A shaft bow is an element of horse harness that is attached to the front of the shafts of a horse-drawn vehicle and joins them by arching high above the neck of the horse. Use of the shaft bow is widespread in the area east of the Baltic Sea (Russia, Finland and the eastern Baltic countries). A shaft bow is also used in traditional harness in Sicily. It is seldom seen in other parts of the world.
A shaft bow may be used over a single horse, or over the middle horse in a troika.
The shaft bow is well-suited for a light horse pulling a heavy load. In Eastern Finland the shaft bow was traditionally used all year round, while in the flatter Western Finland area, it was reserved mainly for winter and sleigh driving; in the summer a breastcollar was used, on its own or with a shaft bow. The shaft bow was used with horse breeds such as the Finnhorse, a light but strong breed, fast compared to the heavy draft horses of Western Europe. The shaft bow functions somewhat like a spring, allowing for a smoother start, thus making it easier for a horse to take off when pulling larger loads than it could without the shaft bow.[ citation needed ]
The shaft bow is in common use in the areas east from the Baltic Sea. Its area of distribution is contiguous; in addition to Finland and Estonia, it has been used by other Baltic Finnic peoples in Russia. The Russian adopted the shaft bow from Finland. In Sweden, the shaft bow has only been used by the Forest Finns of Värmland. In Western Europe and in the Americas the shaft bow is practically unknown.
According to the ethnologist and historian Kustaa Vilkuna, the main factor connecting the Finnish horse driving culture is the shaft bow, and the first records of shaft bow usage are from Finland and Estonia. In the ancient cantos and the Kalevala the shaft bow is very commonplace, and the first literary record of the shaft bow is from the 1430s, in the death-lay of Bishop Henry. The first Estonian record is from 1494. Records from Russia occur at a later date. Shaft bows appear in Russian trade inventories in the 17th century. [1] They appear in Sweden later yet– the Swedish explorer and naturalist Carl von Linné only saw his first shaft bow in Finland in 1732.
In old Finnish tax records, shaft bows were considered assets of the house. The Nyynäinen house in Lemu was recorded as possessing two painted shaft bows in 1549. Based on tax records from the 18th century, the shaft bow was widespread all over Finland.
The shaft bow has different names in different languages and dialects. The commonly used, standard term in Finnish is luokka or luokki. Luokki is the form used in the eastern dialects of Finnish, luokka is used in the western ones. In Karelian, the shaft bow is called vemmel, vempele or vembel depending on the region. In addition to Finnish, the word luokki also appears in Votic, Estonian (look) and Livonian. In Russian the shaft bow is called simply an "arch", Russian : дуга (duga). In Finnish, the word vemmel is rarely in use but is recognised as a synonym for arch. The Finnish terms are ancient, and words like vemmelsääri (bowleg or luokki leg) to mean a hare in a playful context are still in use.
Historically, Finnish-English dictionaries have rendered luokki as collar bow, [2] but shaft bow is both more precise [2] and in general use. It appears in numerous translations of works by Leo Tolstoy. [3] [4]
In Sicily the shaft bow is called a sellone.
In Finland usually the shaft bow is made of springy wood, but in Russia cast iron versions are common.[ citation needed ]
The usual wood for making a Finnish shaft bow is small-leaved lime, which is light, flexible, durable, and keeps its shape well. Other trees used for making shaft bows are rowan, yew, juniper and the northern, slowly growing birch. Willow was normally only used for a running repair if a shaft bow broke while working in the forest – it was made by bending and binding two willow rods together.
Nowadays shaft bows may be made of steel, laminated wood, or by the traditional method, of a single, bent piece of wood. The drawbacks of a metal shaft bow is that in very cold weather it might shatter, and the hard metal will wear the wooden shafts quickly. A wooden, so-called "pressed shaft bow" can be made of bird cherry (which is the most durable), lime or birch – all these trees grow slowly in the Finnish climate. The wood is softened by storing it in a dung heap for about a week, warming it by an open fire, steaming it, or using microwaves. After softening the shaft bow is bent using a jig called a paininpuu or paininpenkki. Shaft bows (except for those made of lime) straighten out with time, especially if rarely used. To prevent this, shaft bows are often stored with the ends tied together.
Gavril Ilizarov's bone-setting invention known as the Ilizarov apparatus was inspired by a shaft bow harness. His initial tests used a semicircular frame similar to the shaft bow; he soon switched to a full circular frame. [5] The Ilizarov apparatus in turn has inspired other medical devices for external fixation, including the Taylor Spatial Frame.
The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the epic mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.
A kantele or kannel is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the south east Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Estonian kannel, Latvian kokles, Lithuanian kanklės and Russian gusli.
Nordic folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Hiisi is a term in Finnic mythologies, originally denoting sacred localities and later on various types of mythological entities.
Karelia is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia, Finland, and Sweden. It is currently divided between northwestern Russia and Finland.
Kvenland, known as Cwenland, Qwenland, Kænland, and similar terms in medieval sources, is an ancient name for an area in Fennoscandia and Scandinavia. Kvenland, in that or nearly that spelling, is known from an Old English account written in the 9th century, which used information provided by Norwegian adventurer and traveler Ohthere, and from Nordic sources, primarily Icelandic. A possible additional source was written in the modern-day area of Norway. All known Nordic sources date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Other possible references to Kvenland by other names and spellings are also discussed here.
Rawhide is a hide or animal skin that has not been exposed to tanning. It is similar to parchment, much lighter in color than leather made by traditional vegetable tanning.
Chud or Chude is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Baltic Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. It has also been used to refer to other Finno-Ugric peoples.
A sulky is a lightweight cart used for harness racing. It has two wheels and a small seat for only a single driver. The modern racing sulky has shafts that extend in a continuous bow behind the driver's seat, with wire-spoked "bike" wheels and inflated tyres. A sulky is frequently called a "bike". Historically, sulkies were built for trotting matches and made from wood with very tall wheels and almost no body, just a simple frame supporting a single seat. Such vehicles were called "sulkies" because they were "said to have been chosen by unsociable people fond of their own company or fits of sulking".
In medicine, the Ilizarov apparatus is a type of external fixation apparatus used in orthopedic surgery to lengthen or to reshape the damaged bones of an arm or a leg; used as a limb-sparing technique for treating complex fractures and open bone fractures; and used to treat an infected non-union of bones, which cannot be surgically resolved. The Ilizarov apparatus corrects angular deformity in a leg, corrects differences in the lengths of the legs of the patient, and resolves osteopathic non-unions; further developments of the Ilizarov apparatus progressed to the development of the Taylor Spatial Frame.
The Finnhorse or Finnish Horse is a horse breed with both riding horse and draught horse influences and characteristics, and is the only breed developed fully in Finland. In English it is sometimes called the Finnish Universal, as the Finns consider the breed capable of fulfilling all of Finland's horse needs, including agricultural and forestry work, harness racing, and riding. In 2007, the breed was declared the official national horse breed of Finland.
Gavriil Abramovich Ilizarov was a Soviet physician, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus for lengthening limb bones and for the method of surgery named after him, the Ilizarov surgery.
The Karelian people's presence can be dated back to the 7th millennium BC–6th millennium BC. The region itself is rich with fish, lakes, and minerals, and because of that throughout history changed its holder, to this day divided between the Republic of Finland and the Russian Republic.
The Battle of Napue or the Battle of Storkyro / Isokyrö was fought on 19 February 1714 (O.S.) / 2 March 1714 (N.S.) at the villages of Napue and Laurola in the Isokyrö parish of the Swedish Empire between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia. It was the final land battle of the Finnish campaign in the Great Northern War. The Swedish detachment, consisting almost entirely of Finnish troops, were defeated by the numerically superior Russian force. As a result, all of Finland fell under Russian military occupation for the rest of the War; a seven-year period of hardship known in Finland as the Great Wrath. The Kyrö Distillery Company named its Napue rye gin after the battle in 2014.
Estophilia refers to the ideas and activities of people not of Estonian descent who are sympathetic to, or interested in, Estonian language, Estonian literature or Estonian culture, the history of Estonia, and Estonia in general. Such people are known as Estophiles.
A horse harness is a device that connects a horse to a horse-drawn vehicle or another type of load to pull. There are two main designs of horse harness: (1) the breast collar or breaststrap, and (2) the full collar or collar-and-hames.
The Baltic Finnic or Balto-Finnic peoples, also referred to as the Baltic Sea Finns, Baltic Finns, sometimes Western Finnic and often simply as the Finnic peoples, are the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region in Northern and Eastern Europe who speak Finnic languages. They include the Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Veps, Izhorians, Votes, and Livonians. In some cases the Kvens, Ingrians, Tornedalians and speakers of Meänkieli are considered separate from the Finns.
A harness saddle is an element of horse harness which supports the weight of shafts or poles attaching a vehicle to a horse. Like other types of saddle, it lies on the horse's back directly behind the withers, often has an internal supportive framework , and usually is secured on either side by a girth passing beneath the horse. Unlike riding saddles, it is an integral part of the harness and is not used as stand-alone equipment.
Kalevala Day, known as Finnish Culture Day by its other official name, is celebrated each 28 February in honor of the Finnish national epic, Kalevala. The day is one of the official flag flying days in Finland.
Runic song, also referred to as Rune song, Runo song, or Kalevala song, is a form of oral poetry and national epic historically practiced among the Baltic Finnic peoples. It includes the Finnish epic poems Kalevala and Kanteletar, as well as the Estonian Kalevipoeg.
