Dagorhir
Encyclopedia
Dagorhir Battle Games is a battle game
with thousands of members spread throughout the US
, Canada
and England
.
Founded in Washington, DC, USA in 1977, it has since spread to scores of locations
. It is combat-oriented, with full-contact melee fighting and ranged combat as its primary focus. Fighters typically use foam weapons such as sword
s, flail
s, spear
s, bows
and arrow
s, javelin
s, axe
s, and other medieval weapons. Unlike some other battle games
or LARPs, there is no use of “magic".
Participants wear period costume and are expected to stay in-character during events - although the amount of seriousness the role-playing aspect receives varies greatly by unit and chapter.
weaponry and equipment. In order to keep battles organized, realistic, and safe, the three main tenets of The Dagorhir Manual of Arms - safety, playability, and realism - are enforced by heralds (referees) during battles. The rules of the manual of arms, as well as those pertaining to combat, are upheld by an effective honor system which applies to all players. Dagorhir is a battle gaming
group which is more akin to a wargame
than a live-action roleplaying game (LARP). Dagorhir members have stated that they find the phrase live-action roleplaying game to be unfitting.
All weapons and equipment used during combat are inspected for safety prior to each battle, to ensure that they comply with safety rules. Although early Dagorhir weapons were typically constructed from crude materials such as couch foam and broomsticks when the organization was in its infancy, modern-day weapons are usually made from combinations of both open and closed-cell foam bonded to a fiberglass or PVC pipe core. Participants may also elect to wear protective armor, which gives users an advantage in battle. Fighters are organized into units of various sizes, organized along social lines and that generally fight and socialize together and are a club or fraternity of sorts. Units typically adopt a particular historical or fantastical race or nationality and dress, act, and fight according to interpretation of the group. Due to this melding of both Medieval history and Tolkienesque high fantasy
, it is not uncommon for a Dagorhir battle to involve both mundane and fantasy themes and personas. A typical Dagorhir battle might involve Roman Legionnaires
and Saxon Warriors locked in a battle against Orcs and Undead.
Dagorhir is strictly a weapon combat game. More fantastic elements, such as arcane magic, give way to more intensive battlefield tactics and off the field innovation in equipment design and character development. Dagorhir also eschews the use of character classes in combat, instead allowing fighters to create and define their own styles of combat. Therefore, fighters are not shoehorned into class stereotypes and are free to fight unrestricted in types of armor, picks of garb, choices of weaponry, and styles of play.
Realms and Chapters are organized by geography, and can range from between a handful of participants to several hundred. Typically a chapter will organize a battle weekly or monthly, with the various units participating, with occasional supplementary activities such as feasts, overnight camp-out battles, and even annual inter-chapter meetings. The largest annual Dagorhir gathering is known as Ragnarok. It is an annual Dagorhir tradition and in years of late, it has reached heights of approximately 1,500 attendees during its weeklong duration. The original chapter of Dagorhir, founded in 1977, is based in the Washington, D.C.
area, and is known as "Dagorhir Aratari" after the founder's persona, Aratar.
by J. R. R. Tolkien
. He had never heard of medieval reenactment
, Live Action Role Playing Games
or even Dungeons and Dragons but he wanted something to capture the spirit and adventure that could only come from wielding sword and bow.
As 1977 rolled by, Brian ran ads on the local radio station WGTB. Brian then became "Aratar Anfinhir the Stormbringer" and Dagorhir was born into its first incarnation (as of yet, unnamed).
The club grew and in 1980 a Washington D.C. community TV show PM Magazine ran a half hour episode where the host of PM Magazine spent a day at a Dagorhir battle game. After that point interest in Dagorhir exploded in the D.C. Area.
The explosive growth of Dagorhir took its toll on Brian Wiese. Brian, who had coined the game as “Dagorhir Outdoor Improvisational Dark Age Battle Games”, had a more theatrical bend to his dream. The new flood of players had an attitude that was more sport like. In order to combat this change, the Dagorhir Handbook was formalized. This included costuming requirements in an effort to encourage the players to think of it more of a theatrical game.
In the early eighties, a young man who went by the name of Falcon took the Dagorhir game to Cleveland, Ohio
. Then in 1983, PM Magazine
broadcast the TV episode to a national audience. The result was the founding of The Realm of Middle~Earth in Illinois
. Dagorhir began to spread throughout the Mid Western U.S, and inspired spin off organizations, including Belegarth Medieval Combat Society
.
Dagorhir has enjoyed extensive nationwide growth in recent years, expanding to an international membership of over a hundred Chapters consisting of a total membership in the thousands.
On January 20, 2009, the Discovery Channel
show, Wreckreation Nation
, featured Dagorhir in its episode, "Demolition Derby."
As a project on the Dagorhir forums, people began counting and listing active Dagorhir members. At last count this list contained 1486 people with several large groups not reporting. Due to the nature of the chapters of Dagorhir, as well as the definitions of "active", this number cannot be completely accurate. It is usually required to have a release form signed and notarized before engaging in any activities.
. However, after Ragnarok XXIV, the site of the event changed to Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock
, Pennsylvania
.
Groups across the nation hold events open to the public, and first-time fighters generally have their battle fee, if there is one, waived. While all local battles are open to any participant, there are battles such as a Crown War, that decide the "king" or "queen" of a realm. Then there are larger-scale regional events which typically draw over 100 fighters, as well as national events, of which Ragnarok remains the largest and longest running. In Fall 2006, the second major national event, named after the battle of Badon Hill, first took place in western Pennsylvania and drew over 350 attendees. Badon Hill now regularly has over 500 attendees, and the event was featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel's Wreckreation Nation
Battle gaming
Battle gaming is a North American medieval combat sport where participants use mock foam-padded weapons in live action battles. The sport began in 1977.- Description :...
with thousands of members spread throughout the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Founded in Washington, DC, USA in 1977, it has since spread to scores of locations
. It is combat-oriented, with full-contact melee fighting and ranged combat as its primary focus. Fighters typically use foam weapons such as sword
Sword
A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...
s, flail
Flail
A flail is an agricultural implement for threshing.Several tools operate similarly to the agricultural implement and are also called flails:...
s, spear
Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
s, bows
Bow (weapon)
The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
and arrow
Arrow
An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
s, javelin
Javelin
A Javelin is a light spear intended for throwing. It is commonly known from the modern athletic discipline, the Javelin throw.Javelin may also refer to:-Aviation:* ATG Javelin, an American-Israeli civil jet aircraft, under development...
s, axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
s, and other medieval weapons. Unlike some other battle games
Battle gaming
Battle gaming is a North American medieval combat sport where participants use mock foam-padded weapons in live action battles. The sport began in 1977.- Description :...
or LARPs, there is no use of “magic".
Participants wear period costume and are expected to stay in-character during events - although the amount of seriousness the role-playing aspect receives varies greatly by unit and chapter.
Description
Dagorhir is a full-contact, live-action combat game, and combatants engage each other in battle with foam-padded bofferBoffer
A foam weapon, , is a padded mock weapon used for simulated handheld combat...
weaponry and equipment. In order to keep battles organized, realistic, and safe, the three main tenets of The Dagorhir Manual of Arms - safety, playability, and realism - are enforced by heralds (referees) during battles. The rules of the manual of arms, as well as those pertaining to combat, are upheld by an effective honor system which applies to all players. Dagorhir is a battle gaming
Battle gaming
Battle gaming is a North American medieval combat sport where participants use mock foam-padded weapons in live action battles. The sport began in 1977.- Description :...
group which is more akin to a wargame
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
than a live-action roleplaying game (LARP). Dagorhir members have stated that they find the phrase live-action roleplaying game to be unfitting.
All weapons and equipment used during combat are inspected for safety prior to each battle, to ensure that they comply with safety rules. Although early Dagorhir weapons were typically constructed from crude materials such as couch foam and broomsticks when the organization was in its infancy, modern-day weapons are usually made from combinations of both open and closed-cell foam bonded to a fiberglass or PVC pipe core. Participants may also elect to wear protective armor, which gives users an advantage in battle. Fighters are organized into units of various sizes, organized along social lines and that generally fight and socialize together and are a club or fraternity of sorts. Units typically adopt a particular historical or fantastical race or nationality and dress, act, and fight according to interpretation of the group. Due to this melding of both Medieval history and Tolkienesque high fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
, it is not uncommon for a Dagorhir battle to involve both mundane and fantasy themes and personas. A typical Dagorhir battle might involve Roman Legionnaires
Legionnaires
Legionnaires may refer to:*Spanish Legion*French Foreign Legion*Legionnaires' Movement in Romania, see: Iron Guard*Legionnaires' disease*Legion of Christ*Charlemagne's Legionnaires*Legion of Super-Heroes*Legionnaire...
and Saxon Warriors locked in a battle against Orcs and Undead.
Dagorhir is strictly a weapon combat game. More fantastic elements, such as arcane magic, give way to more intensive battlefield tactics and off the field innovation in equipment design and character development. Dagorhir also eschews the use of character classes in combat, instead allowing fighters to create and define their own styles of combat. Therefore, fighters are not shoehorned into class stereotypes and are free to fight unrestricted in types of armor, picks of garb, choices of weaponry, and styles of play.
Realms and Chapters are organized by geography, and can range from between a handful of participants to several hundred. Typically a chapter will organize a battle weekly or monthly, with the various units participating, with occasional supplementary activities such as feasts, overnight camp-out battles, and even annual inter-chapter meetings. The largest annual Dagorhir gathering is known as Ragnarok. It is an annual Dagorhir tradition and in years of late, it has reached heights of approximately 1,500 attendees during its weeklong duration. The original chapter of Dagorhir, founded in 1977, is based in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area, and is known as "Dagorhir Aratari" after the founder's persona, Aratar.
History
Bryan Wiese watched the movie Robin and Marion while reading The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
. He had never heard of medieval reenactment
Medieval reenactment
Medieval reenactment is a form of historical reenactment that focuses on re-enacting European history in the period from the fall of Rome to about the end of the 15th century. The second half of this period is often called the Middle Ages...
, Live Action Role Playing Games
Live action role-playing game
A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...
or even Dungeons and Dragons but he wanted something to capture the spirit and adventure that could only come from wielding sword and bow.
As 1977 rolled by, Brian ran ads on the local radio station WGTB. Brian then became "Aratar Anfinhir the Stormbringer" and Dagorhir was born into its first incarnation (as of yet, unnamed).
The club grew and in 1980 a Washington D.C. community TV show PM Magazine ran a half hour episode where the host of PM Magazine spent a day at a Dagorhir battle game. After that point interest in Dagorhir exploded in the D.C. Area.
The explosive growth of Dagorhir took its toll on Brian Wiese. Brian, who had coined the game as “Dagorhir Outdoor Improvisational Dark Age Battle Games”, had a more theatrical bend to his dream. The new flood of players had an attitude that was more sport like. In order to combat this change, the Dagorhir Handbook was formalized. This included costuming requirements in an effort to encourage the players to think of it more of a theatrical game.
In the early eighties, a young man who went by the name of Falcon took the Dagorhir game to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. Then in 1983, PM Magazine
PM Magazine
PM/Evening Magazine was a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States...
broadcast the TV episode to a national audience. The result was the founding of The Realm of Middle~Earth in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Dagorhir began to spread throughout the Mid Western U.S, and inspired spin off organizations, including Belegarth Medieval Combat Society
Belegarth Medieval Combat Society
Belegarth Medieval Combat Society is a foam sword fighting sport where foam padding is used to create foam weapons in order to prevent serious physical injury to participants that is operated as a not-for-profit corporation. It is composed of a number of "realm"s, which compete at regional and...
.
Dagorhir has enjoyed extensive nationwide growth in recent years, expanding to an international membership of over a hundred Chapters consisting of a total membership in the thousands.
On January 20, 2009, the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
show, Wreckreation Nation
Wreckreation Nation
Wreckreation Nation, a production of True Entertainment, is a travel/reality television show on the Discovery Channel, highlighting unusual recreational activities and amateur competitions across the United States. It is hosted by Dave Mordal....
, featured Dagorhir in its episode, "Demolition Derby."
Membership
Dagorhir is open to the public, membership is free of charge (though each event often has a nominal fee charged by the host to cover costs) and participation requires only a small start-up cost to obtain weapons and garb. Participants are generally members of chapters, called "realms," which are formally registered in order to be allowed the use of the Dagorhir name, or related designs and documents. Most groups will keep an armory of weapons for loaning to new members or guests. This is most common of larger groups, but often smaller groups will do it as well. Sometimes veteran members will give old, unused weapons to the new players.As a project on the Dagorhir forums, people began counting and listing active Dagorhir members. At last count this list contained 1486 people with several large groups not reporting. Due to the nature of the chapters of Dagorhir, as well as the definitions of "active", this number cannot be completely accurate. It is usually required to have a release form signed and notarized before engaging in any activities.
Major events
The largest national (inter-realm) Dagorhir event is Ragnarok. Ragnarok XXIII in June 2008 had more than 1,400 attendees, with over 650 actually fighting at the height of the event. More recently, Ragnarok XXIV, which took place in June 2009, attracted nearly 1,500 attendees. Ragnarok has, for the last several years, been held at Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge, OhioCambridge, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,520 people, 4,924 households, and 2,954 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,055.1 people per square mile . There were 5,585 housing units of an average density of 996.3 per square mile...
. However, after Ragnarok XXIV, the site of the event changed to Cooper's Lake Campground in Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock may refer to the following:*Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, a borough in Butler County*Slippery Rock Creek, a tributary of the Beaver River in Pennsylvania*Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Groups across the nation hold events open to the public, and first-time fighters generally have their battle fee, if there is one, waived. While all local battles are open to any participant, there are battles such as a Crown War, that decide the "king" or "queen" of a realm. Then there are larger-scale regional events which typically draw over 100 fighters, as well as national events, of which Ragnarok remains the largest and longest running. In Fall 2006, the second major national event, named after the battle of Badon Hill, first took place in western Pennsylvania and drew over 350 attendees. Badon Hill now regularly has over 500 attendees, and the event was featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel's Wreckreation Nation
- January: Narnia: Father Christmas Feast - Saint Paul's Lutheran Church, West Falls, New York
- February: Winter Invasion - Blue Spruce Park, Indiana, Pennsylvania
- Coronation - Unitarian Universalist Church of Utica, Utica, New York
- March: Ides of March - Red Horse Stables, Bowden, Georgia
- April: Olympics - Indianapolis, Indiana
- Gates of Fire - Pioneer Park Campground, Somerset, Pennsylvania
- May: Gates of Summer - Stewarts Farm, Holden, Missouri
- June: Ragnarok - Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
- July: Allthyng - Upper Malboro, Maryland
- September: Battle of Badon Hill - Pioneer Park Campground, Somerset, Pennsylvania
- War of the Iron Fist - Stewarts Farm, Holden, Missouri
- A Clash of Kings- Vanderkamp Center, Cleveland, New York
External links
- Official Website
- Ragnarok Official Website
- Joining Dagorhir
- A List of Dagorhir Groups
- Dagorhir in the News
- Building A Basic Dagorhir Sword (Flash)
See also
- AmtgardAmtgardAmtgard is a battle gaming and live-action fantasy roleplaying and boffer combat game primarily based in the United States as well as other countries .- History :...
- Battle gamingBattle gamingBattle gaming is a North American medieval combat sport where participants use mock foam-padded weapons in live action battles. The sport began in 1977.- Description :...
- SCASociety for Creative AnachronismThe Society for Creative Anachronism is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century...
- DarkonDarkon Wargaming ClubThe Darkon Wargaming Club is a non-profit battle gaming and live-action role-playing club in the United States based in the Washington, DC Metro area....