12th Century German Bow?

[kevinsmith5]

So I've git an SCA member who wants a bow that would be in the style of what 12th century German tribe members would have carried. The best I can come up with would be a flat self bow of elm or a static recurve. Anyone seen any sources of information on that group for that period?

[JW_Halverson]

Pick up an old Bear recurve in a 2nd hand store and spray paint it brown. Typical SCA type won't know!

[Onebowonder]

OK, now that was funny!

OneBow

[kevinsmith5]

If this was a typical SCA type he wouldn't be discussing a $400 hand made bow with me.....about 10% of SCA members are serious about being period correct archers, I count myself as one.

Anyone with a HELPFUL response?

[smoke]

Did a quick search and it looks like ELBs are the norm for that period throughout northern Europe. 

[kevinsmith5]

That's what I've been able to track down for the most part. I know that Viking bows were essentially identical in profile to an ELB but tended to use side nocks. Wasn't sure about maybe something like a Holmegard or a a double taper profile.

[smoke]

Did a little more checking and I think the ELB is the style to go with.  Obviously there must be some variation but it doesn't look like Holmies or flatbows were in vogue then.  Really cool project!

[kevinsmith5]

Once I know for sure the style I'll be using I'll post build along pics.

[Lukasz Nawalny]

http://www.branche-rouge.org/les-articles/tous-les-articles/artisanats/archerie/arcs-d-haitabu/the-haithabu-bows.0.pdf

[Jodocus]

It would probably be something like yew longbow, similar to an ELB, but often with complete sapwood on and a flat belly. Often, they used an iron nail on the upper limb to catch the string. There were  also shorter bows, sometimes with a pentagonal limb section and kind of a reflex-deflex design.

[JW_Halverson]

There were  also shorter bows, sometimes with a pentagonal limb section and kind of a reflex-deflex design.

I would love to see one of those. I would assume the back of the bow would be a flat side and the belly would be the peak of the pentagon?

[Jules]

I know of some bows found at Oberflacht (a German city). 6th century, 5-sided, made of elm or yew. A friend of mine recently made one of those, the design makes it a really nice bow

[Jodocus]

I was thinking of the Oberflacht bow, and the Hohenaschau bow. Yes, the ridge is on the belly and get less and less pronounced towards the tips, the back is flat. I can't find anyx pics of them, though.

[JackCrafty]

I was in the SCA back in the day!   

The 12th c. is part of the High Middle Ages.  New technologies and population expansion were the highlights of the age.  Knights were armoring up in response to a greater use of the crossbow.  Most of the population were rural peasants (90%) that labored under the feudal system.

On the continent, a bow from this time period would most likely be used for hunting.  A simple D-bow made from Yew (in the south) or Elm (in the north) would be normal.  Faceted cross sections, fancy horn nocks, and recurved tips would not be common.  Nocks would probably be cut into one side of each tip.  I've seen a few pictures of tips that were bent "backwards", or deflexed, but this feature seems to be mostly an upper limb "thing" that was built into the bow for an unknown reason.  Anyway, there are no surviving examples of German bows from the 12th century, as far as I know, so we have to play it safe and go with the simplest design:  Man-sized, bendy handle, D-bow with circular or oval cross section.  50lb pull.  Side nocks.  Linen or hemp string.  Hazel coppice arrows with tanged or socketed leaf-shaped iron points and goose feather fletching.  Spiral linen cord wrap over brightly colored shaftment.  Quiver of cloth attached at the belt.

Remember to aim for the horse and not the knight!   

[kevinsmith5]

That's a useful response.