Difference between revisions of "Bows"

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This article's completion rating is 2 out of 5. Article structure and content is subject to change as data is still being collected.

Self-bows

Bows in the Viking Age were made from a single piece of ‘D’ section wood, usually yew if available [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).
Bows were made by working down a wooden stave so that the heartwood formed the bulk of the bow, giving it its strength, while a layer of sapwood was retained along the bow’s back to give the bow more elasticity under tension and to help prevent it from breaking.
Many of the bows were extremely simple and we have a number of finds of bows that still have the bumps and branch accretions left from the removed branches along their backs (Wassenaar, Hedeby).

Art
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Literature

• [MANLEY 1985]
• [STEPHENSON 2007]

Archaeology

• Waterford, Ireland
• Ballinderry, Ireland, late C10th. [HALPIN 2008: p.184-185] 1 Complete bow.
• Dublin, Ireland, C11th / C12th. [HALPIN 2008: p.184-185] 1 Complete bow, 7 bow fragments.
• Hedeby, Denmark, [PAULSEN 1999] 1 Complete, 6 fragments
• Leiden, Netherlands, 800-950AD [DE STOUTE 2008] 1 Complete bow

Other finds:
Nydem, Vimose and Kragehul, Denmark bog finds also had bows and arrows.

... with deflexed nocks

A deflexed nock is where the nock is deliberately strongly angled towards the string.
Art

• T64 BL Harley f.64r
  
• T84 Vatican Reg.12 f.24v
  

Archaeology
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Discussion
Almost all of the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts show bows with nocks deflexed away from the archer, the complete reverse of the deflexed nocks found in archaeology.

Re-curved (Reflexed) Self-bow

A re-curve self-bow is where the stave of the bow is deliberately curved away from the string.
Archaeology

• Ballinderry, Ireland, late C10th. [HALPIN 2008: p.184-185] 1 Complete bow.
• Hedeby, Denmark, [PAULSEN 1999]

Discussion
Many of the Hedeby bows are shaped this way, along with the Ballinderry bow from Ireland. Paulsen [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”.

Bow Strings

Archaeology

• 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.
• York, England. A lump of beeswax with a groove caused by rubbing against a thread or string. Walton-Rogers comments that beeswax was often used on bow strings [WALTON ROGERS 1997: p.1785]

Discussion
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See Also

Catalogue of Bow finds
Archery

References

<nocite> DESTOUTE2008 HALPIN2008 MANLEY1985 PAULSEN1999 STEPHENSON2007 WALTON1997 </nocite> <biblio force=false>#Template:Bib</biblio>