Lithedays

The Lithedays, also called simply the Lithe, are the three summer days in the Shire Calendar that fall outside the regular twelve months of thirty days each. They are the chief holidays and time of feasting in the Shire, corresponding to the period around the summer solstice. The Lithedays consist of 1 Lithe, Mid-year's Day, and 2 Lithe. In leap years, an additional day called Overlithe is inserted after Mid-year's Day, making four Lithedays. The Overlithe is a day of special merrymaking, though it did not occur in any of the years important to the history of the Great Ring; it did occur in 1420, the year of the famous harvest and wonderful summer, and the merrymaking in that year is said to have been the greatest in memory or record.

The Free Fair and the Election of the Mayor

The only real official in the Shire at this date was the Mayor of Michel Delving (or of the Shire), who was elected every seven years at the Free Fair on the White Downs at the Lithe, that is at Midsummer. As mayor, almost his only duty was to preside at banquets given on the Shire-holidays, which occurred at frequent intervals. The Free Fair at the Lithe was thus the occasion for the Shire's most significant political ceremony, the election of its chief officer.

The Lithedays in the Shire Calendar

The Shire Calendar, known as Shire-reckoning, was a form of Kings' Reckoning adapted to fit Hobbit customs. The months were all equal and had thirty days each. The three Lithedays, called in the Shire the Lithe or the Lithedays, were placed between June and July. The last day of the year and the first day of the next year were called the Yuledays. The Yuledays and the Lithedays remained outside the months, so that January 1 was the second and not the first day of the year. Every fourth year, except in the last year of the century, there were four Lithedays. The additional Litheday was added after Mid-year's Day, and so the 184th day of the leap-years was called Overlithe and was a day of special merrymaking. In full, Yuletide was six days long, including the last three and first three days of each year.

The Shire Reform of the Week

The Shire-folk introduced one small innovation of their own, eventually also adopted in Bree, which they called Shire-reform. They found the shifting of the weekday names in relation to dates from year to year untidy and inconvenient. So in the time of Isengrim II they arranged that the odd day which put the succession out should have no weekday name. After that, Mid-year's Day (and the Overlithe) was known only by its name and belonged to no week. In consequence of this reform, the year always began on the First Day of the week and ended on the Last Day, and the same date in any one year had the same weekday name in all other years, so that Shire-folk no longer bothered to put the weekday in their letters or diaries.

The Significance of the Lithedays

The Lithedays, as the chief holidays of the Shire, were a time of communal celebration and feasting. The Free Fair at Midsummer was the setting for the election of the Mayor, the Shire's only real official. The custom of holding the Free Fair at the Lithe at Midsummer tied the political life of the Shire to its seasonal calendar of holidays. The Lithedays, along with the Yuledays, were the principal occasions for the banquets over which the Mayor presided. The Shire-hobbits, who delighted in parties and presents, found in the Lithedays a regular opportunity for the merrymaking they loved.