Early Anglo-Saxon Archery: A Study Extract

segolden · Moderator

From: Personal Equipment and Fighting Techniques Among the Anglo-Saxon Population in Northern Europe During the Early Middle Ages.
by Paolo de Vingo
University of Torino, Italy
Read full article at:
http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/6/devingo.html

...The bow is a throwing weapon, more precisely a device for firing projectiles. It consists of a flexible, long structure whose ends are joined and stretched by string acting like a spring. The power needed for the draw is obtained by increasing the distance between the handle and the string, through tensile stress of the two elastic staves. Such stress causes a differentiated effort to the staves themselves. The outer surface, called "back", is facing at the target when shooting the arrow and when it is under stress, the fibres of the material composing the bow tend to stretch. The inner surface, called "belly", is subject to compression and its fibres heap on one another. Once the spring is loosed, original conditions are immediately restored and the whole energy is discharged on the arrow previously positioned on the string.

The Anglo-Saxons used a plain bow, made of a single material, in contrast to Asiatic "composite" bows [9]. The latter were obtained by several types of wood, including laburnum, cornel, hazel, elder, ash, elm and maple. However, among woods supplied by the forests in northern and central Europe, yew was definitely the best, because it combined all the essential qualities needed for a high performance item. The other woods were used as an option, depending on local availability, construction techniques and possible functionality of the weapon (Cenni 1997, 56-63). The main type of bow used by Anglo-Saxon warriors was the longbow (Pollington 1996, 151-152), which was typical of Germanic populations [10]. The bow stave of a longbow is carefully chosen so that the back of the bow is of sapwood and the belly is of heartwood (Underwood 1999, 28). The average length of the Anglo-Saxon bows is around 140-160 centimetres and it was suggested by a bow and arrows found at Chessel Down on the Isle of Wight (Underwood 1999, 26-27). Arrowheads were also found at Chessel Down, some with hazelwood shafts (Laing 2000, 131). An archer's brace is known from Lowbury Hill, Berks (Laing 2000, 131).

Arrows were made of poplar-wood, birch and willow; they had iron points of different shape, size and weight depending on the type and distance of the target. Fired stow balls were added to central-piercing arrowheads in order to set fire to besieged villages. The points were engaged onto the shaft by means of the tang and secured by fastening. A notch was cut on the tang of the shaft (which was 60-70 metres long) in order to secure the bow string, whereas some feathers on both sides helped firing the arrows in the exact direction. The arrows were carried, their heads downward, in quivers made of hide, ranging in length from 74 to 94 centimetres (Underwood 1999, 31). Two metal loops on the outer surface allowed warriors to hang the quiver by means of leather straps. Anglo-Saxon arrowheads can be divided into three main types. Leaf shaped arrowheads usually have a socket for attachment to the shaft. Triangular or square sectioned "bodkins" and barbed arrowheads generally have a simple tang that was either driven into the end of the shaft or bound. The size of arrowheads varies between 5.5 and 15.5 centimetres (Underwood 1999, 29).

See also "Arms and Armour - Part 4 - Missile Weapons" at Regia Anglorum:
http://www.regia.org/bow.htm

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"For I have drawn Judah taut and applied [My hand] to Ephraim as to a bow." Zech. 9:13
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