Gang.

Tell me. Has anyone in history ever fired an arrow from (what is to me) the wrong side of the bow.*

A right handed archer would always position the arrow on the right side of the bow..(as he looks at it)..never cross over to the left of the bow, so the arrow would go over his left wrist on release, would he ?

Asking for a friend, who is mending/ 'tarting up' some ancients so that a miniatures firm in Middlesbrough can make up some new moulds.

Cheers - Phil.

*Apart from an archer who didn't have a clue.

As a former archery instructor with two daughters who do archery...

For a right hamder.
Hold your left hand out flat,knuckles upwards and grasp your bow horizontally
The arrow goes over the bow, onto the flat and rests on either an arrow rest or the upper/outside of your left hand as you 'knock' your arrow to the bowstring.
Then you rotate your left hand to the left, lifting the bow end while then pulling back the bowstring with your right

Most common learner error is to over rotate and the arrow falls off to the left. This avoids most of that.

If you bare bow (no sights or arrow rest) and shoot from the right side of your bow you end up grazing the top of your thumb with the arrow and are far more likely to drop your arrow

Left handers reverse all the above.

Ta, Will !

So you DO cross over on top of the left wrist ?

Somehow, the position of the arrows on the models my friend    is working on, look wrong.
Good...he won't have to grind the old arrow off and put a new one on.
I'll swear my friend had the arrow the other side when he had a go at field archery.
Mind you, that WAS almost 50 years ago...and he is getting senile.

Cheers - Phil

I've done archery a few times - and had to google some images to check!

I suspect why it looks wrong on small scale figures is that the arrow is massively over scale, and probably the figure isn't as side on as most archers are. IRL it looks less of a cross over of the left wrist, as more along the line of the left arm.

QuoteGang.

Tell me. Has anyone in history ever fired an arrow from (what is to me) the wrong side of the bow.*

A right handed archer would always position the arrow on the right side of the bow..(as he looks at it)..never cross over to the left of the bow, so the arrow would go over his left wrist on release, would he ?

Asking for a friend, who is mending/ 'tarting up' some ancients so that a miniatures firm in Middlesbrough can make up some new moulds.

Cheers - Phil.

*Apart from an archer who didn't have a clue.

Not sure whether I have your description correct.
But I'll chip in anyway.

Most national archery techniques will have right-handers sending the arrow to the left side of the bow.

Traditional Mongol and Korean archers placed the arrow on the right side.

Modern Mongol shooters align the arrow to the left when shooting on foot.
I don't know when or why they changed.

Amber Midthunder, from the movie Prey. The way she holds her right hand seems . . . odd?

Many thanks, Chaps !

Fascinating, as I've certainly got it at least half wrong.
Steve's info about Mongol archers 'switching sides' is really fascinating !

My memory is telling me that I fired the arrow from the right side of the bow...this may well be false.
I do remember (I'm absolutely sure) that the chap who showed me and Von how to fire a bow brought two bows around.
His own, and his wife's. I had trouble with the pull on HIS bow (60lbs ??)..but his wife's was OK. (40lbs.)
The other thing I remember was that I spurned the wrist guard, as I didn't think I'd be firing enough arrows to warrant it.
I had quite a swollen left wrist/forearm the next morning.....Does that show which side of the bow I was firing the arrow ?
Again..Asking for a fiend.

Western archers using a three finger split grip: Looking down range arrow is on left of bow (when string drawn by right hand).

Eastern archers (using a thumb ring to draw and release in a thumb and forefinger grip) arrow on right side of bow. (drawn by right hand).

The reason being the different grips impart a slightly different travel on the string when released.

Haven't done any archery for some years but I didn't place the arrow on a different side for field vice target archery.

As for string slap bruising your forearm I suspect you would get it with either style, but I've never tried shooting a lot of arrows eastern style. Western style certainly will bruise your forearm.

The woman in the picture for some reason has her hand upside down to a normal western grip and release but this is not a thumb and forefinger eastern grip. Neither is it a native American pinch grip which would generally place the arrow on the opposite side to how she has it (ie on the right like an eastern style). The latter was was not a universal native American grip and there are many variants among the native nations.

On my modern recurve bow, the arrow goes on the left hand side for a right handed shooter (note you DO NOT fire a bow!). Holding the bow just now, I'm not sure how I would be able to hold the arrow in place on the right hand side before loosing it, without it falling off. I might be able to hold it in place with my thumb, but doubt it.

If you learn to hold you left arm correctly, you do not need a gaurd to prevent the string from slapping your wrist, but it takes a lot of practice and strength to be able to do this. A guard is therefore preferable, especially when having loosed say 20 arrows, as you get pretty tired by then.

Minor (& very pedantic) point - sorry.
But you shoot a bow whereas you fire a musket or gun.
If you fire a bow, it will only keep you warm for a relatively brief period of time 

On a related point there are plenty of medieval illustrations showing longbows (large self bows) with the arrow shaft on the right-hand side. However, that might just be an artistic convention, as its easier to depict it that way.
Also, you rarely see wrist-guards in medieval representations of archers, but many actual examples have been found, so period paintings and illustrations are not that reliable.

There is an interesting illustration in a C15th book showing the Martyrdom of St. Anthony (always a great source of period archery examples - due to him being martyred by being shot to death) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ( https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/368603 *) that shows 3 archers two of whom are using different sides of the bow to locate the arrow shaft.
*NB: this is a particularly nice illustration as it shows beautifully the systems of points (laces) used to attach the hose (tight trousers) to the doublet (jacket) and the fact that the rear sets of points were often left untied when the wearer was undertaking activities that required a lot of bending.

Other good examples are:
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/antonio-del-pollaiuolo-and-piero-del-pollaiuolo-the-martyrdom-of-saint-sebastian
https://www.meisterdrucke.ie/fine-art-prints/Hans-Holbein-the-Elder/1091029/Martyrdom-of-St-Sebastian,-by-Hans-Holbein-the-Elder.html

As these painting get later in the 'medieval' period and into the C16th, you get more crossbows and fewer bows. But the Antonio-del-Pollaiuolo painting has some great period detail, especially on crossbow mechanisms (and how they are drawn) and the quivers, on the ground, with the quarrel heads upright in the quivers. Also, the painting on the bows is very interesting, as it replicates similar painted Middle Eastern composite bows in various museums. The archers also have their arrows with the heads upright, rather than with the flights showing, which might be a way to stop the flights from getting damaged in bad weather.

Cheers
Mark

St Sebastian was the guy shot with arrows.
Also caveat artistic accuracy generally re military detail.
All those medieval representations of Biblical scenes using soldiers in medieval costume is giving us a heads up they may not have been too bothered with the accurate depiction of military types.

Always wanting to help my fellow forumites, especially techno here is some information I have found 

Here are some pictures that may help if studied closely.




Note the Flight feather markings


THis is the correct stance when looking from behind

QuoteSt Sebastian was the guy shot with arrows.
Also caveat artistic accuracy generally re military detail.
All those medieval representations of Biblical scenes using soldiers in medieval costume is giving us a heads up they may not have been too bothered with the accurate depiction of military types.

I think that artists tended to use military equipment that is in period for the date the painting was done, rather than for what was in use at the time the painting is depicting. 

Quote from: Gwydion on 02 January 2025, 04:07:08 PMSt Sebastian was the guy shot with arrows.
Also caveat artistic accuracy generally re military detail.
All those medieval representations of Biblical scenes using soldiers in medieval costume is giving us a heads up they may not have been too bothered with the accurate depiction of military types.

You are of course right about it being St. Sebastian. I was looking for other similar saintly deaths and had St. Anthony on my mind 

You are right about the representations of biblical or scenes from antiquity in medieval paintings, but generally I've found that a lot of the later medieval/early renaissance paintings get more realistic in their contemporary representations as time progresses.

A few more interesting images below:
https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/Simon-Bening/877387/The-Martyrdom-of-Saint-Sebastian.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrdom_of_Saint_Sebastian_%28Signorelli%29
https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/sergio-anelli/martyrdom-of-st-sebastian-by-unknown-artist-1430-15th-century-woodcut-on-paper/xylography/asset/943073