Elves and hobbits in russian woods

In 2002, it was quite a juicy news item when, during the national census, Russians learned that there were elves and hobbits living among them (that was the first year Russians were allowed to pencil in their ethnicity rather than choose the most appropriate option from the official list). In reality, however, elves, orcs, and hobbits had lived alongside ordinary Russians for more than a decade by then

In the summertime, the woods and parks around Moscow often teem with people who look like they’ve just walked off the set of Lord of the Rings – swords, armour, the works. The parks and gardens – which, for those in the know, have their own names among elves – serve as grounds for role-playing and acting out the scenes from Tolkien originals as well as Tolkien-based fan fic­tion.

“Tibalt,” known as Vladimir prior to his conversion to Tolkienism, sees his own fas­cination with the Middle Earth as an escape from the unpleasant realities of the world. With a plethora of fan­tasy worlds to choose from, he went for the British author’s works. “The history and the mythology are so well thought out, it’s more profound than other fantasy universes. This is a scientific work.”

Tolkienists, as they are known, put a lot of effort into researching charac­ter family trees and life stories, learning the languages in the books, writing their own spin-offs of traditional sto­ries, writing music, organiz­ing games and conventions, as well as learning crafts such as armour-making. Ti­balt also emphasizes the positive influence of the cul­ture on his life – his Tolkien obsession has encouraged him to write poetry and songs. “My mother likes that this is what I’m doing, rather than drinking beer out in the street.”

Unfortunately, quite fre­quently, Russian Tolkien fans find themselves the butt of jokes and targets of harassment – their hobby is seen as too eccentric. At­tacks by skinheads and street hoodlums who don’t like the looks of long-haired, sword-carrying young men in chain mail are only half the trouble: police also take a lively interest. The swords used in role-playing are usu­ally made of wood or a spe­cial kind of plastic, or are simply blunt, and can hardly be considered weapons. Yet carrying a realistic-looking wooden elven saber might get you in trouble with the law if you can’t explain yourself.

Irina emphasizes that the role-playing ends when the games end – everyone goes back to the real world. It would be pathological, she says, if someone went on thinking they were Feanor (an elf) outside of the game. “Honestly, I don’t know of a single such case,’ she adds. Tibalt, however, who admires Tolkien’s magic universe for the idealism of its inhabi­tants, goes by his elven name at work and at home and feels inspired by the half-elven character he’s created for himself most of the time. But it’s all about the chivalry and the bravery, not a hazy perception of reality Tol­kienists are sometimes sus­pected of.

Their way of getting back at the misunderstanding they encounter is by laughing it off. Storytelling is one of the best things about the scene, and one of the best-known stories goes like this: a Tolkien fan coming back from a game and wearing an expensive leather coat over his chain mail was unfortu­nate enough to run into a couple of skinheads late at night. Taking him for a rich and easy prey, they tried to rob the man, threatening him with a knife. When the knife bounced off the hidden coat of mail and the man raised a huge real-looking sword over his head, the two would-be muggers fell to their knees, begging: ‘Ha­ve mercy on us, Duncan MacLeod,’ mistaking the Tolkien fan for the immortal highlander.

Anastasiya Lebedev

MosNews.com 23/05/2007