Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26444332-20151226222621/@comment-26172435-20151227235613

Draugluin the werewolf wrote: Faenor of the Silver Laurel wrote:

Draugluin the werewolf wrote: the thing is they wouldn't use flat bows :P Dunlendings are based on celts/saxons who used longbows or shortbows but flatbows were more mediterreanian (the ancient greeks used them) a dunlending bow would probably look a lot like a Gondorian or vannila bow but with a bit of a recurve Flatbows are actually used by tribal peoples like the Native Americans. Mediterranean peoples typically used recurve or reflex bows. the Greeks and the Phonenicians used them XD So, as you guys are on it, could you answer this (quoted from an earlier post I made):

''Why would the Dunlendings have developed flat bows, and supported the effort it requires to craft them (dedicated bowyers)? Frequent wars among the tribes of the 'wilder' men in the second age? Typical hunting circumstances forcing this?''

Note that before I asked that, I also found that native americans used flat bows and I deducted from info on several websites that flat bows and many other types of advanced bow, were typically developed / used by peoples who had a specific need for this, implying they would also spend signficant resources (special wood and skilled folk) on these advanced bow types. For native americans I figured their need is so specific and an essential part of their existence (many of them hunter-nomads) that their specialization level would also be quite extreme: any warrior/hunter could have acquired 'bowyer skills' to craft flat bows of most types of wood available to them.

So, I wondered, what could this tell us about the likelihood Dunlendings could have developed advanced bows like flat bows? I'm rather ambivalent on this. My gut feeling says it would not really fit in the view I have of 'wild men' Dunlending society and pursuits before the Eotheod drove them out of Calenardhon. On the other hand, their long stay in the relatively open grassy realm of Calenardhon may have forced them to use quick-draw bows that could be crafted from many low-quality wood types. Flat bows, long bows or 'vanilla bows'? Which would have been the type of bow most/sufficiently fit for Dunlending purposes, based on their habitat and presumed life style habits?