Hun bow

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The Hun bow is a bow from the composite bows family.

1 Form
2 History
3 See also
4 External Links

[edit] Form

Hun bow

The Hun bow is an asymmetric, composite and recurve bow. A recurve bow is one that, in contrast to the simple longbow, has ends that curve outward. It was invented in Central Asia and carried to Europe first by the Huns, a nomadic people that invaded Europe in the 4th century. The advantage of a recurve bow is that the shape curves back on itself. It is this design that gives the bows tremendous power compared to their size.

Its asymmetric shape allowed the bow to be increased in size without restricting its use from the saddle of a horse. The lower part had to be shorter to facilitate movement across the back and neck of the horse, but the upper part was not so constrained and could be longer. The result was a stronger, longer-range bow than those of the Germanic tribes of Europe. Quite simply, the users of the Hun bow could shoot down their enemies before they could use their bows. The asymmetry, however, led to less accuracy, although this was offset to some extent by the fact that the weapon was a composite bow.

The bow gained its strength from the way it was bent against the grain, and formed from a laminate of traditional materials glued together, working against each other to produce a very tense and strong bow. Its high intrinsic resistance to pressure meant that it had great range, but required a suitably strong arm to fully draw back the string. The Hun bow has an exceptional shape. Its upper limb is bigger than its lower. The bigger upper limb gave it more power as the shorter lower limb enabled the bow to be operated comfortably on horseback. The Hungarian bow is an improvement of the Hun bow where the two limbs have equal size which enable the archer to shoot more accurately.

Since Huns are the ancestors of Turks and Mongols, the Turkish bow and Mongol bow both have a similar, but an improved form to that of the Hun bow.

[edit] History

The respect that the Goths had of the Hun bow was transmitted orally for a millennium among Germanic tribes and comes down to us in the Scandinavian Hervarar saga. The Geatish king Gizur who commands the Goth forces taunts the Huns and says:

Eigi gera Húnar oss felmtraða né hornbogar yðrir.

We fear neither the Huns nor their hornbows.