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New Article on Blunts and their use in medieval archery

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WillS:
Here's the infamous Lutrell Psalter image of archers practicing at the target butte, using blunts.  You can see the sharp points on the blunts in the close up pic.





The wooden blunts that I've seen Mark make are identical to this, using natural fibre binding in the middle, and wooden sharp points in the end.

outcaste:
Hi,

Relevant to the topic is the 2008 paper written by Richard Wadge: 'Medieval Arrowheads from Oxfordshire'. Lots if interesting information on arrowhead finds; military, hunting and for practice. I would also like to know the number of medieval organic blunts found in the UK. Can anyone cast any light on this?

Alistair

Yeomanbowman:
Will,
From the Psalter image you posted we can see that the blunts have clearly stuck deep into the butt whether they had protruding steel/iron or not.  Looking at the archers, it is difficult to read what the artist is portraying as some arrows appear to be self/horn pointed and others tipped (or placed over needle bodkins).  It could be read from the image that some arrows have been all made from a single billet of wood as in other bow cultures.  Our un-steeled replica stuck in the ground in the summer, albeit, a Welsh summer!!!
The image linked here is for hunting and not practice, per se.  This looks metal tipped but if he misses or bird flies away mid shot, the arrow could end up pinned high in the tree.
http://www.bl.uk/turning-the-pages/?id=d06e9f02-074d-46f7-a46c-090548b402d5&type=book
If the blunts are placed over bodkins, as you suggest, how does this save on metal?  Is it that it ensured, or a least goes some way to, that metal heads were easier to find?

WillS:
Hi Jeremy,

I wasn't suggesting that they were placed over bodkins at all - as far as I'm aware (and looking at the blunts Mark made) it's all wood.  The blunt itself (the main body bound with natural fibres and turned) is wooden, as is the sharp point sticking out.  Whether it's all a single piece or not I don't know, but it makes more sense if it is one piece. 

My own personal interpretation of it all is that steel was saved for the military heads due to cost and labour (both in preparing the steel and in forging the heads) and most other types of head used for practice, hunting, sport etc would be wooden, keeping the cost down and ergo resulting in far fewer metal heads being found in areas that weren't involved in battle. 

So to clarify, I don't think the blunts were placed over bodkins, but that the blunts included sharp wooden spikes at the end, either turned with the blunt itself or fixed somehow to the blunt.  Perhaps even the arrow shaft itself was sharpened and heated to strengthen it, and a blunt placed around it to provide the necessary weight?

When Mark and Ian write up the next bit hopefully they'll discuss his methods of construction.

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