Dagorhir is one of Macalester’s winter secrets. As opposed to their usual spot on Kagin Lawn, Dagorhir’s three-hour practices move to the Leonard Center during the cold months. Their only form of publicity in four years has begun recently, through notices in the Daily Piper. But in the winter, for the most part, Dagorhir disappears from the public eye completely.This isn’t true for the warmer months. Plenty of students can recall the sight of people fighting with foam swords on Kagin lawn early in the fall semester. Some call them the “LARPers”, but this is a common misconception.

“There’s a distinction between [Dagorhir] and LARPing proper,” said Waabanang Hermes ’17. “There’s no actual role-playing element…it’s not like you would expect. There aren’t races and classes and a big, overarching story.”

Rather than following any plot, Dagorhir focuses instead on using weapons, ranging from single-handed swords to shields to arrows, in battles against other club members.

AJ Zozulin ’14 helped found the organization in 2010. He has been playing Dagorhir for almost eight years since he founded a similar club at his high school.

“I actually wrote my college essay on Dagorhir,” said Zozulin. “When I got here I was like, ‘I have to start this up. I’ve done it once, I can do it again’. It took a while, but I found some co-conspirators and we got it running.”

The club has grown in the last four years, now with 10 members who regularly attend practices, which involve more than just playing Dagorhir itself. First, the weapons must be tested. They each have a rigid core of PVC or fiberglass in the middle, which are then covered with a dense foam. To make sure the weapons are safe, club members smack the swords against their legs or use them to stab one another in the back, checking that the core isn’t sticking out. Once the testing is done, the proper practice begins. With Dagorhir, there’s a wide variety of options for gameplay.

“We tend to play some large group games or team-on-team,” said Ariana Lewis-Stevens ’16. “There’s also individual dueling, or sometimes someone will teach a technique. It just depends on the day.”

Other games include Capture the Flag and “Hell Hounds”, where players have to fight their way “out of hell”, or rather, past two of their teammates.
During games the players take plenty of precautions, but Dagorhir isn’t always safe.

“I have personally gotten a concussion and I’ve torn three ligaments in my right hand,” admitted Zozulin. “Injuries happen, but they’re typically not breaks or life-threatening.”

Despite the occasional bruise or sprain, no Macalester student has been seriously injured playing Dagorhir.
The same can’t be said for participants at larger, interstate Dagorhir events.

“The craziest story I heard happened at a tournament. Someone shot an arrow and the arrow failed and hit someone in the eye,” said Zouzulin. “But they were already blind in that eye.”

These stories don’t seem to discourage the several thousand Dagorhir enthusiasts across the country or the large group in Minneapolis, whose members occasionally join Macalester practices.

“We’re extremely fortunate to have an indoor space,” Zouzulin explained, “which is why we’ll get people from off-campus.”

The club always welcomes off-campus members, as additional players allow for bigger practices and interesting gameplay.
As spring approaches, the club intends to advertise for its upcoming campus-wide event and attract new members.

But flyers and ads may not be necessary, as Dagorhir is a game that seems to speak for itself. As Lewis-Stevens ‘16 pointed out, “It’s hitting people with foam swords, man.”