![]() Started shooting, wounding many men and killing some. That he pulled out his arrows and threw them on the ground before him and When Gunnar was ambushed ( Brennu-Njáls saga, ch.72), the saga tells us Interpreted as parts of a quiver have been found in the trading town at Oddur carried his quiver and arrows on his back. Of Icelanders, although it does appear in the legendary saga (such as Örvar-Odds saga). The word ( örvamælir) is not used in the Sagas There does not seem to be a lot ofĮvidence for a quiver. The king's bow." He threw the bow aside and took up his sword and shield. To the king's light bow, drew the head behind the bow. ![]() Their capabilities, so there must have been some variation in the draw weightsĪfter Einar's bow was broken at the battle at Svölðr, the king threw him his ownīow, telling Einar to continue to shoot. It seems likely that archers used bows with draw weights to fit A later addition to Grágásĭefines the bowshot to be two hundred faðmar (about 480m). Held within a bowshot of the outlaw's home (K 62). For example, Grágás, the medieval Icelandic lawīook, requires that the court empowered to confiscate an outlaw's property be The flight of an arrow, ördrag (bowshot) was a unit of measure commonly However, medieval Icelandic law gives a different estimate. The estimated draw weight of one 10 th century bow isĩ0lbs (40kgf), and the effective range of this weapon was about 200m (650ft). Shafts were probably made out of hardwood, in order to hold Were probably 70 to 80cm (28-32in) long, and perhaps 10mm (3/8in) inĭiameter. The Viking age, and they range in length from 10-15cm (4-6in).Īrrowheads had a tang which was driven into a hole in the shaft and Good condition were found at several Icelandic house sites dating from The forked arrowhead shown to the right was found at a Military rifle on the modern battlefield. Used in the same way as a shotgun on a modern farm, rather than as a Perhaps a good analogy is that the Viking-age bow was Sites, which might suggest that bows were thought of domestic tools, ArrowheadsĪre not commonly found in the graves of warriors, suggesting that bows were Some historic arrowheads from the 10 th century found in NorwayĪre shown in the sketch to the left. A complete bow found at Hedeby was made of yew and wasĪrrow heads were made in a variety of shapes and sizes. Typically, they were 1.6 to 2m (60 to 80 in) long. Ólafr fitted anĪrrow to the bow in his hand and aimed it at Úlfr, who said, "Shoot in anotherĭirection, king, where the need is greater."īows were made from the wood of a yew, ash, or elm. King's command, implying cowardice on the part of the king. Úlfr, one of King Ólaf's men on board Örmurinn langi, questioned the King Olaf asked, "What cracked with such a loud noise?"Įinar replied, "Norway out of your hands, sire."Īs with other weapons, bows were used to threaten. Einarįired two close shots at Earl Eiríkr, before Eiríks bowman, Finn, firedĪn arrow that hit Einar's bow. Him was Einar, described as the best shot anywhere. Says the king shot most often with his bow, but sometimes threw spears. Right in a 19 th century painting by Sinding. Was on board his ship, Örmurinn langi (The Long Serpent), shown to the Chapters 106-111 of Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar describes the seaīattle at Svölðr in the year 1000, in which King Ólafr was killed. Other, attempting to clear the decks of men so that the ship could be Opposing ships fired arrows and threw missiles from one ship to the Saga says that Snorri goði's shepherd watched the battle from the rockĬliff at the extreme left edge of the photo, then ran back to Helgafellīows were used in nautical battles. The fjord is shown as it looks today in the photograph to the Ice to where they could fire arrows at those on the rocks, making things very Two Norwegians with Steinþór ran a short distance across the Steinþór and his men had a hard time on the ice against suchĪ strong defense. The house, Gunnar used his bow to kill or wound ten of his opponents before his bow string was cut byĪt Vigrafjörður described in chapter 45 of Eyrbyggja saga, the sons of Þorbrandr took a defensive position on a rock above the ice, where they The most notable use of a bow in the sagas isĭefense at his home, Hlíðarendi (right), against an attack led by Gizurr hvíti,Ĭhapter 77 of Brennu-Njáls saga. In massīattles, archers opened the action before the opposing sides closed to fight at Where men desired to target their opponents from a long distance away. Were used primarily for hunting, but they were also used in battle in situations Until we find time to make the needed updates to this page, we strongly encourage readers to look at this topic as it is presented in our new book, Men of Terror, available now from your favorite book seller. Much of the text presented on this page is out-of-date.
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