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Bow standard1
This article is mentioned in Inheritance.
This article is mentioned in Brisingr.
This article contains spoilers from Brisingr.
This article is mentioned in Eldest.
This article contains spoilers from Eldest.
This article is mentioned in Eragon.

Bows were common weapons throughout Alagaësia. They were used by nearly every race, though the methods used for creating them varied. A bow was typically a piece of springy wood with a thin string tied between the two ends, bending the wood into a curved shape. An arrow could then be drawn back on the string and fired.

Bows of the races[]

Elven bows[]

Elven bows were created from trees that do not grow: the elves sang certain magical songs in the Ancient Language to the trees. Eragon received a bow from Queen Islanzadí, which she had sung from a yew tree herself. The bow was long, dark and elegant, with curled tips and was decorated with a pattern of dogwood leaves inlaid in silver.

Dwarven bows[]

Dwarven bows were made from the horns of either a Feldûnost or an Urgal. The bows were ebony in color and intricate patterns were carved into the bow in gold. Through dwarven practice, they were made to have flexibility and an incredibly long range. A dwarven bow was made by cutting the chosen horn in half lengthwise, then trimming the outside coil until it was the right thickness. The strip is then boiled and sanded into the final shape before being fixed to the underside of an ash stave, using a glue made from fish scales and the skin from the roof of a trout's mouth. Then the back of the stave is covered with several layers of sinew. Finally, the decorations are added. The entire process could take up to a decade to complete.

Human bows[]

Human bows were initially made from wood, while in Brisingr, the Broddring Empire's archers used metal crossbows to make their bolts fly faster and penetrate easier. Bow styles varied depending on the purpose of the bow - some were designed for hunting and others for war.

Eragon's use of bows[]

  • Eragon was hunting deer with a bow when he found Saphira's egg.
  • Eragon used a bow to kill two Urgals when he first discovered his magical abilities.
  • Eragon's handmade bow broke while he was practicing with it, due to his new strength from the dragons.
  • Eragon swore to use his bow to kill the Ra'zac, but because he broke his bow, that didn't happen. The Ra'zac were killed by Roran's hammer and Eragon's staff instead.
  • Eragon shot arrows at the Broddring Empire's soldiers in the Battle of The Burning Plains.

Other uses of bows[]

  • Murtagh used a bow to shoot Durza between the eyes, temporarily disembodying the Shade.
  • The Ra'zac used a bow to shoot at Eragon twice while he was in Helgrind: the first time hitting him with a Seithr oil-coated arrow and the second being swatted away by Eragon.
  • Orik used a dwarven Urgal-horn bow in the Battle of the Burning Plains.
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