These arrows were made for a customer who had previously bought a beautiful Viking bow from Weylin. The bow was a Hedeby / Haithabu replica, but these arrows are Nydam copies. The period is the same, I just prefer the look of the Nydam arrows!
The shafts are 3/8" ash, and the fletching area is reduced in diameter to form a shallow area for the pitch glue to sit in. The nocks are left full diameter, giving them the classic "bulbous" appearance.
The fletching area is then coated in a pine pitch compound made from pine resin, charcoal and some beeswax and allowed to set hard.
The arrows are then fletched with goose feathers - 4 per arrow. They are stripped from the quill, cut to length and then the pine pitch is gently heated over a flame to become soft again. The fletchings are pressed into the hot glue and held for a few seconds.
Once all the arrows have had the feathers glued, they are bound tightly with hemp. The compound is then reheated over a flame carefully until it melts and flows like liquid over the bindings, sealing everything in place very firmly. Once the glue cools it hardens like plastic.
There are 12 arrows in total, and they're fletched in three groups. The first group of 6 are fletched with a rounded, open profile with four feathers each. Three are fletched with a shape found in an existing fletching at Jufvonna, a straight cut square profile, and the last three are fletched with a very modern target shape for the customer to use as target arrows specifically.
Once the fletching is done, the heads need to be made. These were all handforged by myself, based on actual Nydam heads. Again, they're made in groups - 6 simple 4-sided bodkins, 2 long needle bodkins with unique bulbous necks, 2 socketed leaf-shaped heads and 2 tanged leaf-shape heads.
The heads are then fitted (the tanged heads are burned into the shafts, glued in place and then bound with hemp soaked in the pine pitch glue) and the shafts are decorated using makers marks found on the original Nydam arrows by carving the shapes with a knife and then filling with powdered charcoal.
Once the shafts are oiled, the Nydam replicas are complete!
