History of Dagorhir

Some people are inspired to become astronauts. Others, are inspired to become firefighters, police officers, or other public servants, and some others are inspired to create, and bring fun and enjoyment to people they've never met, for no other reason than "Hey, this would be AWESOME!"

Such was the case for Bryan Weise, who saw the movie "Robin and Marion" while he was reading "The Lord of the Rings". As a result, he sought to capture the adventure and thrill of medieval action, that one couldn't get by reading a book or watching a movie, and could only be found by picking up a sword and doing battle against a horde of filthy orcs.

In 1977, after lots of planning and scheming, he started running an advertisement on a local radio station, calling out to anyone who wanted to participate in what he called "Hobbit Wars". He then took the name Aratar Anfinhir, the Stormbringer, which is where the realm of Aratari gets its name, in respect to our founder.

For the first couple years, all battles were woods battles, with "alpha" type weapons - large chunks or open cell foam duct taped to wooden poles. Over time, the small group in Maryland began to grow, as people spoke to others and spread the word. At some point, Aratar was approached by a man calling himself Celemir, who proposed giving the group a real name - Dagorhir, which translates to "Battle Lords", a fitting title indeed. In 1978, the first prototype of our modern weapons was fielded, shaped closed cell foam glued to a fiberglass core. It was around this time, that the idea of rocks was first proposed, as a solution to all the leftover scrap foam people accumulated during weapon builds.

In 1979, Dagorhir had a spot in the Maryland Renaissance Festival, recruiting people out of the crowd during staged fights. It was here that they caught the attention of PM Magazine, a local television show. They were obviously intrigued, and scheduled an opportunity to film one of the battles for their show. After many, many failed attempts due to weather, they were finally able to get the footage, which aired on Washington, DC television in 1981. After that, membership took off like a rocket. Over 70 new fighters showed up for the next battle, and attendance records topped 200 during the 1983 season. In 1983, Aratar retired as president of Dagorhir, turning leadership over to the Council of Seven, which had been established to assist in organizing and running battle a few years prior.

Later that year, PM Magazine re-broadcast the Dagorhir episode, only this time it was nationwide, bringing it into the home of a man who would become Beowulf the Dreamer, in Illinois. After contacting Dagorhir, and making his own preparations and advertising, he founded the second realm of Dagorhir, Middle Earth in 1984.

Not long after, the ancient scrolls tell