The Mounted Archery Quiver – Horse Archery Quiver

Devices for holding an archer’s arrows have been around for probably as long as bows and arrows themselves. This article explores the mounted archery quiver, also sometimes called a horse archery quiver. Mounted archery quivers do come in many forms and styles and vary from culture to culture. Most are relatively small compared to infantry archery quivers and were almost always worn on the hip.

 

 

Scythian Gorytos

A unique quiver arrangement, the Scythian gorytos is a combination of a bow case and a quiver in one package. The ancient Persians, who were in contact with the Scythians also made use of this style of mounted archery quiver.

 

 

Several examples survived through the ages and have been recovered from tombs and burials in the former territories of Scythian tribes. A strung bow is placed in the gorytos close to the archer, and the arrows (with nocks up) are in a compartment on the outside of the quiver. The quiver was typically carried on the left hip of the archer, facing towards the archer’s back. Several surviving examples are highly decorated, and one was found to be made of human skin.

 

Ottoman Quiver

Ottoman style, Turkish mounted archery quivers are compact and many surviving examples are beautifully decorated. These quivers, like most horse archery quivers, are suspended from a belt and rests on the archer’s hip. In the case of the Ottoman quiver, the arrows are put in so the nocks point up and towards the back of the archer. The quiver itself only covers roughly the bottom third of the arrows. The archer will not have to pull an arrow out very much in order to free it from the quiver.

 

 

The Ottoman quiver is worn on the right side of the archer. Combined with a thumb draw, where the arrows are nocked onto the right side of the bow (for a right-handed archer), the quiver on the right hip allows for quick and convenient reloading. Check out these hand-made, Ottoman style quivers by The Flying Hun (CLICK IMAGE FOR LINKS):

 

 

Korean Style Quiver

The Korean style of mounted archery quiver is also a relatively small quiver worn on the hip. The arrows are placed with nocks up and the quiver is worn so that the arrow nock point to the back of the archer. Korean quivers are, like most horse archery quivers, relatively shallow, allowing for the archer to easily extract the arrows.

 

Check out this Korean style quiver by horsearcheryshop.com! Ideal for mounted archery. Click image for link:

 

Hungarian (Magyar) Quiver

The ancient Magyar or Hungarian quiver is somewhat unique among mounted archery quivers. It is of a tubular shape, tapering at the center (somewhat like an hourglass). It is not a shallow quiver but rather covers the entirety of the arrows it holds. A small flap grants access to the arrows within, which are placed pointed end up unlike most other arrow arrangements in archery. Arrowhead selection may have been easier with this orientation. Several fragments of Magyar quivers have been recovered from burial sites and tombs in Eastern Europe.

 

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Japanese Mounted Quiver

Several types of quivers were used in traditional Japanese archery. Yebira, ebira and shiko all names of Japanese quiver. The quivers would often be highly decorated. They’re held in place by means of a belt with nocks up, pointed toward the rear of the archer.  They differ from the cylindrical yazutsu which hold arrows in kyudo. The arrows are taken out of this and held in the draw hand. Many styles of Japanese mounted quiver are quite unique in their minimalist design with the sides of the quiver leaving the arrow tips exposed.

 

 

 

Manchu (Chinese) Quiver

The Manchu quivers are, like other Asiatic quivers, quite shallow. They are worn from a belt, with nocks pointed up and towards the back of the archer. Extra pockets and slots are usually attached to the main quiver to allow the archer to better divide his many types of arrows (blunt head, whistling etc.). This is an extensive article on the Manchu quiver here: http://www.manchuarchery.org/qing-bow-cases-quivers

Note the extra compartments on the side and front of the bow:

Modern Quivers

Modern mounted archery quivers draw on the designs of some of the above mentioned historical quivers. Many creative artisans make wonderful quivers today that I am sure our archer ancestors would be quite impressed by.