legolas and eowyn

Archery glossary

Found on the web.

Anchor The location to which the hand that draws the bow string is positioned to when at full draw.
Anchor point The place where an arrows nock is drawn to before release, usually the chin, cheek, ear or chest. Used to help aiming.
Archer's guard See Bracer.
Arrow The missile shot by an archer from a bow.
Arrowhead The striking end of an arrow, usually made of a different type of material from the shaft such as iron, flint or bronze, depending the purpose of the arrow.
Arrowsmith A maker of metal arrowheads.
Arrow spacer A circular piece of leather pierced by 24 holes used to keep the shafts of a sheath of arrows apart from each other and prevent damage to the flights during transport.
Back of the bow The surface of the bow furthest from the archer when they hold the bow in the firing position.
Backed bow A bow consisting primarily of wood but having a thin strip of a material (wood or hide) attached to the back of the bow.
Barb A rearward turned point on an arrow head.
Barrelled An arrow which is thickest in the middle and tapers to the ends.
Belly of the bow The surface of the bow closest to the archer when they hold the bow in the firing position.
Bodkin A type of arrow head.
Bow A projectile weapon consisting of a shaft with the two ends joined by a string used to shoot arrows.
Bow arm The arm which holds the bow.
Bowman An archer.
Bow marks Archery targets.
Bow release The way a bow string is released when loosing an arrow. Varieties of release techniques included; primary, secondary, tertiary, Mediterranean, Flemish and Mongolian.
Bow stave A roughly trimmed length of wood from which a complete self bow is fashioned.
Bowstring The string of bow made from such materials as; plant fibre, silk or sinew, used to transfer the energy from the bow to the arrow.
Bowyer A maker of bows.
Brace To string a bow.
Bracer, Archer's guard, Arm guard A covering for an archer's left wrist, used to protect the wrist from the slap of the string.
Breast The part of an arrow which touches the bow when the arrow is placed on the string ready to be drawn.
Broad arrow An arrow with a broad barbed head.
Broadhead A wide steel arrowhead used on hunting arrows.
Butt [1] An earthen mound used as a backing for a target.
[2] A target made from compacted straw.
Butt fields English public archery practice grounds, 15th century.
Cast The ability of a bow to project an arrow.
Cock feather The feather at right angles to the string position in the nock on three feathered arrows.
Composite bow A recurve bow made from a number of materials laminated together (eg. wood, sinew and horn).
Cresting The identifying coloured rings applied to the arrow shaft forward of the fletchings used to mark ownership.
Draw The act of bending the bow to full arrow length by drawing the string backwards while holding the bow steady.
Draw length The length the bow is drawn to the anchor point.
Draw weight The force required to draw a bow to full arrow length, usually measure in pounds at a certain draw length measured in inches.
Feathers The flights on an arrow to aid in stability in flight.
Fistmele The measurement of the distance from the grip to the string of a bow, usually measured by placing a fist on the grip with the thumb extended towards the bowstring.
Fletcher [1] An arrow maker.
[2] A person who attaches fletches to arrows.
Fletching To add flights to an arrow.
Footed arrow An arrow reinforced with a spliced hardwood foreshaft.
Fore shaft A supplementary hard wood shaft added to the front end of a shaft.
Group Used for a number of arrows close together on a target.
Limb One of the arms of a bow, from grip to tip.
Longbow A self bow, usually the height of the user, preferably made of yew and made famous by the English at Crecy, Poiters and Agincourt.
Loose To release the string of a bow to propel an arrow towards its target.
Mediterranean loose: The three fingered loose used by Western archers.
Mongolian loose The loose used by Asiatic archers where the thumb is hooked around the string.
Nock [1] The end of an arrow with a notch in it for the string.
[2] The grooves in the tips of the limbs of bow to fit the bowstring.
[3] The act of fitting an arrow to the string.
Nocking point The place on the bowstring where the arrow is placed for firing.
Peacock arrows Arrows of the 14th century fletched with peacock feathers.
Pile A type of arrow head used for target shooting
Quiver, Querquer A bag or case to carry arrows.
Recurve bow A bow where the limbs bend away from the archer when held in the firing position.
Self bow A bow made from one piece of wood.
Shaft The body of an arrow.
Sheath of arrows A bundle of twenty four arrows.
Spine Measurement of the amount of elasticity of an arrow shaft.
Stave A piece of wood destined to be shaped into a bow.
Stele The wooden shaft of an arrow.
Stone bow A bow which is used to shoot stones, pellets or balls.
String [1] A bowstring.
[2] To fit a bow with a string.
Stringer [1] An aid to stringing a bow.
[2] A maker or seller of bowstrings.
Wand shot An archery contest were the target consists of a piece of peeled willow about 6 foot in length placed upright in the ground.
Whistling arrow An arrow with a large hollow head with openings in front and sides. When shot the air rushing through the openings make a whistling noise.

 

Shakespeare's apothecary

From Romeo and Juliet.
Apoth. Who calls so loud?
Rom. Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor.
  Hold, there is forty ducats. Let me have
  A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear
  As will disperse itself through all the veins
  That the life-weary taker may fall dead,
  And that the trunk may be discharg'd of breath
  As violently as hasty powder fir'd
  Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb.
Apoth. Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's law
  Is death to any he that utters them.
Rom. Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness
  And fearest to die? Famine is in thy cheeks,
  Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes,
  Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back:
  The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law;
  The world affords no law to make thee rich;
  Then be not poor, but break it and take this.
Apoth. My poverty but not my will consents.
Rom. I pay thy poverty and not thy will.
Apoth. Put this in any liquid thing you will
  And drink it off, and if you had the strength
  Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight.
Rom. There is thy gold—worse poison to men's souls,
  Doing more murther in this loathsome world,
  Than these poor compounds that thou mayst not sell.
  I sell thee poison; thou hast sold me none.
  Farewell. Buy food and get thyself in flesh.
  Come, cordial and not poison, go with me
  To Juliet's grave; for there must I use thee.

 

Weights and measures

Apothecaries used a traditional system of weights for the measuring and dispensing of drugs
• grain (1/480 ounce)
• scruple (20 grains or 1/24 ounce)
• dram (3 scruples or 1/8 ounce)
• ounce (8 drams)
• pound (12 ounces).
60 grains = 1 dram = 1/8 ounce.

 

An apothecary's shop

Condensed from the web.

The apothecary did more than sell drugs. An apothecary often:

• Provided medical treatment
• Prescribed medicine
• Trained apprentices
• Performed surgery
• Served as a man-midwife.

Records kept by 18th-century apothecaries in Williamsburg, Virginia, show that they made house calls to treat patients, made and prescribed medicines, and trained apprentices. Some apothecaries were also trained as surgeons and man-midwives. The Pasteur & Galt Apothecary Shop, on Duke of Gloucester Street, Williamsburg, features copies of Dr. Galt's certificates in medical theory, midwifery, and surgery for training completed at Saint Thomas' Hospital in London. A large collection of Delft drug jars for storing medications line one wall, and there are antique implements for compounding and dispensing drugs. Medicinal leeches swim in a jar.

The apothecary sold patented and proprietary medicines as well as medicines he made from imported ingredients, which included plant, animal, chemical and mineral materials. Liquids were the most common form of medicine and included tinctures and spirits (alcohol based), syrups (sugar and water based), and decoctions and infusions (water based).

Williamsburg apothecaries also sold cooking spices, candles, salad oil, anchovies, toothbrushes, tobacco, snuff, gold and silver leaf, vermicelli, and French chalk for taking grease out of silks and fine cloths.

The apothecary's shop usually included areas for serving customers, for accounting purposes, facilities for making medicines, and a study, where the doctor kept records relating to his business as well as medical books, educational aids, and tools of the trade.

apothecary's shopspacerapothecary's shopspacer


Timetable

Day 1: Arrival; banquet; Elladan kidnapped.

Day 2: Legolas collapses; Legolas & Eowyn meet Senta; Elladan is returned; Wolfram watches Legolas & Eowyn on the balcony.

Day 3: Senta's miscarriage; Legolas, Eowyn, Aragorn, Gimli visit the Apothecary's shop; Legolas talks to Imrahil; Eowyn finds the recipe; Wolfram stalks Eowyn; Legolas longs for immortality for Eowyn.

Day 4: 7.30 Bernal begins his watch
11.00 Naming Ceremony
12.00 Legolas is attacked
12.15 Wolfram escapes
12.45 Dinendal examines Legolas
15.30 Brenal sees the boy at Herzog's shop
15.45 Herzog reaches Wolfram
16.15 Herzog binds Wolfram's legs
16.45 Wolfram takes his first dose of the anodyne;
  Brenal reports to Aragorn;
  Haldir joins Brenal on watch
17.45 Wolfram leaves the woman's house
18.15 Wolfram visits Torul
18.45 Wolfram visits the kitchen
19.00 Wolfram enters the Healing Room and kidnaps Eowyn
19.20 Legolas regains consciousness
19.45 Eomer arrives
20.00 Wolfram and Eowyn leave the drains
20.15 Wolfram and Eowyn are seen by Haldir and Brenal;
  Haldir enters the shop
20.45 Wolfram takes his second dose of anodyne
21.45 The Sea Maiden sets sail

Day 5: 00.35 Eowyn attacks Wolfram
00.45 Wolfram requires his third and final dose of anodyne
01.15 Rescue
04.45 The anodyne wears off
Dawn: The Starlight and the Sea Maiden return to Dol Amroth
Mid afternoon: Legolas visits Herzog
Dusk: Imrahil, Aragorn, Eomer and Gimli rescue Legolas from the sea
Evening: Eowyn breaks the enchantment
Late evening: The final banquet

Day 5: The friends say farewell and return home, watched by Wolfram.

 

Illustrations

Sweep!
Read his adventures>

Sweepspacer


spacer

Legolas
Please use your browser's Back button to return to the Story.

 

To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying...
Contents page

Story 2

Back to main References page

Reference page

Shakespeare's apothecary

Shakespeare

Apothecary's weights and measures

Weights

An apothecary's shop

Shop

Timeline

Timeline

Illustrations
Sweep!

Illustrations

Mediaeval Pageant
Photographs and bits of information about life in pre-industrial times, gathered on a field trip.