''Other finds:''<br/gallery>NydemSome bows only had a self-nock at one end of the bow-stave, Vimose and Kragehulwith the assumption that the bow-string must have been tied on at the other end (Hedeby, Denmark bog finds Dublin). A manuscript image showing a tied on bow string might also had bows and arrowsbe seen in the Stuttgart Psalter.<br><br>

=== ... with deflexed nocks =Nocks of different material====''A deflexed nock is where the nock is deliberately strongly angled towards the string.''<br>'''Art'''<br>* [[T-M#T64|T64]] BL Harley f.64r<br>* [[T-M#T84|T84]] Vatican Reg.12 f.24v<br>'''Archaeology'''<br>--<br>'''Discussion'''<br>Almost all of the AngloIt appears that nocks with horn inserts or separately attached horn nocks were not used on self-Saxon manuscripts show bows with nocks deflexed away from in the archer, the complete reverse of the deflexed nocks found in archaeologyViking Age period. <br><br>Mary Rose?

=== Re-curved (Reflexed) Self-bow ===''A re-curve self-bow is where the stave Finds of the bow is deliberately curved away from the string.''<br><!--{| class="wikitable"|+ align="top" style="caption-side: top; text-align: left;" | Recreation Guide|-| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|800-899]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|900-979]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|980-1040]]| scope="col" width="80" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|1041-1100]]|-| colspan="4" style="text-align: center;"| [[Recreation Guide|Allowable]]|} -->'''Archaeology'''<br>* Ballinderryseparate nocks have been found, Ireland, late C10th. [HALPIN 2008: p.184-185] 1 Complete bow.* Hedeby, Denmark, [PAULSEN 1999] '''Discussion'''<br>Many of such as the Hedeby bows are shaped this way, along with the Ballinderry bow bone example from Ireland. Paulsen [PAULSEN 1999] makes the case that this is “caused by shrinkage of the soft sapwood C7th grave at Bad Cannstadt in the front”Germany, but these have been identified as coming from a theory that is rejected by Halpin composite bow [HALPIN 2008Hoernig 2005: p.61119] who cites a number of authors including Hardy who makes the comment that the bows from the Mary Rose were also re-curved and “that no process during the lifetime of the bows, or after deposition, are convincing explanations for this feature”.<br><br>

== Bow Strings ==Stringing nocks and string keepers===='''Archaeology'''<br>* Wincott Heckett has suggested that Some bows have either a tabletsecondary set of nocks at one end of the bow-woven tubular silk cordstave (Dublin, dated to mid C12th, from Waterford may be ) or alternatively a bowstring. hole has been drilled through the terminal (Adare Castle) [HALPIN Halpin 2008: p.6159-60] Halpin then quotes Soar who suggests that .The secondary set of nocks, known as ‘stringing nocks’ helped in stringing the most common material for bow strings was hemp.<><>* York, EnglandThe hole drilled through the terminal was probably a ‘string keeper‘. A lump loop of beeswax with a groove caused by rubbing against a thread twine or string. Walton-Rogers comments that beeswax leather thong was often used on passed through the hole and the bow strings [WALTON ROGERS 1997: pstring with the intention of stopping the bow string from slipping down the bow-stave when unstrung.1785]'''Discussion'''<brgallery mode=Packed heights=250px style="Padding-left:30px; text-align:left;">Archery --String keeper (Stuttgart Psalter f.21r).jpg|String keeper<br>(Stuttgart Psalter f.21r)</gallery>

== See Also =Deflexed and reflexed terminals===We also have evidence for some bows having deliberately bent terminals after the nock points. These bent terminals either pointed towards the shooter (Dublin, Hedeby) or pointed away from the shooter (various manuscripts). Bows with terminals that bend towards the shooter, otherwise known as ‘deflexed’, are considered to be a diagnostic characteristic of a ‘Viking’ bow. These bent terminals were purely decorative and did not affect the ability of the bow in any way [Halpin 2008: p.???]. <br><gallery mode=Packed heights=250px style="Padding-left:30px; text-align:left;">Archery - Nock Deflexed (Pierpoint-Morgan Lib. M. 736 f.14).jpg|Bow with terminals that point towards the shooter (deflexed).<br>(Pierpoint-Morgan Lib. M. 736 fol.14, AD 1130)London, British Library MS Cotton Claudius B IV fol.41v.jpg|Bow with terminals that point away from the shooter (reflexed).<br>(Brit. Lib. Cott. Clau. B IV, AD 1040) </gallery>Almost all of the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts show bows with nocks bent away from the archer (reflexed), the complete reverse of the deflexed nocks found in archaeology.<br>Many of the bows found in Hedeby have the 'Viking' style of nock that are bent towards the archer (deflexed), along with the Ballinderry bow from Ireland. Paulsen [Catalogue Paulsen 1999] makes the case that this is “caused by shrinkage of the soft sapwood in the front”, a theory that is rejected by Halpin [Halpin 2008: p.61] who cites a number of authors including Hardy who makes the comment that the bows from the Mary Rose were also re-curved and “that no process during the lifetime of the bows, or after deposition, are convincing explanations for this feature”.<br> === Bow finds]Strings ===These were probably made from hemp, linen or silk. The evidence seems to point at hemp being the most commonly used material (Halpin 2008, p.61). Bow strings were usually 3 to 4mm thick and made from 3 ply twine (Altdorf, Switzerland [Hoernig 2005: p.110])<br>Wincott Heckett has suggested that a tablet-woven tubular silk cord, dated to mid C12th, from Waterford may be a bowstring. [Halpin 2008: p.61] Halpin then quotes Soar who suggests that the most common material for bow strings was hemp. In York, England, a lump of beeswax was found with a groove possibly caused by rubbing against a thread or string. Walton-Rogers comments that beeswax was often used on bow strings [Walton Rogers 1997: p.1785] ==Using the Bow=====Loosing arrows===During the Viking Age there were two methods employed for loosing arrows. The ‘Mediterranean loose’, which went on to dominate during the Middle Ages and the ‘Primary loose’, which w<><>. Arrows seem to have been drawn to the chest and not to the chin as is traditionally taught in modern longbow shooting. ===Archeryin warfare===Using archery in warfare appears to have been common in mainland Europe but probably not in Britain or Scandinavia. Why this was so is difficult to understand. Bows were used to both attack and defend fortifications but not apparently in direct combat. <br>In Charlemagne’s armies it became an essential weapon: ‘lanceam, scutum et arcum cum duas cordas, sagittas duodecim’ Capitulary of Aachen of 802/3, c 9. This instruction is most likely the result of the Carolingian wars against the Avars who we know from grave finds used composite bows with bone lathes [Manley 1985: p.226]]. <br>We have evidence from manuscripts that in battle archery was often performed by two men working together, one firing while the other supplied arrows.<gallery mode=Packed heights=250px style="Padding-left:30px; text-align:left;">Archery - Paired (Harley Psalter f.6r).jpg|Archery in pairs (Harley Psalter f.6r)Archery - Paired (Harley Psalter f.7r).jpg|Archery in pairs (Harley Psalter f.7r)</gallery> ===Poison===Battle of Maldon ‘poisoned point’ & ‘bows were busy’ [Manley 1985: p.225] ===Horse Archery===It appears that archery was not performed in Britain from horseback but it might have been done in France and the rest of mainland Europe. Byzantium warriors were known to ride backwards while shooting [Nicolle 1984]. <gallery mode=Packed heights=250px style="Padding-left:30px; text-align:left;">Archery - Horse (Stuttgart Psalter f.7v).jpg|Horse archers riding backwards<br>(Stuttgart Psalter f.7v)Archery - Horse (Harley Psalter f.25r).jpg|(Harley Psalter f.25r)</gallery>