Quote Originally Posted by Valmonte View Post
you could use an arrow as an improvised weapon, given the guy your trying to stab with a projectile weapon isn't wearing chain, plate or Hardened Leather...otherwise he'll just laugh at you while he's lopping of your arms and head.

Modern arrows are made out of stronger and lighter Machine Metal, arrow hafts of the past were often made out of a light wood that often more than not would break and splinter upon impact of hardened mass. there are exceptions to that rule, long distance archery used for siege warfare required the use of heaver hafts while this arrows were much sturdier and could be reused they had a drawback, heavy arrows were useless at close encounters as the bow could not provide enough torque to propel the heaver mass of the arrows. this lead to many tales of warriors who could shunt the blow of arrows but the truth is these arrows didn't pierce deep enough to do any damage. the invention of the crossbow negated all effects of heavy arrows except arching which was later rectified using bolts instead of hafts.

Sorry for that long winded Explanation...but the more you know.

in skyrim the character does not use the bow for hitting. the animation is clearly just using the fist that happens to be holding the bow, so in essence its still punching.
I'll concede your first argument, though arrow melee has been done in fantasy before. (Helm's Deep ring a bell?) However, the bow strike in Skyrim can can be considered using the bow in melee, as it adds mass to the punch, giving it more concussive force. (brass knuckles and weighted gloves work on the same principle)