# famous archer hero's in ancient history



## SS7777 (Mar 17, 2012)

Gunnar from one of the Norse Sagas, probably a fictional character.... Sir John Hawkwood, Yeoman archer, led the White Company into Italy. Genghis Khan and his generals, largest continuous land empire ever. Minamoto Tametoto (sp?), samurai.


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## Berny (Oct 25, 2011)

Ulysses (Latin) AKA Odysseus (Greek) from Homer's Odyssey.

Captain ("Mad") Jack Churchill.


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## Gravemind (Feb 21, 2014)

William Tell. Many people believe Earl Hoyt chose the apple as the the logo for his company in honor of his close friend Johnny Appleseed. But in actuality the apple logo is probably a reference to William Tell.


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## SpiritArcher (Aug 18, 2011)

I looked and couldn't find any reference to Sir John Hackwood as being an archer although he was knighted on the battlefield by the Black Prince, so it can be conceivable. I found very little in the way of information on famous European archers from the medieval period or earlier; however, it is said that the Robin Hood legend is based on a number of different men who existed during that period. Most documented archers from the medieval era or earlier seems to be those found in Asia. Minamoto no Tametomo of Japan being one of them.

Some notable greats though:

- Horace Ford
- Howard Hill
- Art Young and Saxton Pope
- Fred Bear

My personal fave - Captain Jack Churchill. The last English soldier on record to kill an enemy soldier with the Longbow. He did it during the English retreat from Dieppe during WWII.


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## hoyt316 (Mar 7, 2006)

Notable also would be Ishi who taught Art Young and Saxton Pope to chip heads and to make arrows and bows and how to shoot them. Take a look at the archery hall of fame and museum on the web. The Ishi award is the highest award given by Pope and Young.


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## SpiritArcher (Aug 18, 2011)

Although Ishi lived around the turn of the last century, he is a good example because of his isolation from modern white society and technological advances, he is the closest anthropological example of primitive archers we have. The knowledge he passed on to Pope and Young was invaluable in helping us understand how primitive archery equipment was made and used. Good choice, Hoyt136.


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## SonnyThomas (Sep 10, 2006)

Gravemind said:


> William Tell. Many people believe Earl Hoyt chose the apple as the the logo for his company in honor of his close friend Johnny Appleseed. But in actuality the apple logo is probably a reference to William Tell.


I was net surfing a long time ago. If I remember correctly, William Tell used a crossbow.


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## 4 Fletch (Jan 25, 2014)

Jack Churchill killed a guy with an arrow in WWII

http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=601960524369


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## JasonJ (Feb 10, 2016)

How about any of the English lowbowman from the middle ages? Takes quite a feat of heroics and strength to pull back those 150-200lb war bows and stand there, vulnerable and fire off 30 rounds per minute. 

What about the French and the incredible influential crossbow? I know we were talking about individuals... but if we expand to historically significant groups of people...


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## Pete53 (Dec 5, 2011)

with time passing rather quickly these days,what I have on my list of great archers and in a way they are ancient > Fred Bear,Howard Hill and maybe the two inventors of the modern compound bows Mr. Allen on the invention of the compound bow and Tom Jennings for his ability to improve the compound and samuri warriors of japan


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## georgiaarts (Sep 30, 2016)

I would look into Chinese history, If i remember correctly that was the weapon of choice and there were many famous archers.


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## comprar (Nov 9, 2015)

Legolas is a famous character created by J.R.R. Tolkien in his masterpiece series of novels “Lord of the Rings.” Legolas is described as an elf that has extraordinary archery skills. This skill of this elf makes him one of the famous fiction characters of all time. Legolas is one of the main characters in this series and throughout the adventure; he has been described as an unrivalled archer and has shown his great archery skills in defeating enemies.


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## DryHollow (Dec 12, 2020)

Wow, you guys are going way back in time. What about Chuck Adams in the 1980’s?


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## Yorkist Bowman (Feb 1, 2021)

The problem is that historical chroniclers did not commit very much writing towards archery and archers. What little they did account for is usually in regards to hunting leisure/pastime of the nobility. Historians of the 18th and 19th centuries had a tendency to downplay the role of archery in society, especially in military history where they favored the nobility, and knights. There are a few surviving retinue rosters for some longbowman recruited to serve in King Henry V campaign in France, and who fought at the battle of Agincourt. Otherwise the archer has sort of faded into obscurity.


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## Dah B (Jul 22, 2021)

I know this is an old thread, but it really caught my interest. You know, there really aren’t that many famous archers from antiquity. There really aren’t that many famous normal people period because ancient literature focused on politically powerful men like kings or mythological figures like Gilgamesh, Hercules, et al. And even only a fraction of those individuals would be remotely familiar to even very well-read people today. Archery adds an additional layer of mystery.

The Bible, or maybe more properly the ancient Hebrew texts that were later compiled into “The Book” or _Bible_ as we say now, notes a handful of archers.
- Esau: Son of the Patriarch Isaac and noted as a successful bowhunter. Otherwise, kind of a dolt and not really a hero in any sense.
- Jonathon: Son of King Saul and friend of King David (who was not such a bad marksman himself). The Bible notes in a couple places that Jonathon was an outstanding archer
- Uriah the Hittite: Wife of Bathsheba who is cuckolded and murdered by King David. But he’s also a great warrior and one of the famous “Mighty Men”. Being a Hittite, one of the composite bow and chariot nomadic peoples, I deduce he was also a proficient archer.

Other ancient Near Eastern civilizations like the Egyptians, Hyksos, Hittites, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Parthians, etc all heavily employed foot and horse archers in their armies. Any of their kings and generals would likely fit the bill of archery heros. A particular stand out:
- Ramesses II “the Great”: Pharaoh of Egypt. Victor of the Battle of Kadesh, the great chariot battle between the Egyptians and Hittites in which the light, fast Egyptian composite bow-wielding chariots defeated the heavier, slower Hittite chariots. Several engraving and paintings depict Ramesses shooting a bow from his chariot.

Ancient Western civilizations did not look terribly favorably on archery. Archery was a necessary evil, useful in war at best and downright sneaky and duplicitous at worst. Archers are the bad guys in the Greek legends – the coward Paris shooting the great warrior Achilles in the heel; the freaky Amazons who fight Hercules, etc. Archers are the bad guys in the Roman histories – the Parthians, the Huns, etc. To the extent that archery was practiced and archers formed important components of armies, archery was not a celebrated skill singled out for fame. Nevertheless, a handful of military commanders were notable for their employment of archers and light troops, if not being archers themselves.
- Demostheses: Athenian general during the Peloponnesian War who defeated a corps of Spartan hoplites at the Battle of Sphacteria by skillfully employing light troops including archers. It was the first time Spartans were ever defeated and captured in battle (you’ll recall they fought to the death at Thermopylae).
- Xenophon: Athenian general who led the famous “March of the Ten Thousand”, the army of Greek mercenaries who had to fight their way through the heart of Persia and back to Greece. He employed archers on several notable occasions, especially fighting the Kurds in the mountains of modern day Iraq/Turkey.
- Belisarius: Byzantine general who served Emperor Justinian and probably the greatest of the Roman military commanders after Julius Caesar (who never commanded archers as far as I know). Extensively employed horse archers in all of his campaigns. Horse archers and foot archers from Trebizond near the Black Sea comprised a significant component of later Byzantine armies.


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## sdwilde18 (11 mo ago)

cowgirluptah said:


> And not Robin Hood or any mythological Gods...does anyone know of any?
> I would super appreciate any and all information that anyone can provide.
> Thanks in advance


The mid evil rangers were good shots


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