About Legolas' bow

[Alkithilien]

I really need to know from which wood the bow of Legolas was made? If it's other wood in book and other in movie then I would be really happy to know both answers.
Hope someone can help me... thx in advice.

[Naldoriathil]

I don't think we know, most likely from Mirkwood where he was born. Why do you need to know? If anyone else knows, please post it here.....thank you! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Jurion]

In the Two Towers and Return of the King Legolas used a Bow of the Galadhrim, made from the wood in Lothlorien.

To Legolas she gave a bow such as the Galadhrim used, longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, and strung with a string of elf-hair. With it went a quiver of arrows

Book 2, Chapter 8 "Farewell to Lorien

Before that he just used a bow from Mirkwood.

[ February 09, 2003: Message edited by: Jurion ]

[Alkithilien]

but there had to be other answer... and probably not from book, but from movie...
and this quote I know good.... hm... there must be some answer...

[Jurion]

In the extended dvd edition, Galadriel gives gifts to each member of the fellowship. I think I remember Legolas receiving a bow, which must be a Bow of the Galadhrim. I could be wrong though, as I haven't watched the movie for over two months.

[Inderjit Sanghera]

I would excpect that his bow before Lothlorien was just a normal Elvish bow. Of what wood it is made of, I don't know.

[Ithaeliel]

The Galadhrim bow was quite likely made of mallorn wood, which unfortunately you can't find in the real world [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]. I don't know what his Mirkwood bow was made of, but it may have been yew; of course I have no base for that; it's just a guess.

[HCIsland]

there must be some answer...

Why? I think what you are hearing here is as good as you are going to get.

H.C.

[Alkithilien]

but the answer is mellorn... I hear it from third person so that must be it;]
Thank you very much!!!

[Cúdae]

The bow from Lothlorien probably was mallorn. As to Mirkwood... the forest itself is supposedly a forest of "beech and oak" therefore, I'd be willing to say you would do well with either of those trees. Yew was a common wood though and, from my own wooden bow, maple is bendable enough to work.

That probably didn't help you very much, but they are some possible answers. I would cast my lot with beech or oak though. And more so with beech because oak is quite the tough wood.

[doug*platypus]

It's a bit rash to assume that the Galadhrim made bows of mellyrn (mallorns) just because those trees were the most famous in Lórien. They were rare and venerated, and we don't know anything about their physical properties. It might be that the elves would never even think of carving up one of their favourite trees.

Yew was the favoured wood in Merry Olde England. Got no idea why though! Anyone? Where's Bill Ferny when you actually need him? I think I'll put up the Bill Signal... was it the FATE of Legolas' first bow to end up in a rubbish bin (trash can) in Lórien Central Park? Or was Legolas simply exercising his FREE WILL when he chose to take what was clearly a better bow instead of the old faithful one that his father the King probably gave him?

[Inderjit Sanghera]

We'rnt the Mallorn trees brought from Numenor, who brought them from Aman. They were grown in the Western gardens of Numenor, I believe.

[Alkithilien]

geez... it's quite complicated... but thx for all^^

[Bill Ferny]

Where's Bill Ferny when you actually need him?

Despite your earnest attempt, Doug, this thread isn’t about free will. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Gaston Foebus, Count of Foix, wrote in 1388, that a longbow should be "of yew or boxwood, seventy inches between the points of attachment for the cord.”

Typical English longbows drew between 90 and 110 pounds. Indeed, the weapon was not something that one could just pick up and use. Most boys would start with smaller bows around the age of 9 or 10 and as they grew they would progressively play and practice with larger bows until they were strong enough to use the six foot long yew bows. Archery was a favorite pass-time for boys and girls from every social class. Apparently, as early as AD 1250 in England it was every father’s responsibility to teach their sons the use of the bow and see to their progression in archery. Because the peasantry didn’t have much time for the hunt, there was only one reason for this practice, as the French were to learn all too well.

This gif demonstrates very well the relative size of the longbow in proportion to the human body, length of arrow, and how far an English yeoman would draw the bow (plus I really like this little guy):



Why taxus baccata (yew)? First of all yew is the densest of the confers, and thus is very hard but pliable making it perfect for the bow. The same size bow made of other woods of roughly the same pliability would produce at best only 1/3 the draw in pounds that one made of yew would. Yew wood is naturally resistant to weathering, and doesn’t splinter as readily as other woods. A friend of mine who tinkers around with historical archery (from whom I'm getting most of this info anyway) tells me that yew is by far the best natural material known to man for the bow, and I’m inclined not to disagree with him (if you knew him, you wouldn’t either).

Secondly, the yew tree always had a certain mystique about it. Owing no doubt to its long life it was associated with immortality. Pre-Christian druids built their temples near yews, and sometimes maintained sacred groves around a single yew tree growing by itself. Traditionally, both Christian and pre-Christian peoples planted yew trees near burial grounds and cemeteries. The last time I visited England I noted no less than a dozen churches with yews growing in their churchyards (an example of the obscure things only I would notice). There’s an old English folk song that tells how Jesus was nailed “to a big yew tree.”

Because of the way two or more yew trees grow together, with separate but twisting trunks, they are very picturesque, and as my wife pointed out one day, rather erotic.



I’m rather surprised that the yew doesn’t play a part in Middle Earth. Maybe the reason why Tolkien didn’t use the yew more extensively is because it’s a confer, and he seemed to have a certain predilection for deciduous trees. There’s something more picturesque about golden autumn leaves, I suppose.

But were Tolkien's elven bows akin to the English longbow? Hmmm.

Bows made of mallorn would be pretty unlikely, considering that there was no cutting or burning of wood in the whole forest (which to me seems rather over the top, even for elves, but that's beside the point). However, I guess it is possible that wooden objects could have been made out of dead fall (if the mallorn had dead fall).

As to Mirkwood... the forest itself is supposedly a forest of "beech and oak" therefore, I'd be willing to say you would do well with either of those trees.

Beech, or as the elves would call it, neldoreth, would not be made into bows. The wood is short grained and brittle, thus worthless for a bow. Oak is more likely, but not if elven bows were the size of the English longbow. Oak is harder than yew, but not as pliable. An oak bow the same size as a yew bow would probably (rough estimate on my part) be about 10 to 20 pounds of additional draw. Maybe good for a Greek hero, but not so good for the common yeoman.

Nowhere does Tolkien mention what the heck his elven bows were made out of. I don’t think he knew.

[ April 27, 2003: Message edited by: Bill Ferny ]