ELBish/Welsh Elm Longbow

[FilipT]

Whoa! Like the kinks on the bow, that was surely difficult to tiller. Too bad elm is destroyed in Croatia.

[WillS]

Very very pretty!  There's something magical about the way elm finishes up. 

It ain't English or Welsh though, that's an American longbow through and through!  It's got fades and flat limbs! 

[k-hat]

That's sad news Stalker  

Will, I guess it's really it's own thing.  ALBs I believe are characterized as flatbows, which this is not.  Since it's light weight, and not yew, it really can't follow the victorian ELB rules, but it is a d section, narrows evenly from grip to tips, and has a more circular tiller (except the stiff tips, mind you).  No one really knows the design of Welsh Longbows historically as there are no artifacts.  But if you folow the ideology that the ELB in its war form took cues from the Welsh Longbow, and the Welsh Longbow was made of elm (of that much we are sure!), then I don't think this is a stretch to think this one is very different.  If I could have made it quite a bit heavier, it would have bent thru the handle and had a rue circular tiller.  That was my reasoning anyway, inspired by the WLB, so I called it a WLB 

[Blayne]

Thats a fun looking stick! Good work:)

[WillS]

That's sad news Stalker  

Will, I guess it's really it's own thing.  ALBs I believe are characterized as flatbows, which this is not.  Since it's light weight, and not yew, it really can't follow the victorian ELB rules, but it is a d section, narrows evenly from grip to tips, and has a more circular tiller (except the stiff tips, mind you).  No one really knows the design of Welsh Longbows historically as there are no artifacts.  But if you folow the ideology that the ELB in its war form took cues from the Welsh Longbow, and the Welsh Longbow was made of elm (of that much we are sure!), then I don't think this is a stretch to think this one is very different.  If I could have made it quite a bit heavier, it would have bent thru the handle and had a rue circular tiller.  That was my reasoning anyway, inspired by the WLB, so I called it a WLB 

Well the Ballinderry bow was early Irish Viking, and the Mary Rose bows were late medieval, and both are almost identical - circular or "galleon" cross section (not D section - that's a Victorian addition as well, funnily enough) with no distinct handle, fade area or stiff tips.  It stands to reason (and is the accepted belief amongst the traditional longbow/warbow community) that pretty much all the English/Welsh military bows inbetween the two eras were the same as well.  Welsh bows were made of any indigenous woods - wych elm, hazel, holly, yew, plum, ash etc etc. 

I reckon what you've made is more Scandinavian than Welsh - similar to the Haithabu or Holmgaard bows.

Check out the Warbow Wales website for some really nice examples of "Welsh" medieval bows!

[WillS]

This is a great article written on the elm medieval bow found on the Mary Rose, if you're interested in making a true elm replica - most likely the exact sort of thing that would have been shot in Wales!

http://warbowwales.com/#/articles/4559117041

(It's the "Bow X1-3" article, third down)

[k-hat]

Well, I guess I just got schooled    I've done quite a bit of research to learn what I could about the Welsh, but I've never come across these documents.  It's a good read and I appreciate the info!  I supposed now she's more "inspired by" the Welsh bow the way some movies are inspired by books/true stories but really don't resemble them at all in the end 

Now on my to-do list... true elm welsh longbow 

[DC]

You did say "ish". To me that means "from 20 yds away with your eyes squinted it sorta looks like". If you had said genuine, authentic ELB then you should expect criticism.

[simson]

Nice character Bow!
I like the finish and the dye job!

[k-hat]

Haha thanks DC, I like the way you think 

Thanks Simson!