FUN FACT
The Dagorhir “rock” came about because Edwin of the Danes asked, “What can we do with scraps of leftover foam? Can we call them rocks and say they only kill if they’re thrown and hit someone in the head?”
The History of Dagorhir
In 1977, Maryland college freshman Brian Wiese saw the movie “Robin and Marion” with its intense, realistic battle scenes and read “The Lord of the Rings” for the first time. An avid improvisational actor, Brian wanted to live the excitement and energy of a medieval/fantasy battle…but how?
This was before the modern Internet existed; no email, FaceBook, web sites, or Google searches to find other adventurous souls. So Brian created what he initially called, “Hobbit Wars,” later renamed “Dagorhir” – Elvish words meaning “Battle Lords” in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
FUN FACT
In 1979, Dagorhir made a huge technological leap by getting an answering machine. Now members could call “the Dagorhir Hotline” and get information on the next battle’s date and location. Since answering machines were such a novelty at the time, people often left messages on the machine as if they were ordering a pizza.
Inception (1977 - 1979)
The first proto-Dagorhir Wargame battle took place in October, 1977. The first six battles (held sporadically in 1977 and 1978) were all woods Capture-the-Flag Battles with forts. All included camp-outs the night before, but not in parks where camping was actually permitted. Members parked in nearby neighborhoods and snuck into the park for “commando camping.”
Initially, costumes were encouraged but not required. After noticing that the people who came to events without garb had no interest in the role-playing aspects of the game, Aratar the Stormbringer (Brian Wiese’s Dagorhir name) began requiring garb.
Early battles focused on improvisational acting as much as fighting: dramatic deaths or display of wounds; insults and challenges shouted between warriors. Each team marched away into the woods and spent an hour building forts, waiting for the horn to sound, announcing the start of combat. Teams didn’t know the location of the enemy’s distant fort, so lightly-armed scouts served a critical role.
Originally, it took 2 hits from a blue sword to an unarmored torso to “kill” someone, so fighters had the chance to live a bit longer in the early days before Dagorhir had a lot of members. When a fighter died, they went to Valhalla and the Herald (referee) there recorded their death and rolled two 6-sided dice. The result would be multiplied by 3; that’s the number of minutes (from 6 to 36) you had to stay “dead” before you could re-join combat. Each fighter got only three lives per battle.
Modern closed-cell foam and fiberglass cores were unknown; Swords, spears, and axes were mostly wooden closet-poles cut to length and padded with huge amounts of open-cell “couch foam.” Most shield-cores were metal saucer sleds. Weapons checking was largely subjective: Does the weapon hurt when swung/stabbed full-force?
Evolution (1980 - 1982)
Dagorhir’s rules evolved as ideas were tested and accepted or rejected, especially when a safety concern was identified.
In the early years, Dagorhir weapon construction often involved wrapping the sword or axe entirely in duct tape. Several inches of soft foam under the tape ensured the weapon didn’t slap. Eventually, innovative members experimented with cloth covers. The first closed-cell foam weapons began to appear. The denser, thinner foam allowed blades shaped more like a real sword…but the only easily available closed-cell foam came from camping pads called Ensolite…which hardened at temperatures below freezing
FUN FACT
Members used to drive to Winter battles with their Ensolite swords resting against their car’s heater vents, to keep the foam soft. The swords would pass hit-testing at weapons-check…but 2 hours later, the foam hit more like the edge of a piece of plywood.
The First Expansion (1982 - 1985)
When Dagorhir performed and recruited at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in late 1979, Dagorhir caught the eye of producers from the “PM Magazine” prime-time ABC TV entertainment program, who included clips of Dagorhir combat in their Renaissance Festival story.
PM Magazine aired a 10-minute piece on Dagorhir on ABC’s Washington, DC, TV station in Spring, 1982 and Dagorhir membership skyrocketed. Attendance doubled at for the next battle, and attendance reached levels of more than 200 fighters by 1983. PM Magazine later rebroadcast their Dagorhir episode nationally, and letters poured in to Dagorhir’s PO Box from all over the US, many asking, “How can I start a Dagorhir group where I live?”
Aratar/Wiese founded Dagorhir to fulfill his own dream of dark-ages adventure. Dagorhir had never been envisioned to be a multi-location entity. And Wiese had grown tired of dealing with the politics and petty “power plays” which come with being in a position of authority in any sort of club or organization. The letters went unanswered for several years.
Aratar retired as President of Dagorhir in 1983. His parting advice to the folk who remained in Dagorhir: “Don’t let the assholes ruin the game for you.” Members of the previous Council of Seven continued organizing Dagorhir events. Bron served as the next President of Dagorhir, followed by Shaitan, and then Graymael.
FUN FACT
The Dagorhir Telephone Hotline not only included information on upcoming events, but also a short synopsis on the most recent feast or battle, almost always ending with “And a good time was had by all.” Also, sometimes members who happened to be in the room when the Hotline would ring would answer the phone with, “Dagorhir Main Office, may I help you?” just to mess with the heads of the callers.
Evolution (1989 - 90s)
The original Dagorhir Scrolls and Handbooks included all sorts of information, including guidance on weapon construction, costuming, and battle scenarios. Combat rules were scattered throughout the documents. Based on a suggestion from Dagorhir Pentwyvern, Dagorhir Aratari produced the first Dagorhir Manual of Arms (MOA) in 1989. The MOA distilled just the combat and event rules from the Dagorhir Handbook without the other guidance and suggestions. Later versions of the MOA added a numbering scheme to ensure tracking of rules changes and clarifications.
Over time, Dagorhir has moved from being the original LARP to more of a hard-hitting combat sport. There is still opportunity for roleplaying and improvisational acting, including whole events set up with LARPing in mind, but most Dagorhir battles have less roleplaying and more straight-up athletic combat.
FUN FACT
The rule stating that helms/armor on the head protects from all missile weapons to the head was established to encourage people to wear helmets because they look good on the field. Without that rule/reward, few people would bother with head armor.
Realizing the Dream (2001)
In 2001, Dagorhir capitalized on media attention surrounding the long-awaited release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Two documentary film crews attended the national gathering that year, and chapters across the country leveraged the public interest to recruit new members and re-energize veterans. The “Impossible Dream” had always been an event with 500 participants—and for the first time, that goal was achieved.
That same year also saw greater codification of weapons-check rules and the beginning of formalized safety standards to ensure every chapter inspected equipment consistently.
Cottage industries have sprung up where people support themselves exclusively by making and selling quality Dagorhir weapons, armor, and garb.
More than 40 years after that first small “Hobbit War,” Dagorhir has grown into a widespread combat sport across much of the US with some chapters popping up in other countries. Battles, tournaments, practices, and feasts happen somewhere every week of the year. Events have hundreds or even thousands of attendees and include many varied activities beyond just fighting: craftwork classes, competitions for singing and story-telling, children’s activities, and more.
Welcome to the Dream. Welcome to the Great Game!