Question about Years

[D]

I was wondering about the years in the timeline and in the action LOTR books. In the books, the years are in the 1420/30s but in the timeline I get years like 3038 or something. Which are the actual years and which ones should I go by?

[DaughterofVana]

action LOTR books

Since I'm unsure of what you mean here I'm not sure how I can help. But did you know that the numbers "start over" at zero each time a new "age" is declared? Think of it as BC and AD; or as negative/positive numbers, with zero as the starting point.

-'Vana

[Diamond18]

There are two different sets of dates in the appendices, the Kings' Reckoning, and the Shire Reckoning. You just have to convert between the two. S.R. 1 = T.A. 1601

And by "action LotR" I believe D meant the events that take place in the narrative as opposed to before and after the first and last chapter of the book, like when Aragorn was born, or Legolas and Gimli went over Sea, etc.

[DaughterofVana]

Aah. "I see," said the blind man. smilies/wink.gif

-'Vana

[D]

Okay, if I'm doing a research paper where I cross-reference between the book and the events/lifestyle, etc. of the middle ages which would I use: S.R. or T.A.?

[obloquy]

Use T.A. But remember that the events of Middle-earth exist on a completely different timeline than our history. For example, there is no way to know exactly which year 2968 T.A. (the birth of Frodo) corresponds to in our reckoning.

[D]

Obviously, I need to re-think about my paper and go down another road. Thanks guys!