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Aquiver is a container for holdingarrows orbolts. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground, depending on the type of shooting and the archer's personal preference. Quivers were traditionally made of leather, wood, furs, and other natural materials, but are now often made of metal or plastic.
The English wordquiver has its origins inOld French, written as quivre, cuevre, or coivre.[1]
The most common style of quiver is a flat or cylindrical container suspended from the belt. They are found across many cultures from North America to China. Many variations of this type exist, such as being canted forwards or backwards, and being carried on the dominant hand side, off-hand side, or the small of the back. Some variants enclose almost the entire arrow, while minimalist "pocket quivers" consist of little more than a small stiff pouch that only covers the first few inches. TheBayeux Tapestry shows that most bowmen in medieval Europe used belt quivers.
Back quivers are secured to the archer's back by leather straps, with thenock ends protruding above the dominant hand's shoulder. Arrows can be drawn over the shoulder rapidly by the nock. This style of quiver was used bynative peoples of North America and Africa, and was also commonly depicted in bas-reliefs from ancientAssyria. They were also used in Ancient Greece and often feature on sculptural representations of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. While popular in cinema and 20th century art for depictions of medieval European characters (such asRobin Hood), this style of quiver was rarely used in medieval Europe.[2]
A ground quiver is used for both target shooting or warfare when the archer is shooting from a fixed location. They can be simply stakes in the ground with a ring at the top to hold the arrows, or more elaborate designs that hold the arrows within reach without the archer having to lean down to draw.
A modern invention, the bow quiver attaches directly to the bow's limbs and holds the arrows steady with a clip of some kind. They are popular withcompound bow hunters as it allows one piece of equipment to be carried in the field without encumbering the hunter's body.
A style used by medievalEnglish longbowmen and several other cultures, an arrow bag is a simple drawstring cloth sack with a leather spacer at the top to keep the arrows divided. When not in use, the drawstring could be closed, completely covering the arrows so as to protect them from rain and dirt. Some had straps or rope sewn to them for carrying, but many either were tucked into the belt or set on the ground before battle to allow easier access.
Yebira refers to a variety of quiver designs. TheYazutsu is a different type, used in Kyudo. Their main use is to transport and protect arrows.
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