Vikings and Longbows

[Buck67]

I was watching a documentary about Vikings and the Berserkers.  The Berserkers sort of quietly faded away by the 12th Century.  Could it be that the Longbow made it impossible to charge at the opposing infantry wearing little more than skins and carrying a big Dane Ax?  It seemed, according to the documentary, that the Berserkers were an unstoppable force but I wondered why the Saxons in the documentary were just standing around waiting for them to charge.

How early was the English Warbow in use?

If this has been posted in the wrong place I apologize.

[dylanholderman]

i dont want to shoot you down but it seems the Norse word berserker doesn't have the same meaning as it does in English   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBUGQkpk3RE

[stuckinthemud]

Brilliant link, loved the video, thanks for posting it

[TimPotter]

Love the video!

[meanewood]

This is a good question

Bows in general would seem to be used by most societies but not all seemed to fully utilise them as an effective weapon for warfare!

Common sense would suggest all troops arranged in a shield wall should be armed with a bow to engage the enemy at range and then resort to hand weapon's for close combat!

The warriors from some cultures may have thought it beneath them to use bows for warfare, a bit like the French during the Hundred Years War. They evenualty got wise but I don't think the knights would lower themselves to such a low act.

In the end the' nobles' left the fighting to the common folk while leading from the rear!
It's also easier to run away from the back.

Back to the question
Yes, I'd much rather send a couple of arrows at a beserker than take on the two handed axe with my sword and shield.