On a sparklingly sunny Sunday afternoon, more than a thousand Kyivites took respite from the war against Ukraine by donning their pointy ears and together travelling to mythical Middle-earth.
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International Hobbit Day – Sept. 22 – was marked for the first time in Ukraine with a festival of all things Hobbit, including attire, jewelry, music, food, weapons displays, Ring quests, bare feet, and literary lectures. The event was held at the Skvo eco-space, a woody and hipster oasis on worn-down and weary Hydropark, a Soviet-era recreational island in the middle of the Dnipro River.
The day falls on the what’s recognized as the shared birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, central characters in English author J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series of fantasy novels. Around the world, Tolkien fans mark the day by donning customary Hobbit costumes – rustic-colored loose shirts, waistcoats, and knee-length trousers and skirts with accessories like peaked hats, pipes and leather satchels – and then gathering in mock Shires.
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Oleksandra, a 27-year-old programmer, and Vladyslav, a 29-year-old soldier, were queuing for their turns at the makeshift archery range. They were in full kit when they spoke to Kyiv Post about their love of Tolkien as the modern originator of the fantasy genre of literature, as well as about the meaning of such events to them.
“When I was a student, I read [Eric Maria] Remarque [French author of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’] and didn’t understand how people continued to party and drink wine during World War I,” Oleksandra said. “Now, I completely get it. People need the healthy distraction because without it, we won’t survive psychologically or morally.”
Her friend agreed.
“To think constantly about the negative doesn’t bring anything good. You need to have something besides the war. People need events; people need the chance to come together,” Vladyslav said. “Sometimes, fantasy is a great alternative to reality even if only temporary.”
Waiting for shashlyk – Ukrainian skewered meat – cooked over an open fire, Nastya, a 35-year-old beautician, described the fair as “a portal into another world… at least for one day.”
One of the leading organizers of the volunteer-led event is Kateryna Viernoslov, a 34-year-old English teacher in the “real world.” As she spoke to Kyiv Post, in an enclosure behind her – fenced presumably for festival go-ers’ safety – a massive, man-slaying dragon named Smaug was being constructed from wood, fabric and Styrofoam.
And, while the festival’s participants were time-travelling to another realm with other threats, one of the event’s purposes was very much of this world, according to Kateryna.
“The originator of the idea for the festival is now a soldier serving in Donetsk oblast,” Kateryna said. “So one of our aims is to raise funds for an EcoFlow generator for his unit, the 3rd Battalion of the 101st Separate Defense Brigade.”
Khrystyna, 30, works as a fitness trainer. She was part of a group being coached on how to line-dance like Hobbits after having just finished a class on making maidens’ floral crowns, which she now wore.
She pointed out that Bilbo’s life in “The Hobbit,” where he encounters many travails as a guide for Gandalf and the Thirteen Dwarves who seek to reclaim their home and treasure from the dragon Smaug, is a journey from being safe, settled and somewhat self-centered to being an honorable servant of a larger and just cause.
“I like Bilbo because, in his own way, he meets the obstacles before him and grows as a being,” Khrystyna said as a black-robed Nazgul, the murderous foes of Frodo in ‘The Lord of the Ring,’ walked by. “That’s kind of the challenge for all of us as individuals too, especially during the war – not to mention liberating our territory.”
As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine stretches toward its 1,000th day, the last word goes to the birthday Hobbit himself, Bilbo Baggins, who poignantly said to his protégé: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you’ll be swept off to.”
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