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Year
10,174 Contasta Ar
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Gorean Weapons - Bows
This is my narrative and relevant references from the Books about Bows.
I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them.
Arrive at your own conclusions.
I wish you well,
Fogaban
First, it might be noted that the most powerful devices of war are the crossbow and lance.[1] But not everyone prefers the bow. In fact, many warriors do not care for it, regarding it as a secondary weapon, almost unworthy of a warrior.[2] Therefore, as common as the crossbow and longbow are, many warriors still favor the spear.[3]
The preferred wood for constructing a bow is from the ka-la-na tree. But wood from the tur tree can also be used.[4]
The bow string is usually hemp, whipped with silk,[5] the silk reducing fraying and wear.[6] But other material will work too such as rope, parted, unraveled, and rewoven.[7]
Bows are typically left unstrung when not in use. This reduces fatigue in the wood.[8]
When the arrow is released, the bow produces a sudden, intense purr. In fact, the long bow is sometimes referred to as the peasant's lyre.[9]
The bow is carried over the back,[10] or may simply be, still strung, hung on the shoulder.[11]
Although primarily an infantry weapon,[12] a lot like a stubby rifle,[13] even referred to as a shoulder bow,[14] they can be carried slung over the back with the quiver,[15] but they are also small enough to be concealed beneath a cloak.[16] Once cocked, a child could discharge such a weapon.[17] The crossbow is the assassin's preeminent weapon.[18]
It is the ideal weapon in close spaces, not just because of its size and maneuverability, but more so in that, once the quarrel is set, it needs but a press of the trigger.[19] The crossbow can also be used from tarnback,[20] in fact the saddle being constructed to hold it.[21]
The quarrels and fins are made of iron,[22] striking like an iron fist,[23] weighing about a pound apiece,[24] and the initial velocity is the better part of a pasang per second (3,696 feet per second). With that force it can pass completely through a human,[25] pierce a solid wood door,[26] sink some four inches into solid wood at a range of some twenty yards[27] or gouge out a cupful of masonry from a brick wall.[28] The range, at least from the height of a wall, is hundreds of yards.[29] However, if crafted quarrels run low, instead of metal fins, one could use light metal fins or feathers. Or maybe nothing more than filed rods, neither feathered nor finned. Worse case just blunt-headed wooden quarrels.[30] Quarrels can also be tipped with blazing, tarred cloth wound about the piles.[31]
It takes at least eleven or twelve seconds to have a crossbow ready to fire again,[32] the crossbowmen winding the string tight for a new quarrel,[33] then retaking his stance, left foot forward, right foot back, crosswise, and braced.[34]
Although, it should be mentioned, some crossbows can be reset more quickly.[35]
The crossbow's major disadvantage is its slowness in rate of fire. The cavalry crossbow does have an iron stirrup in which the rider, without dismounting, may insert his foot, thus gaining the leverage necessary for drawing the cable back with both hands.[36]
And of course it is necessary to keep the mechanisms oiled from time to time.[37]
Finally, there is the massive Kur four-tiered crossbow. It has four tiered, horizontally placed quarrel guides, each guide containing a heavy, iron, slotted quarrel which are almost like short javelins. It has four separate triggers. This weapon is so large a man could hardly lift it, let alone load and accurately fire it.[38]
The horn bow is the powerful bow of the Wagon Peoples and is accompanied by a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows,[39] which are barbed.[40] his bow is excellent for use from kaiila back or from within a wagon.[41] It is small, double-curved, about four feet in length, built up of layers of bosk horn, bound and reinforced with metal and leather. It is also banded with metal at seven points, including the grip. Lacking the range of the longbow or crossbow, at close range it is still a devastating weapon.[42]
The horn bow is known for its rapid fire capability, being able to launch twenty arrows in 30 seconds.[43] While at close range it is a fearsome weapon,[44] interestingly, it has never been used by tarnsmen.[45] This might be due to it being formed of pieces of split tabuk horn, bound with sinew, it is not effective beyond some thirty yards.[46]
The horn bow is also spoken of as being used by the natives of the polar basin,[47] and the Red Savages. The Red Savages keep their bows in fringed, beaded bow cases.[48]
The long bow is a far more devastating weapon than its rival, the crossbow, but few men have the strength to use it well.[49] A peasant can fire a dozen missiles into the air before the first falls back to earth.[50] And devastating it is. First, it is accurate to two hundred yards.[51] And then, one example is an arrow fired from this bow passes completely through a man's head and yet continues on for a hundred yards.[52] Another time, an arrow passes completely through a body, flashing beyond him and vanishing in the distance.[53] Even at range, it can sink an iron-piled shaft four inches into a wooden stump.[54] And an arrow, fired even from a quarter-drawn bow, can still penetrate your back.[55]
One of the Caste of Peasants would seldom, if ever, be without his long bow.[56] In fact, before a peasant boy is considered a man and allowed to mate, he must show he has the strength to draw the great bow.[57]
When firing the long bow, the feet are spread, heels aligned with the target, feet and body at right angles to the target line and the head turned sharply to the left.[58] A skilled bowman can fire nineteen arrows in 80 seconds. And within this time, he is expected to put these nineteen arrows into a man-sized target, each a mortal hit, at some two hundred and fifty yards.[59]
This is the only bow described where the bowman uses a leather bracer fastened about his left forearm, that the arm not be lacerated by the string, and the small tab for the first and second fingers of his right hand, that in drawing the string the flesh might not be cut to the bone.[60]
While the bow is not commonly favored by Gorean warriors, all must respect it. It is made from the supple yellow Ka-la-na wood and tipped with notched bosk horn at each end. It is the height of a tall man; its back, away from the bowman, is flat; its belly, facing the bowman, is half-rounded; it is something like an inch and a half wide and an inch and a quarter thick at the center.[61]
And yet, it does have some disadvantages. The long bow cannot well be used unless standing, or at least kneeling. This makes the archer himself more of a target. The long bow is difficult to use from the saddle of any animal. It is impractical in close quarters, as in defensive warfare or in fighting from room to room. And, it cannot be kept set, loaded like a crossbow.[62]
It should be noted that, at least once, a longbow is mentioned being standard equipment of a tarn saddle.[63]
The Pani bow is long and light even more so than the long bow of the peasant. Also, unlike the long bow, the lightness of both bow and arrow used, means that the missile can rarely tear its way through a human body, and its force, even if passing through an arm or throat, is largely spent in its passage. Interestingly, to the common Gorean, the Pani bow is unusual.[64] On the other hand, it is also described as quite large, commonly longer, if not heavier, than the peasant bow of the continent.[65]
The Pani bow is exceptionaly long, taller than most tall men. The arrow is released well below the bow's center. And because the draw is so long, the arrows for this bow are correspondingly long.[66]
(see Long Bow)
Similar to the short bow this one is described as being fit for clearing the saddle,[67] and is referred to by name as the saddle bow.[68]
The ship bow, is mentioned as being used on the ships of the Vosk River[69] and by those of Torvaldsland. With its short, heavily headed arrows, it lacks the range and power of the larger bows, but has to its advantage that it is more manageable in close quarters of ships.[70]
The small bow has many advantages. High among these is the rapidity of fire. Ten arrows can be fired into the air before the first has returned to the earth. No Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close range it can be devastating. Further advantages of the small bow are its maneuverability and capacity to be concealed.[71] Even women can use this bow.[72] Quite possibly this is the bow used by the Panther Girls[73] with their smaller arrows.[74]
Small straight bows are reasonably common on Gor. These are often used for hunting light game and runaway slaves.[75]
The Tuchuk bow, developed over generations of warfare, is small enough to easily move from side to side over the saddle. However it is still very powerful. It requires a lot of strength to draw but is capable of penetrating the typical four-layered shield.[76]
The quiver can be carried on the back,[77] or slung over the shoulder.[78] However, the quiver can also be worn at the hip.[79]
Quivers are also part of a Warrior's tarn saddle, holding crossbow bolts and arrows for the bow.[80] These quivers can hold up to a hundred arrows each.[81] Quivers mounted on saddles are specially constructed to hold the bolts in place.[82] Saddles quivers are also closed against precipitation.[83]
Quivers can be made from verr-skin,[84] tabukhide,[85] even parts of blankets[86] and if nothing else is at hand, a belt will do.[87]
Quivers are described as being mighty,[88] lacquered, narrow and rectangular,[89] cylindrical,[90] and even colored.[91]
When readied for war, arrows are bound in groups of a thousand.[92]
Fire arrows and fiery quarrels are used to start fires from a distance.[93]
Arrows are typically fletched with three half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gull,[94] which are attached with thread and glue.[95] Feathers of the sea kite might also be used.[96]
The hunting arrow has a long, tapering point which is firmly fastened to the shaft making it easier to withdraw the arrow.[97]
The word Karjuk, in the language of the Innuit, means arrow.[98]
There are the marked arrows of bowman whose marksmanship might later be evaluated.[99]
The procedure is to relay a message by a number of flighted arrows, the message secured from one arrow, and affixed to the next and so on.[100]
There is also a padded, stunning arrow which has the point removed and the end covered with a wad of fur,[101] which can then, if desired, be reused by replacing the steel pile.[102]
The Pani arrow is exceptionally long much like the peasant bow.[103]
Pile arrows can be pulled cleanly from the body. Unlike the broad arrow or the Tuchuk barbed arrow, which must be thrust on through to free it.[104]
Some arrows are poisoned but these are generally regarded as unworthy of men.[105]
Some arrows of the Red Savages are identified individually as the arrow of a particular warrior.[106]
Some arrows can be little more featherless, sharpened sticks.[107]
The Gorean sheaf arrow is made from black tem-wood,[108] slightly over a yard long. The flight arrow is about forty inches in length. Both are metal piled and fletched with three half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gull.[109] Nine of these arrows can be fired aloft before the first falls again to the earth. At point-blank range one can be fired completely through a four-inch beam, at two hundred yards it can pin a man to a wall and at four hundred yards it can kill the huge, shambling bosk.[110]
The signal arrow can have an attached silver pennon fluttering behind it.[111]
Smoke arrows can coordinate attacks or signal other events.[112]
The war arrow has an arrowhead whose base is either angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across. The result, in both cases, is to make the arrow difficult to extract from a wound.[113] The head of the war arrow is even fastened less securely to the shaft than is that of the hunting arrow. The point then, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out, is likely to linger in the wound.[114]
I mention the War Arrow of Torvald, again not because it is a weapon but, because of its significance to those of Torvaldsland. It is a long, dark arrow more than a yard in length. Its shaft is almost an inch thick. It is piled with barbed iron. And its feathers are five inches long, set in the shaft on three sides.[115]
Sometimes whistling arrows are used, much like those which convey signals, initiate attacks, and such.[116]
Footnote References
[1]
For example, incredibly enough, weapon technology is controlled to the point where the most powerful devices of war are the crossbow and lance.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 31
[2]
Incidentally, speaking of the crossbow and longbow, . . . The Older Tarl, my redoubtable instructor in arms, did not care for them, regarding them as secondary weapons almost unworthy for the hand of a warrior.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 49
"It is true," said Cabot, "that many warriors despise the bow, regarding it muchly as you have suggested, as a slight weapon, as one unworthy of a man, and surely of a warrior, even as one possibly tainted with dishonor, but I am of a contrary conviction."
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 377
[3]
Indeed, the Gorean spear is such that many warriors scorn lesser missile weapons, such as the longbow or crossbow, both of which are not uncommonly found on Gor.
Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 21
[4]
One gathers that ka-la-na wood, common on Gor from her wine trees, would have been preferable for the launching device, or bow, which Cabot had prepared, carved into its gentle arc with a sharp stone, but such are not found in the world. He had selected, one evening, in the dusk, two likely branches from a young Tur tree, a tree which is found on Gor, a reddish tree which, when mature, is lofty and broadly leaved, and had shaped them to his purpose.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 369
[5]
the bowstrings, usually of hemp whipped with silk,
Vagabonds of Gor Book 24 Page 167
My large yellow bow of Ka-la-na, tipped with bosk horn and strung with hemp, whipped with silk, was at hand.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 289
[6]
On Gor the string for the launching device is commonly encircled, bound and smoothed, being whipped with silk, this reducing fraying and wear,
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 370
[7]
The string for this launching device, or bow, the string from which the missile, the arrow, is flighted, was easily obtained from remnants of the raft's rope, parted, unraveled, and rewoven,
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 369
[8]
The launching device, or bow, is left unstrung when not used, this retaining its resiliency, by avoiding material fatigue.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 369
[9]
the string of the bow of Lord Grendel leaped forward, and then vibrated with that sudden, intense purr, the bow's music, signaling a flight.
The roarlike hum is unmistakable.
The bow is sometimes spoken of as the peasant's lyre.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 375
[10]
But each of these men, over his back, carried a peasant bow.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 3
[11]
Cabot put his bow, still strung, on his shoulder.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 417
[12]
the crossbow, which is primarily an infantry weapon.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 96
[13]
Save for the metal band, the bow, or spring, mounted crosswise, now drawn, and the cable, arched back, the devices, with their triggers and stocks, were not unlike stubby rifles.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 565
[14]
the shoulder bow, or crossbow.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 376
[15]
There was a quiver and bow strung at its back, a sword dangling behind it.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 619
[16]
They were small enough to be concealed beneath a cloak.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 565
The cloaks parted and two crossbows, together, the quarrels set, were smoothly, swiftly raised.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 4
[17]
"It requires only a cocked crossbow," I said. "A child could ignite the signal powder and discharge such a weapon."
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 29
[18]
the crossbow is the assassin's weapon, par excellence;
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 2
It is the weapon par excellence of the caste of Assassins
Swordsmen of Gor Book 29 Page 315
"It is an ideal assassin's weapon," I said. "It is patient. It can wait, and then strike when it wishes."
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 29
I was sure, though an untutored oarsman, would be fully capable of pulling the trigger of a crossbow, the Assassin's weapon, at point-blank range.
Warriors of Gor Book 37 Page 97
[19]
The ideal weapon in closed spaces would be the crossbow, not only because of its size and maneuverability, but, even more, because the bolt or quarrel may wait patiently in the guide, the cable back, ready to spring forth instantly, at the press of a finger on the trigger.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 161
[20]
still clutching a crossbow and mounted on his tarn
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 59
They had no wish to meet me failing upon them from the tarn's ambush, the sun. I kept them generally below me. I fastened the safety strap now. I examined the shield. It was torn deeply but still serviceable. There was a spear at the saddle. I loosened it in its straps. A crossbow hung to my right. A sheaf of bolts was behind the saddle.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 179
[21]
I mounted my tarn
. . .
a crossbow with a quiver of a dozen quarrels, or bolts, on the left,
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 64
As a tarn force it was superbly trained and uniquely equipped for aerial combat, far more so than the usual tarn forces of known Gor, which usually consisted, in effect, of mounted infantry, spear bearing, and armed with a saddle-clearing crossbow.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 5
[22]
the iron bolt of a crossbow
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 59
the metal fins of the bolt
Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 357
They were armed with crossbows. The iron bolts of these devices, weighing about a pound apiece, were capable of sinking some four inches into solid wood at a range of some twenty yards.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 33
[23]
Taken frontally the quarrel strikes like an iron fist. It might have gone more than half way through the layering of a leather shield. It could not penetrate the buckler, which was of metal.
Swordsmen of Gor Book 29 Page 367
[24]
They were armed with crossbows. The iron bolts of these devices, weighing about a pound apiece, were capable of sinking some four inches into solid wood at a range of some twenty yards.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 33
[25]
and if he had fired at that range, most probably the quarrel would have passed through my body and disappeared in the woods behind. The initial velocity of a quarrel is the better part of a pasang per second.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 100
[26]
the bolt of a crossbow struck the door and splintered through it, its head projecting some six inches on my side.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 227
[27]
They were armed with crossbows. The iron bolts of these devices, weighing about a pound apiece, were capable of sinking some four inches into solid wood at a range of some twenty yards.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 33
[28]
The bolt of a crossbow splattered into a brick wall on my right, gouging a cupful of masonry loose in chips and dust.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 236
[29]
Some hundreds of yards from the wall, just beyond crossbow range
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 163
[30]
I passed a lad standing behind one of the embrasures with a crossbow. He was too young to be on the wall. One quarrel reposed in the guide of his bow. Beside him, leaning against the inside of the parapet, were some more quarrels, only two of which were crafted, one feathered, one with light metal fins. The others were little more than filed rods, neither feathered nor finned. With these, too, there were some wooden quarrels, blunt-headed, such as boys sometimes use for bringing down birds. I did not think they would be effective. Perhaps, ideally targeted, launched from within a yard or so, one might cause a fellow to lose a grip on a ladder. More likely they would serve as little more than irritants.
Renegades of Gor Book 23 Page 266
[31]
Now, down from the skies rained fiery quarrels, tipped with blazing, tarred cloth wound about the piles.
Wagons caught afire.
I saw defenders unchaining screaming girls. One's hair was afire.
Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 225
[32]
It would be eleven or twelve seconds before the crossbowmen would be ready to fire again.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 227
[33]
The crossbowmen were each winding their string tight for a new quarrel.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 213
[34]
The two bowmen advanced. Then they stopped, and set, left feet forward, right feet back, crosswise, braced.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 565
[35]
Some such weapons are set by a windlass, but those these men carried were more swiftly prepared for fire.
. . .
The two new bowmen set their feet in the bow stirrup, grasping the cable with two hands, one on each side of the guide.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 568
[36]
Its major disadvantage is its slowness in rate of fire. The cavalry crossbow does have an iron stirrup in which the rider, without dismounting, may insert his foot, thus gaining the leverage necessary for drawing the cable back with both hands, if the rider is right handed he usually inserts his right foot in the stirrup and leans to the right in drawing the cable
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 96
The crossbow, even the stirrup variety, loads slowly,
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 58
[37]
some oil for the mechanism of the crossbow.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 105
[38]
He carried a large bow-like device, with four tiered, horizontally placed quarrel guides, each guide containing its missile. There were four triggers on the device. The slotted quarrels were heavy, and of iron, almost like short javelins. The four cable tensions, tiered, were such that I supposed few but a Kur could have readied the weapon. It seemed to me a terrible weapon, one which might splinter beams, perhaps shatter rocks, but, also, I supposed that it complied with the weapon laws of the Priest-Kings. It was, in its way, a form of complex crossbow. It would have been difficult for a human to lift, and, if it were not mounted, to fire.
Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 470
There were two guards, as usual, but, rather back and to the side there were two other Kurii, each armed with one of the large, four-quarreled crossbows, which I had seen in the place of cells, weapons which a man could have hardly lifted, let alone load and accurately fire.
Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 558
[39]
he carried in his right hand the small, powerful horn bow of the Wagon Peoples and attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 11
[40]
the barbed Tuchuk war arrows.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 247
[41]
the small horn bow of the Wagon Peoples can be used to advantage not only from the back of a kaiila but, like the crossbow, from such cramped quarters.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 31
[42]
the tiny, swift bow of Tuchuks, the narrow, rectangular quiver, with its forty arrows. . . . It is small, double-curved, about four feet in length, built up of layers of bosk horn, bound and reinforced with metal and leather; it is banded with metal at seven points, including the grip. . .the bow lacks the range of both the longbow and the crossbow, but, at close range, firing rapidly, it can be a devastating weapon
Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 365
[43]
Again and again the small bow, swift and vicious, fired, twenty barbed arrows in half an Ehn
Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 372
[44]
The bow, of course, small, for use from the saddle, lacks the range and power of the Gorean longbow or crossbow; still, at close range, with considerable force, firing rapidly, arrow after arrow, it is a fearsome weapon.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Pages 66 - 67
[45]
The small bow, interestingly, has never been used among tarnsmen
Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 365
[46]
The horn bow, unfortunately, formed of pieces of split tabuk horn, bound with sinew, is not effective beyond some thirty yards, One must, thus, be almost upon the animal before loosing the shaft.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 205
[47]
at his back was a quiver containing arrows, and a short bow of sinew-bound, layered horn. Such men are seldom seen on Gor. They are the natives of the polar basin.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 48
[48]
"The man removes his bow from the fringed, beaded bow case," said Kog.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 44
I had put my bow in the bow case of the Yellow Knife I had slain and added his arrows to my quiver.
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 228
[49]
Well used, the long bow is a far more devastating weapon than its rival, the crossbow; but few men had the strength and eve to use it well
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 3
A woman, for example, would be unlikely to be able to bend the bow, and many men could not.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 375
"Now," said Aktis, "I call your attention to this bow. It is of the sort called the great bow or the peasant bow. Behold. I now draw it. Not every man could do so. Those unfamiliar with the bow have little understanding of the force it imparts to the string, and the released string to the freed arrow. It can be fired accurately and rapidly over considerable distances. At this range it could sink several inches into the trunk of a full-grown Tur tree. If I were to release the string, I doubt that even you, my fraudulent, unwelcome, intrusive friend, could follow the flight of the arrow to your heart."
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 143
[50]
a peasant can fire a dozen missiles into the air before the first falls back to earth.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 376
"Consider, too," said Thurnock, "the rate of fire. The great bow can fire several arrows in the time the crossbow can fire one or two. Thus, one man with the great bow could outmatch four or five with the crossbow."
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 196
[51]
It is accurate to two hundred yards
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 376
[52]
The arrow from the great yellow bow, that of supple Ka-la-na, had passed through the head of the man, losing itself a hundred yards distant, dropping unseen into the marsh.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 69
[53]
The shaft, at the distance, passed completely through his body, flashing beyond him and vanishing among the rushes and sedges in the distance.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 71
[54]
at that range, can sink an iron-piled shaft four inches into a wooden stump.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 376
[55]
I knew, further, that she could not, even were the weapon strung, draw it to the half, but further I knew that, at the range she might fire, the arrow, drawn even to the quarter, might penetrate my back.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 79
The bow need not be fully drawn to effect a considerable penetration.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 214
[56]
None of the men, I took it, knew the Peasant bow the great bow, else such a formidable weapon would have been carried, one of rapidity of fire, of remarkable penetration. Had Trachinos been truly of the Peasants, as his garb suggested, he would have known that weapon, and not been without it.
Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 416
[57]
Peasant boys, from childhood, are trained in the use of bows, preparing them for the day when they will have the strength to draw the great bow, on which day they are accounted men, suitable for mating with free women.
Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 416
[58]
My feet were spread; my heels were aligned with the target; my feet and body were at right angles to the target line; my head was turned sharply to the left; the first sheaf arrow was drawn to its pile; the three half feathers of the Vosk gull were at my jawbone.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 180
[59]
it fires nineteen arrows in a Gorean Ehn, some eighty Earth seconds; a skilled bowman, and not an unusual one, is expected to be able to put these nineteen arrows in an Ehn into a man-sized target, consecutively, each a mortal hit, at some two hundred and fifty yards.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 180
[60]
the leather bracer and fastened it about his left forearm, that the arm not be lacerated by the string, and took the small tab as well, putting the first and second fingers of his right hand through, that in drawing the string the flesh might not be cut to the bone.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 20
[61]
a Gorean long bow of supple Ka-la-na wood, from the yellow wine trees of Gor, tipped with notched bosk horn at each end, loose strung with hemp whipped with silk, and a roll of sheaf and flight arrows. The bow is not commonly favored by Gorean warriors, but all must respect it. It is the height of a tall man; its back, away from the bowman, is flat; its belly, facing the bowman, is half-rounded
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 2
[62]
Yet, as a weapon, it has serious disadvantages, and on Gor the crossbow, inferior in accuracy, range and rate of fire, with its heavy cable and its leaves of steel, tends to be generally favored. The long bow cannot well be used except in a standing, or at least kneeling, position, thus making more of a target of the archer; the long bow is difficult to use from the saddle; it is impractical in close quarters, as in defensive warfare or in fighting from room to room; and it cannot be kept set, loaded like a firearm, as can the crossbow;
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 2
[63]
I mounted my tarn . . . On each side of the saddle hung a missile weapon, a crossbow with a quiver of a dozen quarrels, or bolts, on the left, a longbow with a quiver of thirty arrows on the right.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 64
[64]
the Pani bow is unlike the peasant bow, as it is longer, and lighter. Both bows are different from the short, stout Tuchuk bow, or saddle bow,
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 161
The Pani bow, the peasant bow, and the saddle bow, of course, and such bows, have a rapidity of fire which far exceeds that of even the stirruped crossbow.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 161
The Pani bow is powerful but, like the common peasant bow, it, given the lightness of its missile, and that it is drawn by the strength of a human arm, can rarely tear its way through a human body, and its force, even if passing through an arm or throat, is largely spent in its passage.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 352
To one side Pani archers, with their large, unusual bows, were plying shafts into silk-covered straw targets.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 402
[65]
The typical Pani bow is quite large, commonly longer, if not heavier, than the peasant bow of the continent.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 168
[66]
The typical Pani bow is quite large, commonly longer, if not heavier, than the peasant bow of the continent. To me it was unfamiliar, given its lack of what I would have supposed to be the natural symmetry of such a weapon. The arrow is released well below the center of the bow. The bow itself is taller than most tall men. The draw is long, contributing to the weapon's striking power, accuracy, and range. Given the length of the draw, a consequence of the bow's construction, the arrow is correspondingly long. Arrows are variously fletched, the fletching curving to the left or right, which determines the rotation of the missile in flight, the left-curving fletching producing what I tend to think of as a clockwise rotation, though, for Goreans, it would be a counterclockwise rotation, and the right producing what I tend to think of as a counterclockwise rotation, but which the Goreans would consider a clockwise rotation. As nearly as I can determine the orientation of the fletching is immaterial with respect to accuracy. Indeed, it is common to use first one and then the other, in pairs. Indeed, an arrow with the left-turned fletching is often spoken of as the first arrow, and an arrow with the right-turned fletching as the second arrow. To be sure, different archers may prefer one fletching to another, one being thought more apt or fortunate than the other. One advantage of the bow's construction is that despite its length it may be fired from a kneeling position, this allowing the archer to avail himself of lower cover and expose less of his body in firing. I had first seen such bows used by the Pani in Tarncamp in the northern forests of continental Gor. It might be mentioned in passing that I had seen Pani archers with shorter bows, but the longer bow seemed more common, at least amongst the Pani with whom I was most familiar.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Pages 168 - 169
[67]
Too I had purchased a short bow, modeled on the sort used by the savages, fit for clearing the saddle, and a quiver of twenty sheaf arrows.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 96
[68]
"It is coming again!" cried the leading tarnsman who had freed the rope from his pommel, swung about, and set an arrow to a small saddle bow, used for clearing the saddle, firing to either side.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 358
[69]
They were short, ship bows, stout and maneuverable, easy to use in crowded quarters, easy to fire across the bulwarks of galleys locked in combat.
. . .
Their rate of fire, of course, is much superior to that of the crossbow, either of the draw or windlass, variety. All things considered the ship bow is an ideal missile weapon for close-range naval combat. It is superior in this respect even to the peasant bow, or long bow, which excels it in impact, range and accuracy.
Rogue of Gor Book 15 Pages 307 - 308
[70]
the short bow of the Gorean north, with its short, heavy arrows, heavily headed, lacks the range and power of the peasant bow of the south. . .the advantage that it is more manageable in close quarters . . . easier to fire it through a thole port, the oar withdrawn.
Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 52
[71]
The small bow has many advantages. High among these is the rapidity with which it may be drawn and fired. A skilled warrior, in the Gorean gravity, can fire ten arrows into the air, the last leaving the bow before the first has returned to the earth. No Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close range it can be devastating. Two further advantages of the small bow that might be mentioned are its maneuverability and its capacity to be concealed, say beneath a robe. It can be easily swept from one side of the kaiila to the other.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 46
[72]
She carried a short, yellow bow, of Ka-la-ha wood, which could clear the saddle of the tharlarion
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 111
[73]
"Some call them the forest girls," said Ute. "Others call them the panther girls, for they dress themselves in the teeth and skins of forest panthers, which they slay with their spears and bows."
Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 82
[74]
Their arrows, their bows being smaller, are not as long as the common sheaf arrow of the long bow
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 214
[75]
Small straight bows, of course, not the powerful long bow, are, on the other hand, reasonably common on Gor, and these are often used for hunting light game, such as the brush-maned, three-toed Qualae, the yellow-pelted, single-horned Tabuk, and runaway slaves.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 4
[76]
Within a handful of Ehn forty riders of the tarn cavalry were at the rail, each armed with the small Tuchuk bow, used by the tarn cavalry, a weapon of considerable power, which may be swept easily from one side of a saddle to the other.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 264
Tuchuk bow . . . the small, powerful, swift bows, developed over generations of warfare amongst the Wagon Peoples of the Southern Plains.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 356
The strike of the Tuchuk bow, short, of curved horn, requiring much strength to draw, is heavy, and, at close range, terrible, capable, like the thrust spear, of penetrating the typical four-layered shield.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 357
[77]
At his back there was a horn bow and a quiver of arrows;
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 303
The tall, blond girl, Verna, beautiful and superb, led the file, her bow and a quiver of arrows now on her back, her spear in hand.
Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 122
[78]
I slung the quiver over my shoulder. I would use the over-the-back draw.
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 213
Lord Grendel handed his bow to Cabot, and slipped the quiver from his shoulder.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 438
[79]
Cabot then, bow strung, an arrow to the string, a quiver at his hip, laden with the birds of death, emerged from the forest. So, too, did Statius.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 513
Amongst those present were some five or six officers, some warriors, and several Ashigaru, some with glaives, others with bows, mostly small bows, some with quivers behind their left shoulder, some with quivers at their left hip.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 472
[80]
I mounted my tarn
. . .
On each side of the saddle hung a missile weapon, a crossbow with a quiver of a dozen quarrels, or bolts, on the left, a longbow with a quiver of thirty arrows on the right.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 64
[81]
The large arrow quivers, saddle quivers, one on each side could carry fifty to a hundred arrows.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 5
Each rider, as indicated, had two broad quivers at his disposal, in each of which was a hundred arrows.
Swordsmen of Gor Book 29 Page 314
[82]
the quiver then being specially constructed to hold the bolts in place. None of the bolts had escaped from the specially constructed quiver.
Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 161
[83]
The saddle bow was in its case behind me, and the two quivers, one on each side of the saddle, were closed against precipitation.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 28
[84]
in a verr-skin quiver
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 177
[85]
tabukhide quiver
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 378
[86]
a quiver of arrows, formed from part of one of the blankets
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 382
[87]
Other arrows he put in his belt,
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 464
[88]
Near the bow hung a mighty quiver, in which nestled flight and sheaf arrows, and many of each thereof.
Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 139
[89]
he carried in his right hand the small, powerful horn bow of the Wagon Peoples and attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 11
[90]
From among the weapons at the foot of the couch, from one of the cylindrical quivers, still of the sort carried in Torvaldsland,
Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 234
[91]
A quiver of arrows, yellow, was at the left of her saddle.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 111
[92]
"And the objects of war," said another, "timbers, hurling stones, cordage, jars of pitch, finned darts, spears, glaives, javelins, varieties of blades, masses of shields, bucklers, wrappings in which are bound a thousand arrows."
Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Pages 203 - 204
[93]
Now, down from the skies rained fiery quarrels, tipped with blazing, tarred cloth wound about the piles.
Wagons caught afire.
I saw defenders unchaining screaming girls. One's hair was afire.
Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 225
I saw a fire arrow loop in the sky over palms.
. . .
"Fire!" I cried. An arrow had fallen within the stable yard, striking through the straw in the storage stall at the right.
Tribesmen of Gor Book 10 Pages 181 - 182
Rags, soaked in oil, were set at the tips of arrows.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 172
If Ulafi had torch arrows they were not in evidence. Too, the fire pans had not been kindled for dipping the arrows,
Explorers of Gor Book 13 Page 101
Archers were dipping arrows, whose shaft, behind the point, was wrapped in cloth, which cloth was then saturated with flaming pitch, which arrows, one after another, were then being fired into the hull.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 259
"We have spared the holding of Temmu," said Tyrtaios, "from the rain of burning arrows, because of our love for our wayward, misguided servitor, the glorious, honorable Temmu."
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 50
What if a thousand fire arrows should be launched at midnight, and those who must ascend to the roofs of the castle and other buildings with their dampened mats and cloths not respond with alacrity?
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 64
I stood up and called to my men, hidden in the grass. "Close the gate! Brush! Flames! Fire arrows!"
Some twenty fellows rushed to the gate and pulled it shut, tying the two, in-swinging leaves together, and another twenty hurried to the closed gate with thick bundles of brush, grass, and straw which they piled before the tethered gate. At the same time, small fires were lit in clay pans and arrows, the heads of which were wrapped in oil-soaked cloth, were ignited and fired into the village, which shortly thereafter roared with flames, the heat of which jarred the air and carried even to our positions surrounding the village.
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 199
My four archers drew, and ignited, from the flaming wicks of unshuttered dark lanterns, one by one, five arrows, each tufted with oil-soaked, shredded cloth, which fiery missiles they launched toward the distant tents.
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 274
[94]
The Gorean sheaf arrow is slightly over a yard long, the flight arrow is about forty inches in length. Both are metal piled and fletched with three half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gulls.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 68
[95]
Then I sat down, cross-legged, and withdrew an arrow, for the great bow, from its quiver and, with thread and a tiny pot of glue, bent to refeathering one of the shafts.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 83
[96]
"We have done what we could," said Aktis, fletching an arrow with the feathers of the sea kite.
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 159
[97]
The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point is firmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow from its target.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 40
[98]
The word 'Karjuk', incidentally, in the language of the Innuit, means 'Arrow'.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 317
[99]
Shortly thereafter four waves, or ranks, of tarnsmen swept by, the lowest wave perhaps no more than five yards from the ground, the highest perhaps twenty or twenty-five yards from the ground. In a moment they were gone, arrows launched, but, wheeling about, they returned from the opposite direction, and again loosed their missiles, and then wheeled about, again, and, approaching from the original direction, loosed another volley of missiles, and then sped away. There had been three passes. The targets were bristling with arrows, front and back. Fellows from the margins of the field went to the targets and retrieved the arrows. I would later learn that records were kept, as each arrow could be identified as that of a given bowman. In this way, marksmanship might be evaluated, and bowmen distinguished.
Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 153
[100]
"There are a variety of ways in which one can communicate with the holding," he said, "flighted vulos, message arrows, signals from the ground, such things."
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 153
"Even the path of the thousand arrows is impractical," he said.
"True," I said. The distances involved would exceed the utility of this device, which is often used to transmit messages between certain outposts or even between separated units, as in coordinating junctions or pincer movements. Obviously the expression "path of a thousand arrows," is something of a metaphor, as there would seldom be a thousand arrows employed. The procedure, of course, is to relay a message by a number of flighted arrows, the message secured from one arrow, and affixed to the next and so on. As the chain which is no stronger than its weakest length, this device, too, can be unreliable, as the succession of arrows might be interrupted in any number of ways. The arrows are often brightly colored, and even beribboned. And sometimes whistling arrows are used, much like those which convey signals, initiate attacks, and such.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Pages 251 - 252
[101]
I removed a pile from one of the tem-wood arrows and capped the arrow with a wadding of fur.
. . .
I loosed the padded arrow. It struck the sleen on the side of the snout. Startled, it growled with rage, and leaped back, away from the prey.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 232
[102]
I found the arrow, removed the wadding and replaced the steel pile.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 232
[103]
The Pani arrow is long, rather like that of the peasant bow
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 161
The bow itself is taller than most tall men. The draw is long, contributing to the weapon's striking power, accuracy, and range. Given the length of the draw, a consequence of the bow's construction, the arrow is correspondingly long.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 168
[104]
They were simple pile arrows and pulled cleanly from the body. I did not need, as with the broad arrow or the Tuchuk barbed arrow, to thrust the point through in order to free it.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 181
[105]
"I would not have thought Sarus of Tyros would have used poisoned steel," I said. Such a device, like the poisoned arrow, was not only against the codes of the warriors, but, generally, was regarded as unworthy of men. Poison was regarded as a woman's weapon.
Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 18
[106]
Similar patterns are used by given individuals to identify their arrows or other personal belongings. It is particularly important to identify the arrows, for this can make a difference in the division of meat.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 214
Scarlet bands, in number from one to five, are commonly used by Kaiila warriors to mark their weapons, in particular their lances and arrows. To this mark, or marks, then, will be added the personal design, or pattern, of the individual warrior. An arrow then, say, may be identified not only as Kaiila, but, within the tribe, or band, as the arrow of a particular warrior.
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 37
[107]
Many lacked even points and were little more than featherless, sharpened sticks. Yet, impelled with force from the small, fierce bows of the red savages at short range, they, too, would be dangerous.
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 415
[108]
I found a black tem-wood arrow, a sheaf arrow, and fitted it unsteadily to the string of the great bow, the yellow bow, from the wine trees of Gor.
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 125
I fitted an arrow, of black tem-wood, with a pile point, to the string of the yellow bow.
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 178
[109]
The Gorean sheaf arrow is slightly over a yard long, the flight arrow is about forty inches in length. Both are metal piled and fletched with three half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gulls.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 68
Ellen had never seen such an arrow. It was quite different from the crossbow quarrels, of course, but, too, it seemed so much longer, and more slender, and lengthily feathered, than the arrows she had seen in the war quivers of Cosian archers.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 615
[110]
At point-blank range the tem-wood shaft can be fired completely through a four-inch beam; at two hundred yards it can pin a man to a wall; at four hundred yards it can kill the huge, shambling bosk
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 180
[111]
I looked back and noted, high, lofting in the moonlight night, an arrow, with a silver pennon attached to it, It climbed more and more slowly to the height of its arc, seemed to pause, and then, gracefully, turned and looped down, faster and faster, the moonlight sparkling on the fluttering, silvered pennon.
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 415
Surely there had been no signal arrows from the lower posts, no torches, no cries of warning.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 8
At this point, a narrow object, with a shrill whistle, its trail laced with smoke, ascended high into the air from the midst of the planks and timbers.
"The survivors have sighted us," said Thurnock.
"They try to attract our attention," said Clitus.
"They have done so," said Thurnock.
We watched the object, trailing red and yellow smoke, from ignited powders, reach its zenith, and then it seemed to slow and pause, and then, still trailing smoke, and whistling, fell into the sea.
Such an object is fired from a bow. The arrow, or quarrel, as the case may be, is designed to whistle and smoke. They are used as, in a sense, flares. They are not unknown in Gorean waters. I had encountered something very similar at the World's End. Pani warriors sometimes used whistling, smoke arrows to initiate and coordinate attacks. Occasionally a colored ribbon was affixed to the arrow to make it even easier to mark its passage.
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 28
He fitted a signal arrow to his bow, an artifact whose nature and use I had learned from the high warriors of the Pani, the men of two swords, at the World's End.
Thurnock was an enormously large and strong man and his bow was mighty, one which few men could draw.
The arrow, with its shrill whistle, sped upward, farther and farther. My men were instructed to hold their fire until the sound lessened, stopped at the height of its missile's long arc, and then began again, shrill again, in its plummeting descent.
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Pages 204 - 205
[112]
Almost at the same time, another arrow, trailing a spume of smoke, ascended from the ship, paused at the height of its trajectory and then, trailing its tail of smoke, descended, falling into the water.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 254
I learned later of the nature of the attack, the silent, signaling smoke arrows coordinating the four prongs of the attack
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 4
"Yes," I said. "Classically, ideally, one digs beneath the walls at many points, say, twenty to fifty. The wall is then supported from beneath by timbers. At a given signal, the blasting of trumpets, the clashing of cymbals, the whistling of smoke arrows, the beating of drums, or such, the timbers are removed by ropes or blows, not fire, as fire is unpredictable and slow. When this is done successfully, the walls collapse at several points simultaneously, opening the town or city to the enemy."
Avengers of Gor Book 36 Page 261
[113]
The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base is either angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the result in both cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from a wound.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 40
[114]
The head of the war arrow, too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that of the hunting arrow. The point thus, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out, is likely to linger in the wound.
Savages of Gor Book 17 Page 40
[115]
From among the weapons at the foot of the couch, from one of the cylindrical quivers, still of the sort carried in Torvaldsland, I drew forth a long, dark arrow. It was more than a yard long. Its shaft was almost an inch thick. It was piled with iron, barbed. Its feathers were five inches long, set in the shaft on three sides, feathers of the black-tipped coasting gull, a broad-winged bird, with black tips on its wings and tail feathers, similar to the Vosk gull.
Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 235
[116]
At that moment there was a long whistle, and I picked out a shaft, an ascending arrow, fired from somewhere on the ship below. It reached the zenith of its flight, turned in the air, scarcely visible, and then, with a different whistling pitch, descended.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 254
And sometimes whistling arrows are used, much like those which convey signals, initiate attacks, and such.
Rebels of Gor Book 33 Page 252
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