![]() ![]() ![]() Thomas Ohlgren, a Robin Hood scholar who has edited several books on the tales, told me that he believes the tradition of splitting the arrow simply came from a misinterpretation of tales from the 15 th century. The legend of arrow-splitting is not based on any real-life achievement, but rather on a simple textual misunderstanding, at least according to one historian. (Such a shot, it’s worth noting, counts only as a tie in a real archery competition.) This time, each arrow shattered upon striking the nock, and they concluded that the feat was only possible when shooting at a hollow arrow or an arrow made of bamboo. Though this type of bow and arrow doesn’t actually shoot very straight, one dissenting viewer donated the straightest possible grain of wood, so that the arrow might follow the grain to the end. For a follow-up episode, the Mythbusters team responded to skeptics by attempting the feat again, this time using the equipment used in Robin Hood’s time. ![]() ![]() They found that even when fired at close range by a robot, the arrows could only partially split the target arrow. The TV series Mythbusters took on just that question in a controversial episode. ![]()
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