Hunting
1674
The book says hunting was men’s work. Olaus Magnus wrote that the women hunted too. Schefferus does not believe him, and writes that a woman was not permitted to touch the weapons or the animals brought home. In summer they went on foot with dogs, in winter on skis. Small animals were taken with bow and arrow, larger ones with spears and guns. The bow was birch and pine, about three ells long, covered with birch bark, and the two pieces were glued with a glue of perch skin. The arrowhead was iron or bone, and blunt for the smaller game. Ermines were taken in wooden traps. (Schefferus 1674)
The bear
The book’s longest account is of the bear. It says a hunt began with the drum, the meat was shared, the skin was hung on a pole for the women to shoot at blindfolded, and the women worked a cross of wire for each bear and hung it on the hunters’ necks. The book calls these observances superstition. This is the book’s report, not a description of every place. (Schefferus 1674)
A bow
A bow whose picture we may use is missing. We are asking Norsk Folkemuseum.
Norsk Folkemuseum