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The ‘Lord of the Rings’ is a work of high-fantasy written by J.R.R Tolkien. It consists of three books that were written between 1937 and 1949.
To this day, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ remains one of the most well known and famous fantasy stories ever told.
These books have inspired countless other authors to create their own works of High-Fantasy, and to many Tolkien books are the supreme example of this genre.
Many of us will be familiar with these books from the movies that were based on them, directed by Peter Jackson.
Sam and Frodo’s journey to Mordor is now almost more legendary than actual myths and legends from our own history, but how long was their journey?
In this article, we will be telling you exactly how much time passes during ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
What Calendar Does Middle Earth Use?
Before we get into how long the quest to destroy the ring of power took, we should establish what kind of calendar we are working with.
Tolkien gave his books a deep and rich lore that extended as far as creating whole languages for his mythical Elves and Dwarves.
As well as having different languages, the various races of Middle Earth also have their own systems of measuring time.
The men, elves and dwarves use a calendar remarkably similar to our own, although it still has a few notable differences.
In order to understand the time frame of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ we should first take a look at all the various calendars used throughout Middle Earth.
The Elven Calendar
Of all the races in Middle Earth, the elves are the oldest and can thus be attributed with inventing one of the first calendars.
Just like in our own world, the Elven calendar divides the year into 354 with leap years being every twelve years containing three extra days instead of one.
Each year has 6 months instead of 12 with an irregular number of days each. This calendar became the foundations for all of the other calendars used throughout Middle Earth.
The Númenórean Calendar
The Númenóreans were one of the first races of men to arrive in Middle Earth.
As such their calendar is the one used both in Rohan and Gondor and overall it is mostly exactly the same as our own.
Just like the Elven calendar, the Númenóreans used a 365-day year, although this time was divided into 12 months that are more analogous to our own.
However, this is where the similarities end, as the months of the Númenórean calendar are all 30 days long except for two which are 31.
The extra days were often added between the end of one year and the start of the next as holidays.
This calendar saw many changes as the realms of man changed and saw different leaders come and go, but overall is the closest of all the middle earth calendars to our own.
The Hobbit Calendar
The quest to destroy the ring of power was undertaken primarily by two hobbits, so it seems fitting that we should use their calendar to see how long the journey took.
Much like the Númenórean calendar, the hobbits used a 365-day year divided into twelve months, with five special days throughout the year marking holidays or celebrations.
As such, each month in the Hobbit calendar is exactly 30 days long.
When Does ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Begin?
‘The Lord of the Rings’ takes place during the third age of Middle Earth and begins during the year 3001.
Frodo receives the ring as a present from Bilbo on the night of his 111th Birthday, which takes place on the 22nd of Halimath (September).
From this, we can deduce that the books start on the 22nd September.
After receiving the ring, Gandalf tells Frodo to keep it safe and at some point during the next 17 years travels to Gondor and discovers just what Bilbo’s gift truly is.
Upon learning the dark secret of the ring that has been entrusted to Frodo, Gandalf returns to the shire on the `12 of Astron (April) in 3018.
Frodo leaves Bag-End following the anniversary of Bilbo’s departure on the 23rd of September of the same year.
It is hard to cover the exact timeline of each book in the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, as there are few dates given for specific events.
However, many events occur once Frodo leaves Bag-end, including the formation and dissolution of the Fellowship of the ring.
We do know however that Frodo reached Rivendell in October of the same year.
When Does ‘Return Of The King’ End?
Eventually, Frodo and Sam complete their quest to Mordor and succeed in destroying the ring of power once and for all.
It is confirmed that the destruction of the ring takes place on the 25th of Rethe (March) in the year 3019.
As such, the quest to destroy the ring takes a total of 6 hobbit months and 4 days to complete.
However, the book does not end with the ring being destroyed, and there are several events that take place afterwards during the epilogue.
As such, the entire trilogy covers a period of roughly 20 years and 7 days, judging by the hobbit calendar and our own.
Conclusion
‘The Lord of the Rings’ is an epic trilogy, and hopefully our guide has given you a better idea of the time-frame within which it takes place.
We also hope that you now know a little more about the different calendars used by the various races in Middle Earth.
While they are quite similar to the Gregorian calendar we use in the real world, the subtle differences are what makes Middle Earth feel so magical, and yet so real at the same time.
Hi, my name is Athena Sula and I am a certified bookworm. Any free time I have is spent reading – at home, the park, on the bus. Anywhere I can sit down for a few minutes and get my book out, I’ll jump at the chance.
I first had the idea for Seeking A Good Book when I was in college and everyone would come to me for book recommendations. More often than not, everyone I recommended a book to would always come back with a glowing review of it.
