Kings' Reckoning

Kings' Reckoning was the calendar system of Númenor and, after its Downfall, of the Dúnedain realms in exile: Arnor and Gondor. It was ultimately of Eldarin origin, but the Númenóreans altered the Elvish arrangements, dividing the solar year into twelve months (astar) of equal length, ten of 30 days and two of 31. The long months were those on either side of the Mid-year, approximately June and July. Three days belonged to no month: the first day of the year (yestarë), the middle day (loëndë, the 183rd day), and the last day (mettarë). In every fourth year, except the last of a century (haranyë), two enderi or 'middle-days' were substituted for the single loëndë.

Origins and Númenórean Practice

In Númenor, calculation started with S.A. 1. The deficit caused by deducting one day from the last year of a century was not adjusted until the last year of a millennium, leaving a millennial deficit of 4 hours, 46 minutes, 40 seconds. This addition was made in Númenor in S.A. 1000, 2000, and 3000. After the Downfall in S.A. 3319, the system was maintained by the Exiles, but it was dislocated by the beginning of the Third Age with a new numeration: S.A. 3442 became T.A. 1. By making T.A. 4 a leap year instead of T.A. 3 (S.A. 3444), one more short year of only 365 days was intruded, causing a deficit of 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds. The millennial additions were made 441 years late: in T.A. 1000 (S.A. 4441) and T.A. 2000 (S.A. 5441).

The Stewards' Revision

To reduce the errors so caused and the accumulation of the millennial deficits, Mardil the Steward issued a revised calendar to take effect in T.A. 2060, after a special addition of two days to 2059 (S.A. 5500), which concluded 5½ millennia since the beginning of the Númenórean system. This still left about eight hours of deficit. Hador added one day in 2360, though the deficiency had not quite reached that amount. After that, no more adjustments were made; by the end of the Third Age, after 660 more years, the deficit had not yet amounted to one day. The Revised Calendar introduced by Mardil was called Stewards' Reckoning and was adopted eventually by most users of the Westron language, except the Hobbits. In this system, all months were of 30 days, and two days outside the months were introduced: one between the third and fourth months (March, April) and one between the ninth and tenth (September, October). These five days outside the months—yestarë, tuilérë, loëndë, yáviérë, and mettarë—were holidays.

The Shire's Adaptation

The Hobbits were conservative and continued to use a form of Kings' Reckoning adapted to fit their own customs. Their months were all equal and had 30 days each, but they had three Summerdays, called in the Shire the Lithe or the Lithedays, between June and July. The last day of the year and the first 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. The Shire-folk introduced one small innovation of their own, eventually also adopted in Bree, which they called Shire-reform. 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.

Significance and Legacy

The Kings' Reckoning, in its various forms, governed the measurement of time across the Western lands for millennia. Its history reflects the broader decline of Númenórean knowledge and precision: the original system, though flawed, was maintained with periodic corrections, but after the Downfall and the Kin-strife, adjustments became sporadic and were eventually abandoned altogether in the face of war. The Shire's adaptation, however, proved remarkably stable and was the calendar used for the crucial events of the War of the Ring. The New Reckoning, begun in the restored Kingdom in T.A. 3019, represented a return to Kings' Reckoning adapted to fit a spring-beginning as in the Eldarin loa, with the year beginning on March 25 old style in commemoration of the fall of Sauron. This reckoning was adopted in all the King's lands except the Shire, where the old calendar was retained and Shire Reckoning was continued.