Nan Thurin: Summer Camp 2013

Besides the Tolkien Day for the general public, our main event for every year is the Great Summer Camp of about ten days, with 100-150 participants, most of them more-or-less members of our community, but of course, there are newcomers, too.

These summer camps are not actually LARPs, but they always have a LARPish setting and story, which is presented in scenes and is a framefork for the everyday program, and those who are interested also can affect the story. Everybody belongs to a team which has a role in the story as a special group of people, for example the Men of Dale or the Elves of Lothlórien. Mostly the participants are also members of an "order" of their chosen activity, i.e. martial arts, hiking, dance, music. And there are other tasks and programs, guards, team plays etc.

In 2013, the summer camp took place at Városlőd. I never heard about the place earlier, but it is surpisingly easy to get there by train (this is fortunate and unfortunate at the same time), compared to other totally out-of-the-civilisation campsites we normally choose. The setting was in Beleriand, just after the end of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and the groups were wandering people of Bór and Maedhros, Men of Dor-lómin, Elves from Gondolin, Nargothrond and Mithrim. The organisers formed another group, the Sindar of Doriath, who welcomed the others in the valley of Nan Thurin. Although they tried to keep this secret, but in the end it turned out that they escaped from Sauron after Lúthien destroyed his dungeons to help Beren, and they were not totally cleared from the evil influence, so one of the other of them sometimes became possessed by the evil spirit of Sauron. The story contained several details known or not known from the books, for example the wedding of Brodda.

Unfortunately, I do not know much more either, as I haven't been there. All my holiday time was spent in the Lithuanian Mirkwood, so I spent less than two days in Nan Thurin. Most of this time was spent by sitting somewhere unable to walk around, as I spained my ankle in two hours after my arrival. So, instead of further details, I simply insert a nice video which can tell more of this camp as I could, and if anybody have questions about it, I am sure I know people who will have the answers. :)

One more of my few experiences there. Just before I left, the people of Maedhros came in to the lunch area, and theatrically burned a few ships made of paper. I suppose they had an argument with the other Noldor...