Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

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Elleth
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Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Elleth »

I had no idea.. but looking for other artifacts ran across this:
novgorod-museum-bow.jpg
novgorod-museum-bow.jpg (20.92 KiB) Viewed 8890 times
... from Medieval Novgorod Wooden Artifacts

It of course looks similar to steppe bows - but I'd no idea such things were found in a context so far northwest.
Fascinating - and looks like a handy woods bow!

Has anyone more information on it?
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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Manveruon
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Manveruon »

NEAT!
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Manveruon
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Manveruon »

A lot of stuff says 12th to 14th century - do you suppose the bow is dated to about the same period as the other stuff? I mean, I'd assume so, but not everything on there has dates. I don't really know much about this particular site.
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Peter Remling
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Peter Remling »

Doing a quick size estimate based on a typical grip size, it appears the total length of the bow appears to be 40-46". A good deal shorter than my 52" hunting recurve. Nice find.
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Straelbora »

I was looking on some Russian language websites about it. Here's the museum display:
Novgorod bow.jpg
Novgorod bow.jpg (28.87 KiB) Viewed 8858 times
Vápnum sínum skala maðr velli á
feti ganga framar því at óvist er at vita
nær verðr á vegum úti geirs um þörf guma
Hávamál
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Peter Remling
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Peter Remling »

That looks larger than my estimate by at least 6".
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Greg
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Greg »

That's a stunning bow. And positive tiller, at that! Not a common setup for that locale in that period by any means. Humans in Gondor had longbows specifically, and the Lorien archers had bows of great size, but in the north..?
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Elleth
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Re: Hunh... they found a bow at Novgorod?

Post by Elleth »

Hunh... doing a bit more reading online, I came across this from a Viking reenactment group:
Available evidence suggests that only longbows were used in Viking lands. However, some intriguing but speculative evidence suggests that composite recurve bows similar to those used in eastern Europe and Asia may have been used in Viking lands...

The Icelanders referred to these bows as húnbogi (Hunnish bows), although the only reference to them in the Icelandic saga literature appears to be as personal names (such as Húnbogi inn sterki in Laxdæla saga, and Húnbogi Þorgilsson, the father of a 12th century lawspeaker). The term does not appear in any of the Sagas of Icelanders referring to a bow of any kind.

Konungs skuggsjá (The King's Mirror), a 13th century Norwegian training text, refers to a hornbogi (horn bow) as being a useful weapon for a mounted warrior, since it is easy to draw while on horseback (chapter 38). The hornbogi may refer to a recurve húnbogi, made partially of horn.
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/article ... ng_bow.htm


... Fascinating - makes one wonder if any bows from Rhun made it as far west as Dale or even the Anduin.
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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