Where to begin?
In setting out to align the text of The Lord of the Rings to our calendar, the first question one has to answer is what to do with the first two chapters. Together they cover about 17 years—much of that narrated as montage—until we “pick up” the principal chronology in the summer of the year 3018 of the Third Age (Shire-reckoning 1418).
The first “hard date” we have is September 20 near the beginning of Chapter 3, so that is where we will begin reading along with Frodo day-by-day. The text up to that point I opted to simply break into chunks at reasonable stopping points. When I did so I discovered that the readings end up extending backwards from September 20 to begin on September 14. September 14 happens to be the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the Christian liturgical calendar. Considering Tolkien mapped Frodo’s journey onto other significant Christian holidays, this seemed a most fitting day for the reading plan to begin each year.
February 30??
There are several differences between the Shire Calendar Tolkien used for his chronology and our own. Chief among these is that all 12 months have 30 days. Most of the time this doesn’t affect things and is simply notated accordingly on the reading plan. February, however, presents a problem.
My solution has been to include a note on February 28 that in non-leap years when we do not have a February 29, to be sure to read the February 29 readings that day as well. Similarly, on March 1, it is necessary to read the readings for both February 30 and March 1 to stay on track. This has the unfortunate effect of making the readings on those days rather unwieldy, but it is the only approach that doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.
Yule and Lithe
Another key difference between the Shire Calendar and ours is their inclusion of two intercalary periods each year. Yule is the Midwinter festival and lasts for two days between December 30 and January 1. Lithe is the Midsummer festival and lasts for three days (or four in leap years) between June 30 and July 1.
Since our heroes are simply travelling south west of the Misty Mountains during Yule TA 3018, there are no real issues there. It is on Mid-year’s Day during Lithe TA 3019, however, that Aragorn and Arwen wed. I have opted to simply approximate Mid-year’s Day by placing that reading on July 1. That has also necessitated that the reading that occurs in Middle-earth on Midsummer’s Eve be scheduled for June 30.
Phases of the Moon
Where shown, the Moon follows the story’s calendar, rather than the Moon in the sky during the current year. Phases appear from September 20 through July 22, except on 31sts that are not Shire dates. The estimates follow the dated observations and lunar model documented by Brandon Rhodes at Shire-reckoning.com. On dates without a published value, phases are estimated between the site's dated values. They are approximate—especially around Yule, Lithe, and March 1, which combines two Shire days in this plan.
Why these dates?
Some passages span several days or give only an approximate date. These links explain the editorial choices behind their placement in the reading plan. Each opens the explanation beside its reading or background update.
- November 9 — Choosing a day within the Rivendell stay
- December 15 — Dating the December conversation in Rivendell
- December 21 — Placing a passage before the Company’s departure
- January 1 — Placing an undated stretch of the Company’s journey
- January 18 — Anchoring the overview of the Company’s stay in Lothlórien
- January 25 — Placing the Company’s stay in Lothlórien
- February 19 — Dating the fourth day of the journey down the Anduin
- February 22 — Anchoring a travel summary on the seventh day from Lórien
- March 14 — Continuing the reading into the following morning
- March 21 — Anchoring the overview of recovery in the Houses of Healing
- March 29 — Estimating the Host’s arrival at the Field of Cormallen
- April 5, 6, and 7 — Merry’s journey to the Field of Cormallen
- April 9 — Anchoring the overview of the days following
- April 10 — Placing the Faramir and Éowyn scene
- April 15 — Placing the Host’s recovery and preparations
- April 29 — Placing an undated summary before the following reading
- May 4 — Placing events after Aragorn’s coronation
- May 8 — Anchoring the overview of the days following
- May 25 — Reconciling the White Tree narrative with Appendix B
- June 30 — Scheduling Midsummer’s Eve before Mid-year’s Day
- July 1 — Approximating Mid-year’s Day on our calendar
- July 15 — Inferring the date from Éomer’s return
Where to end?
The same problem that arises at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings occurs at the end. Following the Destruction of the Ring on March 25, most of the remainder of the story is told montage-style as well. The hobbits don’t return to the Shire until October 30, TA 3019, which would mean that if we followed Frodo day-by-day that whole time, the read-through would take more than a year. Of course, following the Scouring of the Shire, we hear of two more years until Frodo sails into the West on September 29, 3021.
Nevertheless, even though it creates large gaps with no reading in the summer months, I opted to respect the day-by-day chronology up through Frodo and his companions’ departure from Minas Tirith on July 22, 3019. This was done to help the reader to feel the length of time necessary for Frodo, Sam, and the rest of our heroes to recover from their ordeal and to respect the dates of important events like the Crowning of King Elessar on May 1 and the wedding of Aragorn and Arwen on Midsummer’s Day.
Following the heroes’ departure from Minas Tirith on July 22, the remainder of the text is broken into daily readings at relatively natural stopping points, concluding on July 26.