The core of the Wood Elf army has always been its archers. Most of the warriors of various Wood Elf kindreds fight with the longbow as their principle weapon. Indeed, few warriors have swords, shields or armour since the Asrai do very little metal working and must trade with outsiders for metal. The Wood Elves are loath to fell trees to fuel furnaces and hate the foul fumes. They dislike the dull colour of iron and try to have as few dealings with the Dwarfs as possible![1a]
All this means that metal has always been rare in Athel Loren. Instead of forging metal weapons of war, the Wood Elves made elegant and powerful longbows. They carefully selected the best trees from which to cut their bowstaves and arrow shafts and soon became expert bowmakers and archers. Soon they surpassed the skills of the High Elves of Ulthuan in the practice of archery and were certainly masters above any other race.[1a]
The Wood Elves know many secrets of how to make powerful bows from laminated strips of rare trees. The bowstrings themselves are said to be woven from the hair of Elf maidens. The flights of the arrows are chosen from the feathers of particular birds to ensure accurate flight. The arrows are tipped with copper or delicately shaped arrowheads of flint or obsidian.[1a]
As well as these skills, the archers practise their archery by hunting beasts in the forests. In the dimly lit glades they hone their keen eyesight and acquire an amazing sureness of shot, enabling them to shoot further than ordinary troops with bows.[1a]