[Dane M. Donato]

Hello. I just discoverd this site, and already, can see that I will learn a lot (and I hope, share as well).

I'm a bow maker (admittedly relatively new to the art), and so it is good to see discusssions of this sort.

I was hoping if any bow makers could help me in a few areas. One, Viking / Norse longbow design - perhaps dimensions and especially photographs and drawings of orignal artifacts, such as the Nydam bows. As well, I have read that quivers have been discovered from the Viking era, and any help there too would be greatly appreciated.

Data for the neolithic bows (Stellmoor, Holmegaard, etc.) seem more accessible, but again, if anyone has any thoughts or areas to point me too, that would be greatly appreciated.

I live in Massachusetts, and hardwood is abundant in my part of the state, so flatter bows such as the Holmegaard make a lot more sense with these kinds of white woods than the classic Engish longbow, and of course you make do with what you have in your own backyard if at all possible. I have some elm and birch staves I just harvested, and and maple Holmegaard on my workbench right now. And in any case, it is a great design, interesting looking too for anyone who simply has the longbow pop into their head when they think of this kind of bow.

If some Viking bows (seem to have read a reference recently) would be more in line as projects for woods other than Yew, design info, images, etc. too woud be appreciated.

Perhaps I should have started a new thread for this topic, and if so, perhaps this can be moved or restarted in a more appropriate area?

Thanks!

Dane

[Chad Arnow]

Dane,
Welcome to the forums. I've split this off into its own topic which is more appropriate.

[Bob Burns]

Hi Dane and welcome to a really great website! I joined myArmoury early last September and it's been invaluable to me, as I came into this website as one who knew next to nothing about medieval European swords and weapons, nor did I know anything about swords and related weapons of other eras either, except for the nunchuku and the bo, the former of which I am very proficient with.

"myArmoury" has become the epi-center of my quest to learn and to locate other learning resources, the members and directors have been extremely helpful to me. One thing I need to start concentrating on is spending more time in the other facets of this website besides the forums, which are really fantastic! But there are other learning resources on this grand website besides the forums and I need to start concentrating in those areas.

I am 49 years old and up until a few years ago I had no idea that I loved swords. For me it all started at the Bristol Renaissance Faire on the borders of Wisconsin and IL in 2002 when I came across a company called "Arms & Armor", and now I've come across another excellent sword company called "Albion Swords".
There are other fine sword companies out there too, plus there are the "Gods of Steel" (Swordsmiths) who make custom swords. Personally, I cannot afford custom swords but they are well worth the money for those who can afford them! There are also sword companies that will give you good bang for your buck that are not as expensive as Arms & Armor or Albion Swords (both of which are as good as it gets without going to one of the "Gods of Steel" !

Beyond this, I am not qualified to give you any advice as I am in the early learning process, but you sure have hit the bullseye in learning resources related to weapons of old world Europe!

Hope to see lots of ya in here!

Bob

[Dane M. Donato]

Thanks for the warm welcome, both of you. Looks like I have indeed found a good place. One of the remarkable things to me about the Internet is the wealth of knowledge literally at our fintertips (and thank goodness they forced me to take typig in junior high). I imagine the collective expertise from the members of this site alone must be measured in many, many years.

See you around campus,

Dane

[Jean Thibodeau]

Dane;

Welcome and as Bob has suggested looking at the articles, links, reviews, collections, books etc ...... should give you a lot of useful information as well as the forums.

If you haven't already do a search using key words " bows, crossbows " and you should see numerous topic threads to read.

There are a lot of old topic threads and a search is the best way to find them. As well there are a few bow and crossbow makers who are members here who may chime in answer to specific questions. ( Give it a bit of time. )

[Bob Burns]

Dane, here is one of the excellent areas of this website! Just click the following link.

http://www.myArmoury.com/feature_bibliography.html

Bob

[Ville Vinje]

Hello Dane!

As an alternative to using a variant of the english longbow or the Nydam bow you could chose a Magyar bow. Several finds from Birka suggests that this was a commonly used bow among the warrior class in the garrison. The finds include composite materials from bows of magyar type as well as magyar quivers and thumbrings.

The best supplier of magyar (Hungarian) bows is according to me Grozer:

http://www.grozerarchery.com/index_m.htm

Here are two sites describing the closed quivers used by the Magyars and in Birka:

http://www.atarn.org/islamic/bede/CLOSED%20QUIVER2001.htm

http://www.atarn.org/FAQ/closed_quiver.htm

Here is a link to a swedish archeology paper on the subject. although you probably cannot read this, maybe the pictures can be of some help:

http://www.diva-portal.org/diva/getDocument?u...ext.pdf%22

Kindly,

/Ville

[Dane M. Donato]

Ville:

Thanks so much for the information and links. Honestly, though, this type of bow, facinating as it is, is not in my area of interest (at this time. Who knows later, of course).

But they are interesting bows, and an alternative to the European style of bows I am more famillar with.

Dane

[Dane M. Donato]

Thanks Jean, for the advice, and Bob, for the reading list link.

I will explore this site in great depth soon. Not tonight, as I just had a wisdom tooth removed. Ugg.

Yours,

Dane

[Bob Burns]

Hope your feeling better real soon Dane! If somehow I can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to ask, just remember though, as of this week I've completed my 1st year of serious study and research in this fascinating hobby, so the amount of help I can give is therefore going to be quite limited. However, I'd give it my best shot and will never say I know what I don't know, but if your looking for a "Sword Nut Buddy" you found him!
I'm always looking to make friends with sword enthusiasts, I can talk about this stuff till Hell freezes over and then some. I've got a tireless passion for this!

Great to have you aboard Dane!

Bob

[Peter Griffith]

Hello Dane,
Like you I have taken a hobby and now made it a business. I am a shield builder as you are a bow maker. I have a nice shop here in Suffolk Virginia that we are finishing up the touches on (within a month) to build Viking, Norman and some other types of shields. Like you I have been interested in shields for a long time.

Peter Griffith
www.dutchpond.com

[Keith Nelson]

Hi Dane,

If you don't have them yet, maybe looking at the 3 volumes of the "Bowyers Bible" would be helpful. Mine are buried in boxes right now, but I seem to recall something on European flat-bows in one of the volumes.

Otherwise, try these:
http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/a...uropean%22 (I have this on ILL order, so may have it in a week or two. Will be happy to share if you don't want to pay for it...)

http://home.scarlet.be/~ping8609/ (decent set of links, although a bit outdated...)

http://www.ssrsi.org/sr1/Weapon/archery.htm (again, full of links, most of which aren't useful, but some might be...)

Keith

[Dane M. Donato]

Keith, thanks for the links. The first one needed a password, and I would appreciate that, if it is ethical.

I do indeed have the 3 volumes, great resources. I actually picked them up a few years ago, and then sort of chickened out before again revisiting archery and finally trying it. Luckily, my wife is very understanding.

Peter, good luck with the business. I went on your site, and was a bit bummed to not be able to see some of you work. Or maybe I just didn't click on the correct part of the site. The shield is a facinating thing. I recently saw a demo of Viking combat techniques, and the shield was very much an integral part of how the Norse fought. One of the guys giving the demo later showed me up close how a shield worked offensively, and it was highly intimidating, to say the least. One on one combat, I imagine, often could be counted in seconds.

Well, Bob, I survived. Thanks. I don't miss that wisdom tooth at all.

[Keith Nelson]

Dane,

Email me at fish_doc@hotmail.com and I'll get you a copy of the PDF. Just don't go posting it on the web and it's fine for personal use.

Keith