So to illustrate some of the more usual things Im doing here, I decided to show the making of a Viking style Elm bow from start to finish, (including if it breaks!!) The most commonly used wood in the Viking Age was Yew. This is because the natural properties of its orange inner heartwood and its creamy outer sapwood, allow for a bow that is both strong and flexible. However, a close second was almost always Elm. This is representative from the bow fragment finds from Dublin. This again highlights the cultural links between viking archery and archery in the later middle ages, as Yew and Elm were also common for the average English Archers bow. This is not surprising, because other than uniformality, there is qualitatively not much difference between an English longbow and an Early Viking age Bow, like for example, the Ballinderry bow, from Westmeath, Ireland. So in this album I have chosen a piece of dried Wych Elm. I have also collected my tools. The rasps, the plane and the axe are all copies from the Gotland tool chest, my knife and draw knife are original designs however, they were both hand forged from iron. The shape and steps taken to make this bow are from my own study of Viking Age Bow fragments at UCD, and also complete bows like those from Nydam and Hedeby in Scandinavia. So for this bow, I have tried my best to not replicate any in particular, but piece together the general process, aiming to make a unique bow, as though it would have been made at that time. So in this album I cover the first step, which is debarking. I learned the hard way before that it is most important to keep on the back of the bow, the ENTIRE layer or tree ring just under the bark. But it is actually a common step taken in past when examining the archaeological evidence. I also wish to complete this bow without any measurements, so in part 2 I will be basing the dimensions of my bow on my relative body measurements e.g two fingers for width, one thumb for debt etc... Keep a look out for part 2, enjoy and please comment if you wish to say anything or ask any questions :) Stephen
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 13:57:22 +0000
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