The Normans not only carried their arrows in a quiver, but they also used it as a kind of drum, to add to the clamour they raised at the opening of the battle.
By some the quiver was used, not merely as a case for their arrows, but also as a kind of rosary, by which the events of every day were registered. On retiring to rest, the Scythian threw a small stone into a quiver placed near his couch: and if he had spent the day in comfort, and to his satisfaction, he chose a white pebble; but if in trouble, a black one. At his death, the quiver was reversed, and the stones counted, and the owner was esteemed to have spent a happy or unhappy life, in proportion as the number of the white or black stones predominated.
The bark of trees, and the skins of animals, were most often the materials from which quivers were anciently constructed. The quivers of the ancient Greeks, were of various forms and sizes; sometimes round, sometimes square, open at the top, or closed with a lid. They were usually carried on the back, the upper end just rising above the right shoulder.