Tolkien's final First Age timeline

[Arvegil145]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

We have a timeline!

Running on Javascript on a section of my website that I really need to fix up, the Interactive Timeline uses 20 questions to fill out the entire timeline from the Awakening to the Fall of Angband. Pick your preferred answers, click the big friendly button, and (hopefully!) watch your own personalised Tale of Years scroll into existence.

The default settings are the latest (chronologically) even when I'd prefer a different answer; or when there is no chronology, I've picked the most conservative/logical option. It actually produces a timeline that hangs together! I'm sure other options would too, but I'm pleased this one does.

If there are other points where you think I need to be asking a question, let me know; the calculations are all strung together, so it's relatively easy to sneak a new one in. And obviously if you find an error, say something!

Excluded from this version are Celeborn (his only possible birth-year depends on a specific timeline which is not the default) and Finduilas (who per Shibboleth was born in Beleriand; I'll probably adopt the 272 Bel. date from Tolkien Gateway but want to look at the sources myself first), and I guess Gil-Galad. Oh, and Orodreth's marriage - his wife is a Sinda, so the normal age of marriage in Aman and time before first child don't apply. I don't know that I can work his marriage in (though AAm "20 VY" before 272 Bel. is 80 Bel., between the building of Minas Tirith and Nargothrond - a perfectly reasonable date for his wedding).

hS

Hi. Sorry for taking so long.

My, I didn't know you were making an actual, all-out interactive site for this - I thought I was just missing some function in GoogleDocs...

Anyway, it's brilliant and I've only just begun playing with it - I also shared it with the Vinye Lambengolmor discord server if you don't mind.

My only complaint from a cursory look is, would it really take the Dwarves of Ered Luin 3-4,000 years to enter Beleriand?

Also, you can just straight up say 'Defeat and execution of Morgoth' in the last entry (as per Myths Transformed). I'd also add: 'and the expulsion of his spirit from Ea', due to the Letter 297 (August 1967); The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, p. 386:

Morgoth was overthrown and extruded from the World (the physical universe).

By the way, since I think Tolkien abandoned Dagor Dagorath in favor of Arda Healed, I think you should keep the reference to Turin coming back from the dead and slaying Ancalagon, instead of Earendil.


(Also, did we agree on not showing the exact generations, i.e. 'Ingwe, 24th generation', etc.?)

(Plus, I have reasons to believe that the 'Celebrimbor in Nargothrond' note mentioning the name 'Maglor' as well as Finrod's wife - and by extension, possibly Gil-galad - comes from a very, very late date.)


P.S. Would it be possible to make the timeline AAm/published Silmarillion-compatible? I.e. 9:582 VY all over, the Sun rises in Bel. 1, etc. I ask because your project, in addition to being a really cool idea has the potential to be incredibly useful to fans in general, especially when it comes to trying to integrate NoME and other late writings into the AAm conception.