Fletching and Fletching Jigs in the Viking era

[Sigurd]

Hi everyone,
I'm a member of a re-enactment group that covers the period between 850-1200, and i was wanting to build myself a fletching jig for use at shows on the living history exhibit. However, as my knowledge in this area is slightly limited I was wondering if anybody knows of any evidence of fletching jigs being used, or indeed not being used, in this period, I realise that this is earlier that the English Warbow (although being Welsh I dislike with that term)  however, there is a certain amount of overlap and was hoping that you experty people would be able to help me out.

Many Thanks
Sigurd

[adb]

I imagine during the viking era, they wouldn't have had a 'jig' at all, but rather would have just tied the fletchings on by hand, or perhaps glued and wrapped them like medieval arrows. This is just a guess on my part, as I don't know for sure. I do know our aboriginal ancestors didn't have a fletching jig, but tied the feather fletching on with sinew. I believe fletching jigs are modern inventions.

[medicinewheel]

As adb says.

[JW_Halverson]

The first few you hand tie will look a little less than expert.  They will probably fly pretty darn well and surprise you anyway.  But around the 4th or 5th arrow you will get the rhythm and from then on just a little care and effort will reward you with nicely spaced, beautifully hand laid fletching. 

You can attach from the front first or from the back first, matters not.  Once you have all three fletches (or two if that floats your stick) attached front or back, then attach the other end and pull the quill tight.  It should still slide under the sinew wrapping (or thread if that is what makes your stick float) until the quill is right and tight up against the shaft.  When all three (or two, remembering the stick floating analogy) of the fletches are pulled tight, hold the shaft under one arm and use your hands to lift the fletching slightly with one hand and with the other hand run a bead of glue under the quill with the other.  The tension on the fletch will snap it back in place until the glue sets.

[Scowler]

Thanks for starting this thread, Sigurd.  I've often wondered about fletchings and attachment methods during the Dark Age (to include the Viking Age).  My limited search turned up nothing on Dark Age arrow fletchings.  I've been experimenting with tied on only fletchings (3 fletchings) and find that they fly quite well.  After tying the back down I line up the fletchings either straight or offset (left or right helical) and tie down the front.  Instead of adding any glue I tie down the center section of the fletchings with two additonal pieces of art. sinew equally spaced apart.  Don't know if mine (or anyone's) northern European ancestors used this method of fletching attachment but it is practical and works well.  Good luck with your research.     

[CraigMBeckett]

Sigurd,

Sorry I can add nothing to this but to say that I have never read of or heard of the use of fletching jigs by our forefathers. Like adb I believe that fletching jigs are modern inventions and by that I mean very modern circa 20th C.

Would argue wih regard to Welsh bow as similar bows are known from all over northern Europe so there is little to ascribe its ownership to one nation or another. However the English Bow appears to have been distinguished by its size and weight and was referred to as such in many European texts, in England it was generally referred to as a Hand Bow.

By the way my ancestry contains amongst others both Welsh and English.

Craig.

[imar]

I heard Vikings used four fletchings.

For fletching they might have used a piece of leather.

A hole in the middle and four (or three) cuts from the hole.

Start by binding your feathers on the shaft than slide the leather over the feathers, you can bind the feathers around and around now without using glue.

Sounds very authentic to me!


Imar

[JackCrafty]

I was part of a re-enactment group as well, years ago.  At that time, I was researching an archer persona from Northern Europe around AD900.  The best information I had was some lore passed down from a friend's family.  They said goose was the preferred feather and the ones for war were often dyed with bright colors (greens, yellows, and reds).  They said that using steam was part of the process of fletching but I'm not sure it was used for anything other than making the feathers look "fresh" or "new".  Maybe the steam also helps to melt the glue, I don't know.

In all references I've seen, the feathers were tied on.  I'm not sure they were all tied in a "spiral" fashion but many were, no doubt.  You would probably encounter as many different ways to tie on the feathers as there were fletchers.

[Sigurd]

thankyou very much to everyone for your replies.

This not being an area i claim expertise in at all they have been most informative. The method that I will probably use is the one using the piece of leather as I have god knows how many scraps of the stuff in thick shoe sole weight knocking around the house. The other question I had was regarding glue, I was thinking of using pine pitch resin to glue them on as this is cheap and readily available as it would have been in period, does this sound about right to everyone else or should I be using something else? I was also intending to use linen tread for the bindings on the arrows for much the same reasons.

Also i like the idea of the brightly coloured fletchings  as they might have chucked them in a dye bath when they were dying other things such as clothes and it's possible to get some pretty spectacular reds and oranges with madder. I currently do something slightly similar as well though, I bind a bit of thread just under the nock in different colours in order to tell what my arrows are as a glance, for example green means that the arrow is a rubber blunt for use in re-enactment combat. red on it's own means target sharp, red with yellow means bodkin ect. It's just a way for me to know what they are in the quiver and to help prevent accidents on the field as well


As for the whole Welsh bow/English bow thing I think of it as a Welsh bow because (to my knowledge) the longbow spread to England from Wales  and English medieval armies usually had a significant contingent of Welsh archers. but it's really a discussion for another time based on personal preferences with no definitive answer.

@Jackcrafty : the steam might well fit with my idea of pine pitch resin as you need heat to melt the glue

[Scowler]

If you are going to glue down the fletchings Pine Pitch sounds about right.  I like your idea of using different color thread to indicate different arrows types.  I do the same thing except I paint the nock end of the arrow with different colors.  Good luck.

[imar]

Shooting on people?
I don't know, in the excitement I would probably end up shooting the wrong colors, sharp, into re-enacters.
Spectacular show...

Even with blunts I don't shoot at people, they can rip quite easy.

But maybe thats because I shoot a laminated warbow 120lbs.

Linen for sure is something the vikings used, I also use it, I don't know about pine raisin, maybe they used bone/ skin/ fishglue as well?

Have fun!

[CraigMBeckett]

As for the whole Welsh bow/English bow thing I think of it as a Welsh bow because (to my knowledge) the longbow spread to England from Wales  and English medieval armies usually had a significant contingent of Welsh archers. but it's really a discussion for another time based on personal preferences with no definitive answer.

There is absolutely no proof of this and the idea has little merit, the idea is wishful thinking and based on the mistaken belief that the bow was not used by the English untill Edward the 1st used it. The long bow shape was used by many northern European peoples including those who came from the areas of Denmark and north Germany from whence the  Angles, Saxons, Jutes etc came from. I suggest you take a look at the Nydam Bows which are reported to come from the 5th Centuary, the time when the migration to Britain began, also look at the artifacts found all over north Europe, most of which (and by most I mean an overwhealming majority), are of the "English Long-bow form. Then you will see the idea that the weapon came from one small area such as Wales is absurd. I suggest you do a bit more reading on the matter.

Craig.

[Scowler]

Not trying to step on any toes in the Welsh vs. English longbow debate but I got to agree with Craig on this one.  The Longbow shape (flat back and rounded belly) has been around for a long time.  I believe that Otzi's (Iceman) bow was of this type and he is thought to have died around 5,300 years ago.  By the way, his arrow fletchings were attached with Pine Pitch.   

[adb]

I certainly agree that the English didn't invent the 'English Longbow', but they certainly made it famous, putting it to very effective use during the hundred year war & tudor era. When most peole think 'English Longbow' or 'Warbow', that's  usually what pops to mind. The Welsh were certainly effective archers, but I believe their bows were a bit shorter... however, not sure.

[CraigMBeckett]

We have no idea what length the Welsh bows were before and if they were influenced by the numerous men who served in the English/Anglo Norman armies. If however Gerald is to be believed as to their power and efficacy, it is highly likely that they were the same sort of length as that used by the English, short heavy bows are much more likely to break than long heavey ones and one has to assume that the Welsh knew what they were doing when it came to weapons for they are reputed to have been a very berligerant people, as ready to fight each other as they were ready to fight the English/Normans and it has to be said they gave the English a run for their money over quite a few years. In addition Gerald in his remarks on Welsh bows made no mention of their length, instead remarking on their (in his view), crude manufacture and that they were made out of dwarf , presumably Wych, Elm. Which leads to the conclusion that their length was similar to the lengths of the bows he was use to seeing in Norman England.

As for making ther bow famous, here I have to agree with adb the English certainly did do that.

For those interested in the shapes of the ancient bows found throughout northern Europe I refer you to Clarke's paper on Neolithic bows, it is still around on the internet, Gad Rausing's "The Bow", still available from secondhand bookshops or as a print of the second edition from the Simon Archery Foundation, University of Manchester and even TTBB vol 4 where there is a, non exhaustive, list of bow finds with, in most cases, a brief description of their shape.

Sigurd,
One book you may like to read, which amongst other things shows the falacy of the the Welsh invention of the long-bow, is Strickland and Hardy's "The Great War bow" which must have been reprinted as I have noticed it for sale recently on Amazon by Amazon, at half the price I had to pay for my secondhand copy a few years ago. I cannot recommend it enough for those interested in the History of the Warbow

Craig