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Murlo
Rivendell
Jun 23 2018, 6:13pm
Post #1 of 4
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LOTR Lunar Readalong for the Lithedays (and Mid-year's Day) of S.R. 1419, and through Afterlithe (the rest of Book VI, Chapter 5 and the start of Chapter 6)
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This post is a continuation of my last Lunar Readalong post.
What's the LOTR Lunar Readalong all about? See The Lord of the Rings Lunar Readalong project page for more info.
Today and tomorrow's Readalong for the Lithedays of S.R. 1419 has also been posted to Reddit.
Upon the very Eve of Midsummer, when the sky was blue as sapphire and white stars opened in the East, but the West was still golden and the air was cool and fragrant, the riders came down the North-way to the gates of Minas Tirith.
When Arwen arrived to the City just after sunset, there would have been a waxing gibbous moon (just a few days from full) already rising high in the sky. So there would have been plenty of moonlight for the next few evenings' festivities.
The "Eve of Midsummer" was "1 Lithe" by Shire Reckoning, followed the next day by "Mid-year's Day", the day of the Wedding of King Elessar and Arwen. Mid-year's Day was also known as Loëndë in the Elvish calendars of Gondor throughout the Third Age, but by this date King Elessar's "New Reckoning" may have already been established and taken effect. If so, then this date would have been T.A. 3019 Cermië 7 by the New Reckoning. The New Reckoning's Loëndë was moved to autumn, just a couple of days after Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, since the New Reckoning's New Year's Day was 'March' (Rethe) 25 by Shire Reckoning, the anniversary of the destruction of the One Ring.
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Murlo
Rivendell
Jul 10 2018, 2:41pm
Post #2 of 4
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Visually comparing Shire Reckoning with the Stewards' and New Reckoning calendars.
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By the way, my Shire Reckoning project's simulation page displays the Shire Reckoning and New Reckoning calendars side-by-side (also on this year's Lunar Readalong simulation shortcut page).
And if you pick a date before S.R. 1419 Rethe 25, you can see the Stewards' Reckoning calendar that was in use in Gondor before King Elessar's New Reckoning took effect.
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Murlo
Rivendell
Jul 10 2018, 2:46pm
Post #3 of 4
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LOTR Lunar Readalong for the week of 1419 Afterlithe 15: Many Partings after the wedding festival
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This week's Readalong schedule has been posted to Reddit!
After "the days of rejoicing were over at last", and just a couple of days before the new moon, Frodo begs "leave to depart soon". Éomer will return to Minas Tirith the day after the new moon.
The Reader's Companion gives a few more details from Tolkien's scheme that didn't make it into Appendix B. Tolkien wrote that the day of the wedding (Mid-year's Day) plus the following 14 days were made days of festival. So the wedding festival would have ended last Sunday (Highday by Shire Reckoning), and Frodo begs leave of the King to depart 2 days later.
Also note that because Mid-year's Day has no weekday, and the next day, 2 Lithe, is always on a Sterday, which is the start of the week in the Shire (like Monday in our calendar), then our weekdays will match up (culturally) with the Shire Reckoning weekdays in the Lunar Readalong for the rest of this year and the 1st half of next year! So the Shire weekend days of Mersday and Highday will now fall on our weekend days of Saturday and Sunday for the next year of this Readalong (though I'll probably wrap it up by the end of this year).
For the Lunar Readalong of 2020-21, the Shire weekdays will match ours for the previous year, during the main events of the story: from 2 Lithe in T.A. 3018 through 1 Lithe in T.A. 3019. So from Boromir's departure from Minas Tirith, Gandalf's imprisonment in Orthanc, and Frodo's departure from Bag End in 2020, through the destruction of the One Ring, the crowning of King Elessar, and the eve of the wedding in 2021.
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Murlo
Rivendell
Jul 17 2018, 2:33pm
Post #4 of 4
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LOTR Lunar Readalong for 1419 Afterlithe 22: The funeral escort of King Théoden sets out
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For today's Readalong, the funeral escort of King Théoden sets out almost 1 week after the new moon, and they will take 15 days to reach Edoras, so they will arrive almost a week after the next full moon.
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