Gorean Weapons - Bows

This is my narrative and relevant references from the Books about Bows.
It is not meant to be anything other than the facts of the matter. Arrive at your own conclusions.

I wish you well,
Fogaban

Bows

To The Index

First, it might be noted that the most powerful devices of war are the crossbow and lance. [f1] 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. [f2] Therefore, as common as the crossbow and longbow are, many warriors still favor the spear. [f3]

The preferred wood for constructing a bow is from the ka-la-na tree. But wood from the tur tree can also be used. [f4]

The bow string is usually hemp, whipped with silk, [f5] the silk reducing fraying and wear. [f6] But other material will work too such as rope, parted, unraveled, and rewoven. [f7]

Bows are typically left unstrung when not in use. This reduces fatigue in the wood. [f8]

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. [f9]

The bow is carried over the back, [f10] or may simply be, still strung, hung on the shoulder. [f11] The same is true with the quiver, carried on the back, [f12] or slung over the shoulder. [f13] However, the quiver can also be worn at the hip. [f14]

Crossbow

To The Index

Although primarily an infantry weapon, [f15] a lot like a subby rifle, [f16] even referred to as a shoulder bow, [f17] they can be carried slung over the back with the quiver, [f18] but they are also small enough to be concealed beneath a cloak. [f19] The crossbow is the assassin's preeminent weapon. [f20]

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. [f21]

The crossbow can also used from tarnback, [f22] the quiver then being specially constructed to hold the bolts in place. [f23] The range of a crossbow, at least from the height of a wall, is hundreds of yards. [f24] The quarrels and fins are made of iron [f25] and the initial velocity is the better part of 3,696 feet per second. With that force it can pass completely through a human, [f26] pierce a solid wood door [f27] or gouge out a cupful of masonry from a brick wall. [f28]

It takes at least eleven or twelve seconds to have a crossbow ready to fire again, [f29] the crossbowmen winding the string tight for a new quarrel, [f30] then retaking his stance, left foot forward, right foot back, crosswise, and braced. [f31]

Although, it should be mentioned, some crossbows can be reset more quickly. [f32]

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. [f33]

And of course it is necessary to keep the mechanisms oiled from time to time. [f34]

Horn Bow

To The Index

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, [f35] which are barbed. [f36] This bow is excellent for use from kaiila back or from within a wagon. [f37] 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. [f38]

The horn bow is known for its rapid fire capability, being able to launch twenty arrows in 30 seconds. [f39] While at close range it is a fearsome weapon, [f40] interestingly, it has never been used by tarnsmen. [f41] 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. [f42]

The horn bow is also spoken of as being used by the natives of the polar basin, [f43] and the Red Savages. The Red Savages keep their bows in fringed, beaded bow cases. [f44]

Ship Bow

To The Index

The ship bow, is mentioned as being used on the ships of the Vosk River [f45] 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. [f46]

Short Bow

To The Index

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. [f47] Even women can use this bow. [f48] Quite possibly this is the bow used by the Panther Girls [f49] with their smaller arrows. [f50]

Saddle Bow

To The Index

Similar to the short bow this one is described as being fit for clearing the saddle, [f51] and is referred to by name as the saddle bow. [f52]

Long Bow

To The Index

The long bow is a far more devastating weapon than its rival, the crossbow, but few men have the strength to use it well. [f53] A peasant can fire a dozen missiles into the air before the first falls back to earth. [f54] And devastating it is. First, it is accurate to two hundred yards. [f55] 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. [f56] Another time, an arrow passes completely through a body, flashing beyond him and vanishing in the distance. [f57] Even at range, it can sink an iron-piled shaft four inches into a wooden stump. [f58] And an arrow, fired even from a quarter-drawn bow, can still penetrate your back. [f59]

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. [f60] 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. [f61]

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. [f62]

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. [f63]

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. [f64]

Straight Bow

To The Index

Small straight bows are reasonably common on Gor. These are often used for hunting light game and runaway slaves. [f65]

Tuchuk Bow

To The Index

The Tuchuk bow, developed over generations of warfare, is small enough to easliy 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. [f66]

Pani Bow

To The Index

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. [f67]

Arrows

To The Index

The Gorean sheaf arrow is made from black tem-wood, [f68] 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, [f69] which are attached with thread and glue. [f70] 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. [f71]

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. [f72]

The hunting arrow has a long, tapering point which is firmly fastened to the shaft. [f73] The Pani arrow is long much like the peasant bow. [f74]

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. [f75] Enough to make you cringe, the head of the war arrow is 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. [f76]

There is also a padded, stunning arrow which has the point removed and the end covered with a wad of fur, [f77] which can then, if desired, be reused by replacing the steel pile. [f78]

Some arrows are poisoned but these are generally regarded as unworthy of men. [f79]

Fire arrows are used to start fires from a distance. [f80]

While not really a weapon, I'll mention for reference, the signal arrow. An arrow with an attached silver pennon fluttering behind it. [f81]

Some arrows of the Red Savages are identified individually as the arrow of a particular warrior. [f82]

And other arrows can be little more featherless, sharpened sticks. [f83]

For what it's worth, the word Karjuk, in the language of the Innuit, means arrow. [f84]

Lastly I shall mention the War Arrow of Torvald, not because it is a weapon but, becuase 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. [f85]