Archers

Do you know an archer? If you answered “Robin Hood”, you will probably experience a lot of eye rolling from fellow archers who point out professional archers such as 2004 Olympic hopeful Natalia Valeeva from Italy or Fred Bear, who founded Bear Archery and is also an inductee into the Bow Hunters Hall of Fame. True, these famous archers have given the sport a good reputation and are being role models that up and coming archers are trying to imitate. Yet if your friends will be honest, it is not the real life personae that have fostered a love for the sport and later on brokered an introduction into the real life activities of competitive archers, but instead it was the collection of ancient archers – mostly imagined – and the portrayal of the female archer or male archers of the movies that got them interested.

The most famous of all archers portrayed in movies and song is of course Robin Hood! Wearing his tell-tale green tights, and being the scourge of the Sherwood Forest with his merry men, he alternately fights the Sheriff of Nottingham and Prince John of England. Douglas Fairbanks, Erroll Flynn, Sean Connery and even Bugs Bunny all graced this role with their talents. For those who enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia, the girl archer Susan Pevensie will probably stand out. It is interesting to note that girl archers in myths and legends are rare, as pictures of archers usually depict men or boys, while feature more or less as damsels in distress. The one notable exception is Kikyo - a seemingly Chinese archer who plays a pivotal role in the anime series entitled Inu Yasha.

Americans most likely will not be as familiar with her as they are with Hawkeye, the Marvel Comic loner and hero who is part of the Avengers. If Marvel is not up your alley, then you might have fostered your love for archers and archery by reading about the Green Arrow found within the pages of DC Comics.

Mythology is also filled with characters that relied on bow and arrows to bring justice to a world in turmoil. Persia has the legendary Âraŝ who defined the border between today’s Iran and Asia by making a legendary shot that caused an arrow to fly for hours until finally landing at the bank of the Oxus River. Many Hindi are inspired by Arjuna whose exploits are detailed in the Bhagavad Gita where his archery prowess is at times part of the discussion with the Bhagvan Krishna. Herodotus featured fierce Amazons in his Greek tales, while the imaginary world of J.R.R. Tolkien speaks of the elf Legolas.