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 3 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 Lithedays and the Yuledays were the chief holidays and time of feasting. 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-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 (I, 54). 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. They found this quite convenient at home, but not so convenient if they ever travelled further than Bree.

In the above notes, as in the narrative, I have used our modern names for both months and weekdays, though of course neither the Eldar nor the Dunedain nor the Hobbits actually did so. Translation of the Westron names seemed to be essential to avoid confusion, while the seasonal implications of our names are more or less the same, at any rate in the Shire. It appears, however. that Mid-year's Day was intended to correspond as nearly as possible to the summer solstice. In that case the Shire dates were actually in advance of ours by some ten days, and our New Year's Day corresponded more or less to the Shire January 9. In the Westron the Quenya names of the months were usually retained as the Latin names are now widely used in alien languages. They were:Narvinye ,Nenime, Sulime, Viresse ,Lotesse ,Narie, Cermie, Urime, Yavannie ,Narquelie, Hisime ,Ringare . The Sindarin names (used only by the Dunedain) were:Narwain, Ninui, Gwaeron, Gwirith, Lothron, Norui, Cerveth, Urui, Ivanneth, Narbeleth, Hithui, Girithron . In this nomenclature the Hobbits, however, both of the Shire and of Bree, diverged from the Westron usage, and adhered to old-fashioned local names of their own, which they seem to have picked up in antiquity from the Men of the vales of Anduin; at any rate similar names were found in Dale and Rohan (cf. the notes on the languages, pp. 527-8). The meanings of these names, devised by Men. had as a rule long been forgotten by the Hobbits. even in cases where they had originally known what their significance was; and the forms of the names were much obscured in consequence:math , for instance. at the end of some of them is a reduction ofmonth . The Shire names are set out in the Calendar. It may be noted thatSolmath was usually pronounced. and some-times written,Somath ;Thrimidge was often writtenThrimich (archaicallyThrimilch ); andBlotmath was pronouncedBlodmath orBlommath . In Bree the names differed, beingFrery, Solmath, Rethe, Chithing, Thrimidge, Lithe, The Summerdays, Mede, Wedmath, Harvestmath, Wintring, Blooting , andYulemath. Frery, Chithing andYulemath were also used in the Eastfarthing.

The Hobbit week was taken from the Dunedain, and the names were translations of those given to the days in the old North-kingdom. which in their turn were derived from the Eldar. 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 that order, the last day being the chief day of the week. Their names in Quenya wereElenya, Anarya, Isilya, Alduya, Menelya, Valanya (orTarion ); the Sindarin names wereOrgilion, Oranor, Orithil, Orgaladhad, Ormenel, Orbelain (orRodyn ). The Numenoreans retained the dedications and order, but altered the fourth day to Aldea (Orgaladh) with reference to the White Tree only, of which Nimloth that grew in the King's Court in Numenor was believed to be a descendant Also desiring a seventh day, and being great mariners, they inserted a "Sea-day',Earenya (Oraearon), after the Heavens' Day. The Hobbits took over this arrangement, but the meanings of their translated names were soon forgotten, or no longer attended to, and the forms were much reduced, especially in everyday pronunciation. The first translation of the Numenorean names was probably made two thousand years or more before the end of the Third Age, when the week of the Dunedain (the feature of their reckoning earliest adopted by alien peoples) was taken up by Men in the North. As with their names of months, the Hobbits adhered to these translations, although elsewhere in the Westron area the Quenya names were used. Not many ancient documents were preserved in the Shire. At the end of the Third Age far the most notable survival was Yellowskin, or the Yearbook of Tuckborough. Its earliest entries seem to have begun at least nine hundred years before Frodo's time; and many are cited in the Red Book annals and genealogies. In these the weekday names appear in archaic forms, of which the following are the oldest: (1)Sterrendei , (2)Sunnendei , (3)Monendei , (4)Trewesdei , (5)Hevenesdei , (6)Meresdei , (7)Highdei . In the language of the time of the War of the Ring these had becomeSterday, Sunday, Monday, Trewsday, Hevensday (orHensday ),Mersday, Highday . I have translated these names also into our own names. naturally beginning with Sunday and Monday. which occur in the Shire week with the same names as ours. and renaming the others in order. It must be noted, however. that the associations of the names were quite different in the Shire. The last day of the week. Friday (Highday), was the chief day, and one of holiday (after noon) and evening feasts. Saturday thus corresponds more nearly to our Monday. and Thursday to our Saturday. A few other names may be mentioned that have a reference to time, though not used in precise reckonings. The seasons usually named weretuile spring,laire summer,yavie autumn (or harvest).Hrive winter; but these had no exact definitions, andquelle (orlasselanta ) was also used for the latter part of autumn and the beginning of winter. The Eldar paid special attention to the 'twilight' (In the northerly regions), chiefly as the times of star-fading and star-opening. They had many names for these periods, of which the most usual weretindome andundome , the former most often referred to the time near dawn, andundome to the evening. The Sindarin name wasuial , which could be defined asminuial andaduial . These were often called in the Shiremorrowdim andevendim . Cf. Lake Evendim as a translation of Nenuial.

The Shire Reckoning and dates are the only ones of importance for the narrative of the War of the Ring. All the days, months, and dates are in the Red Book translated into Shire terms, or equated with them in notes. The months and days, therefore. throughout theLord of the Rings refer to the Shire Calendar. The only points in which the differences between this and our calendar are important to the story at the crucial period, the end of 3018 and the beginning of 3019 (S.R. 1418. 1419). are these: October 1418 has only 30 days, January 1 is the second day of 1419. and February has 30 days; so that March 25, the date of the downfall of the Barad-dur. would correspond to our March 27, if our years began at the same seasonal point The date was, however. March 25 in both Kings' and Stewards' Reckoning. The New Reckoning was begun in the restored Kingdom in T-A. 3019. It represented a return to Kings' Reckoning adapted to fit a spring-beginning as in the Eldarinloa . In the New Reckoning the year began on March 25 old style, in commemoration of the fall of Sauron and the deeds of the Ring-bearers. The months retained their former names, beginning now withViresse (April). but referred to periods beginning generally five days earlier than previously. All the months had 30 days. There were 3Enderi or Middle-days (of which the second was calledLoende ) betweenYavannie (September) andNarquelie (October). that corresponded with September 23, 24. 25 old style. But in honour of FrodoYavannie 30. which corresponded with former September 22, his birthday. was made a festival. and the leap-year was provided for by doubling this feast. calledCormare or Ringday. The Fourth Age was held to have begun with the departure of Master Elrond, which took place in September 3021; but for purposes of record in the Kingdom Fourth Age 1 was the year that began according to the New Reckoning In March 25, 3021, old style. This reckoning was in the course of the reign of King Elessar adopted in all his lands except the Shire. where the old calendar was retained and Shire Reckoning was continued. Fourth Age 1 was thus called 1422; and in so far as the Hobbits took any account of the change of Age. they maintained that it began with 2 Yule 1422, and not in the previous March. There is no record of the Shire-folk commemorating either March 25 or September 22; but in the Westfarthing. especially in the country round Hobbiton Hill. there grew a custom of making holiday and dancing in the Party Field. when weather permitted, on April 6. Some said that it was old Sam Gardner's birthday, some that it was the day on which the Golden Tree first flowered in 1420. and some that it was the Elves' New Year. In the Buckland the Horn of the Mark was blown at sundown every November 2 and bonfires and feastings followed.