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Belegarth battles in Julia Davis Park
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Boise State Belegarth, a new club on campus this spring, focuses on medieval combat. The group meets Wednesdays and Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Belegarth is organization that was originally started in 1975 by high school students and inspired by the work of J.R.R. Tolkien (who authored the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and its prequel the Hobbit). Today, Belegarth is a national organization with many chapters.
BSU’s chapter was formed this spring by Dane Johns and others. Johns is currently the President for the club.
Johns shares leadership of the group with Brandon Greeson-Barreitts. Greeson-Barrietts is the field leader.
“I’m the Belegarth head,” said Greeson-Barrietts.
He said that he is the leader of the Belegarth Chapter as opposed to the leader of the recognized BSU club.
The medieval weapons used by the club for combat are constructed with a PVC core covered by foam, wrapped in specific fabric and can be bought from various venues, but are just as often home made. These are used simpley because with real weapons come rea
The armor, on the other hand, can be as real as the armor used during the medieval period, and ranges from simple leathers to chain-mail or better. The shields are padded too because a shield can be used as a weapon.
The club focuses on fighting and should not be confused with live action role playing (or LARPing), according to Johns.
“We’re the other side of the coin,” said Johns, “we’re an MCS, a medieval combat society, so we’re strictly combat.”
The club competes with other chapters at events that happen as often as once a month, according to Johns. He said the competitions vary from individual sparring, to group combat, to full team battles(as every different chapter is considered a team).
The combat is rule based, which determines when a participant has “died” in combat depending on where they had been hit and if they were wearing armor.
Participants are involved for a variety of reasons. Greeson-Barrietts said he just likes doing it and had been involved in other similar groups before.
Arnie Wyman, one of the group’s members, said he began playing because he someone he knew.
“She started beating me with a sword and so I had to defend myself,” said Wyman, “from then on I was just kind of hooked.”
Participants are required to sign waivers in case of injury.
Micah McLaughlin
News Writer
