Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Arrowind on April 08, 2012, 08:02:14 pm
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A while back I posted a bow I made for my brother called “Blue Dragon Bow”.
I wanted one for myself so I made this one.
The idea is that this bow was made for a Nordic Warrior who travels through lands inhabited with dragons.
The boarder on each limb has words of wisdom taken from the Hávamál
inscribed in elder futhark.
The Hávamál (The Ballad of the High One) is part of the Poetic Edda. The Hávamál gives thoughts on wise living and retells the story of how Odin received the knowledge of the mysteries of the Runes.
More on the Poetic Edda here: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_Edda
Each boarder transforms into a species of dragon who’s tail wraps around the neck of another species facing each other.
The top limb says:
Generous valiant men live best and seldom nourish sorrow but the cowardly man fears many things
And:
The foolish man thinks he will live forever if he avoids battle; but old age gives him no peace.
The bottom limb says:
If you long to travel over mountain or fjord, be sure you have ample food.
And:
A man in the open country must not go more than one step from his weapons
Inscribed in the middle of the top limb are the words:
Jared Son of Jon (the “J” in Jon is Y sound like “Yawn”)
Inscribed in the middle of the bottom limb is the name of the bow:
DRAGONBOW
Artwork and Finish:
The dragons are painted with acrylic paint. The runes are written in ink.
The bow is stained with wood ash and black walnut stain.
Finished with 6 coats satin wipe on poly.
I distressed the non working portions of the bow to make it look like the bow had seen some use. It is difficult to see in the pics but there are a lot of scratches and dents on the handle, levers, and some on the belly edges.
The handle is vegetable tanned cow hide tooled and dyed showing a dragon’s head on each side then joined at the neck in the middle at the center of the handle.
The tip overlays are deer antler.
Stats:
Hickory
Mollegabet
60” tip to tip
58” nock to nock
63lbs @ 28”
Thanks for looking.
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MORE PICS
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Wow, that's some serious artwork! Very impressive. Tiller looks great too :)
How much time did you put into all the artwork? Talk about patience!
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That.....
...is a work of Art!!
Incredible and interesting detail you've put into it.
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Amazing artwork!! That is definitely an inspiration.
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Absolutely beautiful bow, really like the leather handle.... Great job!
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I like that handle, and a nice tiller to boot!
That lord of the rings quote brings back memories of the one spot in a movie that could make my whole family laugh, thank you for that
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Thats one sweet bow! I love those mollys, especially when they're covered in artwork. Good job!
Tattoo Dave
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My son and I are scrolling through these pictures and he's saying wow a little louder with each pic.I think he likes it ,so do I ,very well done-Hammertime
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very nice bow
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nice artwork,nice bow! man your makin me want to draw on a bow now ;D
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nice bow, what came first, the story or the bow, bub
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That is simply a awesome bow........pure work of art. Very nice.
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Beautiful bow! :D Funny to finish an afternoon of Skyrim and check in to see this bow. Definitely captured the spirit. ;) Who said that nothing productive ever came out of playing a video game? >:D
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I have a total thing for artwork and this just enraptured me! Well done!
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Yes Sir!
That's a Fine Looking Bow!
-gus
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Great Looking Bow, and some great artwork!
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Awesome! I love how the finish makes it look like an ancient bow.
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I really like Mollegabet bows but this one I REALLY LIKE!! Nice job.
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WOW!
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Good job! I really like the molle style bows and hickory. You certainly made your unique with all that artwork!!
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Extremeley well done bow. Love the art work and the thoughts behind it all. Very special, great job. Danny
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Beautiful bow. :)
Pappy
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I'm extremely impressed. You're a great artist. The leatherwork is a really nivce touch.
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Holy K-Rap!!!!
Talk about putting yourself into a bow, great job and detail work !!!
The toughest part of this thing for me is the detail stuff, you Sir are and artist!!!
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nice artwork, i do like dragons......
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I like that bow a lot! Normally I'm not a huge fan of art work on bows but this ones over the top. Great bow.
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you should be proud,that is one nice bow.your art work is awesome.very nice.
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Holy smokes! Be proud of that one
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that is a beauty nice work :)
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Sweet looking molly :)
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Wow THANKS everyone! I really appreciate it!
k-hat -
It took a really long time... I didn't do it all in one go. I did a little then set it aside then did a little more and set it aside. Not sure how many total hours it took but it was quite a lot for sure.
Youngboyer2 -
Thanks! - yes Lord of the Rings is my favorite movie. ( I consider all three one long movie) I cracked up when I saw that part. Thought it would be a fun quote for a bow forum. ;D
Bubby –
Thanks! I wanted to make a bow that would be similar to the one I gave my bro but push the dragon idea even further…so I thought a lot about it and the story came to mind then the bow followed…not sure if you really wanted an answer to that question but there it is. Thanks!
Weylin -
Skyrim is the BEST GAME EVER! IMO. >:D I’ve probably played that game far too much…..I wish they would have taken the crafting idea further with bows though…. ???
This bow was actually not inspired by Skyrim I started it prior to the games release but half way through I seriously considered changing the name to DRAGONBORN BOW!
I am thinking of doing one along those lines now though…
Steve Milbocker –
Thanks! That means a lot. I know people have different preferences so I wasn’t quite sure what kind of responses I’d get. I feel like what we do IS art. It’s hard for me not to do at least some artwork on my bows. It’s just something I HAVE to do.
I’ve seen more than one comment on here saying “I don’t like painted bows” or “we don’t need no fancy bows here!” I completely understand that. I also feel that some of the plainest, simplest looking bows are the most beautiful! I like ALL the above. I get to enjoy it all. :laugh:
Thanks again for your comments. I truly appreciate it!
EVERYONE –
Thanks! I’ve said it before but I feel like it should be said again. It’s one thing to hear positive comments from non bow makers and something a little more to hear positive things from people who share your love for bending a stick, putting a string on it and launching a pointy stick into oblivion!