bows and arrows

Hey Truth, good to see you around again. Hope you've been well.

I would disagree with you slightly the truth ;in that all archers in the art of battle would have been from the lower orders. You were either poor or you were rich, and if you rich and called to battle you wouldn't be an archer or a footman!

Although saying that the rich did learn how to handle a bow and arrow, even if it was just for the pleasures of hunting.

I found that interesting what you said Truth,about the middle finger thing. Makes sense to me. You wouldnt want your enemy to continue firing at you if they escaped ! Grusome times tho ! eek, fancy being the one going around cutting fingers ! Now, WHO was the one nominated to do the yuky deed ?!
I mean, can you see them sitting in the local Inn discussing the days events...."how many toes did you cut off today ?...I only had 30 fingers to deal with...pretty slack really"

I agree with you Ally, One of the reasons archery tourneys became popular was to encourage people to take it up, because Archers were in big demand for battle . I didnt mean to imply that all Archers were poor ,but rather that they tended to be from the lower classes and were poorly paid ,In Europe that is. In Asia it was very popular , the Mongols were quite accomplished archers and did so from horseback , now that would definately take skill. I used to shoot compound and recurve bow , till I tore my rotator cuff , so I took up the crossbow.

thanks Eldo Im hanging in there , I will have to do some research I think there was a specific battle between the French & Brits when the finger cutting started , I think the Brit Archers actually gave them the finger enmass in battle . LOL can you imagine gettig the finger from 300 people at one time , that rates right up there with a 80 year old woman giving you the bird . I could only laugh at that , My mother once told me that young people would blow the car horn at her and her friends
when they walked across parking lots in front of their cars slowly because they both had bad knees , so I told her to give them the finger , she said they might run over us , I said I doubt it mom they will probably soil themselves laughing about it or be embarrassed .

My knowledge of archery is admittedly skewed because I'm a student of European Medieval history; but I assume that the influence of mounted archers did not spread to Western warfare because of the dominance of castles and siege warfare?

Interesting that the position of the archer was different in Asia. Do you know why?

I wonder how widespread the practice of cutting off archers fingers was. In the early Medieval period, where armies were relatively small, prisoners were taken as hostages so I guess they could have had their fingers cut off. But sadly as armies recruit from a larger pool of commonfolk most soldiers are left to simply die.

As azriel mentioned, it would be a bit of a chore to capture and cut off hundreds of fingers!

WHY DO I ALWAYS GET SHOT WITH ARROWS?? I THOUGHT /RUE/ ALWAYS GOT SHOT WITH ARROWS >.> shush

Not sure on that one Ally , If I was to venture a guess i would assume It had something to do with the length of the Longbow ,It would seem like it would be un-wieldy and hard to draw back on a moving horse , It also takes alot of upper body strength to draw a bow back and its about immpossible to do from a sitting position , Thats probably why the Mongols and Persians used short recurve bows , which would have made them easier to draw without sacrificing power and arrow speed , but the would have had a shorter effective range . If you look at the bows the Japanese used they were even longer than European Long Bows . I know who's brain to pick for Medieval info now Ally , that would be one of my favorited periods of History , that and Military History .

having been an archer myself You need two fingers to pull the bow, so the French cut off the index and second finger, thus giving rise to the English two fingered insult salute. like Churchills V salute inverted.

When talking about Asian versus European use of archery, I think there's a connection to the stirrup somewhere. the Parthians could do their famous "Parthian shot" because they were better mounted than the Romans, but of course by the high middle ages everyone had stirrups. Maybe it's too dang hard to work a bow in full armor?

Good to see you back, Truth.

like the dothotaki from a song of ice

Until it hits the window pane, bounces back off & KILLS THE BABY.

gothic imagery. kissing you as waves explode around us. Reading you Gatsby and watching you dress. My black bow tie. Lipstick. Tender force

Thats rather moving CC.

Is it?

The line -'Reading you Gatsby and watching you dress.'

Struck me as one of the most romantic images I have read in a long time. Maybe Im ill!

Oh... romance. Ally called me a cold hearted bastard yesterday so probably why I dont get this romance crap.

Not your fault Lance- its just you lack a passionate celtic heart.

Some would say any heart, not just a passionate celtic one!

Petty's a die hard romantic; reliving grunge's glory days with cozy plaids and thermals, long romantic skirts, and all-American work boots.

Or Im ill- spring malady.

Rigby's back!

Though on the subject of Gatsby, upon multiple attempts to read the book (without being force-fed by a teacher) I've found it to be so unredeemably depressing that I barely make it through the first chapter. I know there's a deeply romantic story buried in there, but it's so tangled in ennui and jaded perspectives I'm sure it will be smothered to death before I slog my way through to rescue it.

That's why god invented movies! (and Baz Luhrmann)

I think this corresponds with the front part of the chapter's atmosphere.
Something is hidden behind something.