10-31-2001, 12:49 PM | #1 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: California
Posts: 218
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Time
Just wondering when people in middle earth tell time, what do they tell it on? Watches? Position of the sun? Wrist bound sundials?
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No longer posting. If you'd like to write to me I can be reached at kyote_fields@hotmail.com. It was nice knowing all of you. |
10-31-2001, 01:40 PM | #2 |
The Insufferable
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 3,333
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Time in middle earth was reckoned first by the lights of the two trees, and later by the sun and Moon.
Although I recall the elves used a 144 sun-year reckoning called the 'yen'. |
10-31-2001, 03:28 PM | #3 |
Hoplite Nomad
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 3,931
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which was later usurped by the japanese
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About Eowyn, Does anyone know what her alias Dernhelm means? She was kown as dernhelm because of her exclaimation when she realized that the rider's headgear was heavy and obscured her sight. 'Dern Helm" Culled from Entmoot From Kirinski 57 and Wayfarer. |
11-04-2001, 09:42 PM | #4 |
Elven Loremaster
Join Date: Feb 2000
Posts: 892
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The Elven "sun-year" was just a normal year of 365 days. They called that year a coranar (translated as "sun round"). The yen is a weird thing which doesn't fit well into any of the chronological systems. It was originally determined to be 100 years long, but Tolkien changed that. I think he went with 144 because that was how many First Elves he decided there had been. He probably also liked the mathematical gyrations he could go through with 144.
As for how people measured time in Middle-earth, they didn't have wrist-watches, but they did have clocks. I believe the bells of Minas Tirith were used to mark time, although I'm not positive of that. I vaguely recall reading something in The Return of the King where a bell tolls out in the night, marking the change of hour. Technically, time in Middle-earth was never reckoned by the changing of the lights of the Two Trees. The light was only visible in Valinor (and portions of Eldamar after the Eldar reached Aman). Middle-earth had to mark time by other means. |
11-09-2001, 12:18 PM | #5 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Dorset
Posts: 608
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Wahay, I'm posting something in so many discussions today and it's all free!
The Shire had a calendar didn't they? Surely seasons could be seen from trees etc. and days could be counted by dawn to dawn so they could have worked out some form of measurement. The moon seems to play an important part as it's phases mark key events, however when the company were in Moria Gandalf knew the time without seeing the sky or any daylight so it must be part of his wizardly power! |
11-09-2001, 05:18 PM | #6 |
Best Ex-Administrator ever
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Ireland
Posts: 60,547
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The Shire did have it's own time and calendar, which had 12 months called Afteryule, Solmath, Rethe, Astron, Thrimidge, Forelithe, Afterlithe, Wedmath, Halimath, Winterfilth, Blotmath and Foreyule in respect to our Months. The Beginning of each year began on a Saturday and Ended on a Friday. The Moon played a part in the Wandering hobbits year, and also Durins day.
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