The Bow

The bow has been used throughout history by virtually every culture. Simple bows, as pictured here, were generally constructed of a single type and piece of wood. The shape of the bow back itself varied from culture to culture and lent different elastic properties to the weapon. The materials used in construction of the bow string varied, but the most common ones were flax, hemp, silk, cotton, and sinew (a combination of two or more of these was common). By bending the bow and attaching the bowstring to either end of the bow, the archer placed tension on the back. Nocking an arrow and drawing the string back placed greater tension on the bow. Releasing the arrow also released the tension energy built up in the bow and propelled the arrow farther and with greater force than it could be thrown. Thus, warfare could be conducted at greater ranges with more devastating results to the opponent unable to fire arrows back. As different bows are introduced into Elanthia, we’ll display their profiles here.

Interesting note: The phrase “to draw a bead on someone,” meaning to take aim at them, derived from archers during medieval Europe. The Longbow string had a bead attached to its center where the arrow should be nocked. By “drawing the bead” back, the archer prepared to shoot at a target.