The Peoples of Middle-earth (23 page)

(* Earlier it had been the first year of the century, for it so happened that Hobbits adopted King's Reckoning in the last year of a Dunedain century, probably Third Age 1300, which became the first year of their reckoning. But as Shire Reckoning 1 was found to correspond to King's Reckoning 1601 things were later adjusted to fit in with King's Reckoning.)

days and times of feasting. The additional Litheday added after Midyear Day (and so the 184th day of the longer years) was called Overlithe and was a day of special merrymaking. In full

'Yuletide' was fourteen days long, the last week of the old and the first of the new year (from December 25 to January 6 inclusive), but the two middle days of the period, Yearsend or Oldyear's Day, and Yearsday or Newyear's Day were the great Yuledays.

The Hobbits introduced one small but notable innovation, the 'Shire-reform'....

The text continues without significant change from that of D 1

(p. 121), with the same page-reference to the text F 2 of the Appendix on Languages (see note 2), and without the Quenya names of the months which are given in Appendix D (RK p. 388). In the list of Hobbit month-names Yulemath (as well as Harvest(math)) is now included as being current in the East Farthing as well as in Bree, and the Shire-name of May becomes Thrimidge, as in Bree, with the note

'formerly written Thrimich and archaically Thrimilch'. The explanation of the name Winterfilth is altered, 'the name had probably originally meant the filling or completion of winter, or rather of the year leading up to the entry of winter', the precise meaning of which is obscure to me (see note 4).

Following the list of month-names and the notes on them the text D 2 continues:

I have not ventured to use these actual unfamiliar names in the course of the narrative; but it must be understood that the reference is always to the Shire Calendar, even where 'Shire-reckoning' is not specified, as it sometimes is. Thus the points essential to the turn of the years S.R.1418, 1419 are that October 1418 has only 30 days; while January 1st is the second day of 1419, and February 1419 has 30 days. In consequence Bilbo's birthday September 22nd being the 99th and not the 100th day from the year-end corresponds to our September 23rd; February 1st corresponds to our February 1st, but 29, 30 to our March 1, 2; and the date of the downfall of Baraddur and Sauron, S.R.

March 25, corresponds to our March 27th.

The Hobbit week was taken from the Dunedain, and the names were translations of the names given to the week-days in the old North-kingdom, those in turn deriving from the Eldar.

These names were at that time almost universal among users of the Common Speech, though there were some local variations.

The six-day week of the Eldar had days dedicated to, or named after, the Stars, the Sun, the Moon, the Two Trees,* the Heavens, and the Valar or Powers, in this order, the last day being the chief or high day of the week. Their Quenya names were: Elenya, Anarya, Isilya, Aldarya, Menelya, Valarya (or Tarinar). The Noldorin names were [Argiliath >] Argilion, Aranor, Arithil, [Argelaid >] Argaladath, Arvenel (-fenel,

-mhenel), Arvelain (or Ardorin).(9)

The Dunedain kept the dedications and order, but altered the fourth day to Argalad 'Tree-day' with reference to the Elder Tree only, of which the White Tree that grew in the King's Court in Numenor was a descendant. Also, desiring a seventh day, and being the greatest of mariners, they inserted a 'sea-day' Aroeren (Quenya Earenya) after the Heavens' day.

The Hobbits took over this arrangement ...

The text then follows that of D 1 (p. 123) almost exactly in the account of the names of the days of the week in the Hobbit calendar, but the Red Book spellings of Sterrendei and Hihdei are given as Starday and Hiday (or Highday). Starday was then changed to Sterday, with the note: 'The spelling Stirday, sometimes found in the Red Book, was due to the forgetting of the meaning of the name. Sterday, which began the week, was popularly supposed to be connected with

"stirring" after the holiday of Highday.'

D 2 then concludes thus:

I have translated these names also into our familiar names, and in deciding which name to equate with which modern name I have observed not the Hobbit order (beginning with Sterday), but the meanings. Thus since Sunday and Munday are practically identical with our Sunday and Monday and have the same 'dedications' in the same order, I have equated these and taken the rest in the same order as they stand in the Shire list: thus Hobbit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 have been translated by our 7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. It must be remembered, however, that the associations of the weekday names will thus be different: Saturday, for instance, will correspond closely in Hobbit-custom with our Monday, while Friday will correspond as closely as anything in the Shire did with Sunday.

The Overlithe or Leapday does not concern the Red Book since it did not occur in any of the important years in the story (* The Two Trees of Valinor, Silpion of silver (the Elder), and Laurelin of gold (the Younger), which gave light to the Blessed Realm.) of the Great Ring. It occurred in the year before Bilbo went to the Lonely Mountain, namely in 1340; it had been missed out in 1400,* the year before his Farewell Party (1401), and so had not occurred from 1396 to 1404. The only years dealt with in the Red Book in which it occurred were 1420, the famous Harvest, and 1436. No doubt the merrymaking of Overlithe in 1420 was as marvellous as everything else in that marvellous year, but it is not mentioned specially by Master Samwise. He had many other things to think about, and his brief account of them has not been enlarged upon. The book ends before the Lithe of 1436.

On the assumption, which I feel sure is correct, that D 2 belongs to very much the same time as D 1, my father quickly became dissatisfied with his first account of the antecedents of the Hobbit calendar (which itself remained virtually unchanged throughout). In the Eldarin calendar he now introduced the words yen and quantien, both meaning a hundred of our years (coranari 'sun-rounds'), but retained the essential structure described in D 1 of 366 days to the year, divided into six months alternating between 30 and 31 days, with a reduction of all months to 30 days in every eighth year, these being called 'Short Years'. On the other hand, he altered the Eldarin treatment of the last four years of the century: whereas in D 1 (p. 120) a day was simply rejected at the very end of the century, in D 2 two were added, one at the beginning and one at the end of the century (see note 8).

The Numenorean calendar was more radically changed. In D 1

there were 12 months of 30 days each in a year of 365 days, with a period of 5 days (standing outside the months) called 'the Summer Days' between June 30 and July 1, the third of these being called

'Midyear's Day'. Every fourth year was a leap-year with six 'Summer Days' including two 'Midyear's Days'. From this calendar that of the Hobbits was derived, with the 5 'extra' days dispersed into 3 'Summer Days' ('Lithedays') and 2 'Yuledays', the leap-year day being 'Overlithe'.

In D 2, on the other hand, the Numenorean calendar had 8 months of 30 days and 4 months of 31 (January, June, July, December), requiring only one 'extra' day, Midyear Day, standing outside the months, this (as in D 1) being doubled every fourth year. This was called 'King's (* The determination of the centuries was ultimately taken from the reckoning of the Dunedain. For though 'Shire-reckoning' only began with the settlement of the Shire, it was found that this had occurred in year 1601 of the Third Age according to King's Reckoning. To convert S.R. years into T.A. years one therefore adds 1600. Bree-years began 300 years earlier than Shire-years.)

Reckoning'. Despite this alteration of the Numenorean calendar the Hobbit calendar (unchanged from D 1) is still, rather curiously, derived from it: for my father explained (p. 128) that they did 'in effect' retain the four 31-day months in the two Yuledays (January, December) and two Lithedays (June, July, on either side of Midyear's Day), although these in the Hobbit calendar were not counted in the months.

A further innovation in D 2 is the later revision of the calendar in Gondor, 'in the time of the Stewards', when the months were all reduced to 30 days, with 5 inserted 'Summer Days'. This was called

'Steward's Reckoning', and was widely adopted - but not by the Hobbits. 'Steward's Reckoning' is of course a reversion to the original Numenorean calendar in D 1 - which was the source of that of the Hobbits.

In Appendix D the conservative nature of the Hobbit calendar was retained, being a form of the King's Reckoning rather than of the reformed Steward's Reckoning, but these were again altered. The precise relations can best be understood from the actual texts, but the following is an attempt to summarise the essential differences.

D 1. Numenorean: all months of 30 days, 5 'Summer Days' outside the months. Hobbit calendar derived from this, with 2 Yuledays and 3 Lithedays outside the months.

D 2. Numenorean 'King's Reckoning': 4 months of 31 days, Midyear Day outside the months. Hobbit calendar derived from this.

Numenorean 'Steward's Reckoning': all months of 30 days, 5

'Summer Days' outside the months. Not adopted by Hobbits.

Appendix D Numenorean 'Kings' Reckoning': 2 months of 31 days, with 3 days outside the months (yestare, loende, mettare at the beginning, middle, and end of the year). Hobbit calendar (still as in D 1, D 2) derived from this.

Numenorean 'Stewards' Reckoning': introduced by Mardil: all months of 30 days, with 2 further days outside the months (tuilere, yaviere, at end of March and September) added. Not adopted by Hobbits.

In D 2 there is no reference to the introduction of a new calendar in Third Age 3019 (S.R.1419), the year of the fall of Barad-dur and the coronation of King Elessar, beginning on March 25 (RK p. 390); but in D 1 there is such a reference (p. 121, footnote) to a new reckoning, the year beginning, however, in the autumn: 'The settled Hobbits for a time began their year after Harvest, roughly October 1st.... In Gondor after the downfall of Baraddur a new era was begun with that day reckoned as the first day of its first year.'

My father wrote two statements at this time on the subject of the new reckoning, differently arranged but virtually identical in content: I give the second version, which is somewhat clearer.

New Era.

Gondor Calendar of the Fourth Age. After the downfall of Sauron and the return of the King, a new calendar was devised in Gondor and adopted throughout the realm and in all the westlands. This was calculated to begin on the day of the fall of Barad-dur. That took place in Third Age 3019 (Shire-reckoning 1419), on March 25th according to Shire-reckoning, King's reckoning, and the Elvish calendars (March 27th in our calendar, and March 26th in Steward's reckoning).(10)

In honour of the Halflings (Hobbits) their week-day Sunday (for 25 March) was taken for the first week-day of the first year of the New Era, and so became also the first day of every week.

Also the 'Shire-reform' was adopted, by which Midyear's Day had no weekday name, so that weekday names remained fixed in relation to dates, and each year began on a Sunday (Anarya) and ended on a Saturday (Elenya).

The calendar of months and seasons was also entirely reformed. The year now began with Spring (25 March old style). It was divided into five seasons: two long (three months), and three short (two months): Spring (April, May); Summer (June, July, August); Autumn or Harvest (September, October); Winter (November, December, January); Stirring (February, March).*

Each month was 30 days long. There were thus 5 days (or in Leap-years 6) outside the months. These were: 2 'Spring-days'

before April 1st, which began the new year, and were festivals.+

'Midyear's Day' fell between September and October and became now a harvest festival. In Leap-years this Day was doubled. The year ended with 2 'Stirring-days' after March 30: these days were days of preparation for the New Year and of commemoration of the dead and fallen.

Dates were usually given in official documents by the Seasons, but the old month-names (Common-speech, Noldorin or Quenya) remained in private and popular use, though their (* When the year was divided into two halves, Winter was held to run from October to Year's end, and Summer from Year's beginning to the end of September.)

(+ The first Spring-Day and the first day of the Year was especially the commemoration of the fall of Sauron, since it corresponded to 25

March in earlier reckoning.)

incidence was somewhat altered: they began and ended earlier in the year than in older calendars.

On the reverse of the page carrying the first of these accounts of the calendar of the New Era is a table made at the same time; this was struck out and replaced by another, identical in all essentials, and this latter I have redrawn (p. 134). In this table the first column of figures refers to actual dates (with the five days standing outside the months numbered 1 and 1, 2); thus the five figures given for Tuile (Spring), 1, 2, 1, 1, 30, refer respectively to the two Tuilear (Springdays), 1