Halfdan, the protagonist of The Strongbow Saga, is an archer. In many late Medieval societies, which tended to have more rigid social class structures than did Scandinavian society during the Viking era, the bow–while still an essential element in warfare for providing missile fire against an enemy–was not considered a “noble” weapon, and archers were typically commoners, and considered of lower status than the knights who formed the elite fighting element of most medieval armies.
Viking society was far more egalitarian and pragmatic. While there was certainly a small class of nobility in Scandinavian society, membership in the noble class was not strictly determined by birth–any free man could, by virtue of achieving wealth and success through his own skill and efforts, become a chieftain, a leader of men with his own retinue of followers. And the Vikings greatly admired and valued exceptional skill with all weapons, including the bow.
I have personal familiarity with the use of a bow. Growing up, I spent many hours shooting a recurve bow, both at targets and roaming through woods near my home hunting the same kind of small game that Halfdan did. I now own a yew-wood longbow, handcrafted in the same design as Medieval English and Viking bows, which I acquired to better understand how such a bow shoots differently from modern bows, and to better describe how Halfdan shoots. And I search the old sagas for stories of Viking archers and the shots they made, to try to ensure that Halfdan’s skill, and the shots he makes, are realistic.
Although I have never found any accounts of such feats by Viking archers, I have read accounts of skill with a bow by Medieval Mongol and Saracen archers involving such incredible accuracy and speed of fire that they seemed almost impossible to believe. But recently Jeff Hays, the very talented voice actor who narrated the audio editions of the Strongbow saga books, sent me a link to the video below. A modern archer named Lars Andersen–ironically enough, a Dane, like Halfdan–has taught himself some of the forgotten techniques and skills of those ancient archers. What he is capable of with a bow will astonish you. Watch, and be amazed.