EVERY year a group of Czech larping enthusiasts re-enact the ‘Battle of Five Armies’, the concluding set piece of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Larping is live action role-playing and is a form of battle re-enactment. The event has taken place annually since 2000 and is held near the village of Doksy in the Czech Republic.

Hundreds of Tolkien fans dressed as orcs, goblins and elves gathered in a Czech forest to recreate the climactic Battle of the Five Armies from The Hobbit.

Participants make their own armour and weapons, trying to be faithful to the novel. However, the outcome of the battle may be wildly different, as good does not necessarily triumph over evil. The forces of evil have won about half of the battles.

Initially it had about 50 participants but since then the numbers have grown. The peak came after the Lord of the Rings movies, when the event reached 1,100 participants. And in the last few years between 850-950 players have taken part each year to re-enact the famous battle from Tolkien’s novel that was first published in 1937.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2016