Shire calendar
The Shire counts the year in twelve months of thirty days, with the Yule and Lithe days set between them. Here you can convert a date — and see which days of the year the tales mark.
Convert a date
Days of the year
These dates follow the Tale of Years (Appendix B) — the days by which the tales themselves record events, and by which readers keep them.
January
- 13. January
- Wolves attack before dawn; at nightfall the Company stands before the West-gate of Moria.
- 15. January
- Gandalf falls into shadow with the Balrog in the deeps of Moria at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.
- 25. January
- Gandalf casts down the Balrog on the peak of Zirak-zigil and passes away.
February
- 14. February
- Frodo and Sam look into the Mirror of Galadriel in Lothlórien.
- 26. February
- The Fellowship is broken at Parth Galen; Boromir falls defending the hobbits.
March
- 3. March
- The Battle of the Hornburg is won at Helm's Deep, and the Ents overthrow Isengard.
- 8. March
- Aragorn takes the Paths of the Dead at daybreak, summoning the Oathbreakers.
- 9. March
- Gandalf reaches Minas Tirith, and at dusk the darkness out of Mordor begins to rise.
- 10. March
- The Dawnless Day: Rohan musters and rides out to war.
- 12. March
- Gollum leads Frodo into Shelob's lair.
- 13. March
- Frodo is taken by the orcs of Cirith Ungol; Pippin looks into the palantír of Orthanc.
- 14. March
- Sam rescues Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol.
- 15. March
- The Battle of the Pelennor Fields: the Witch-king and King Théoden fall before Minas Tirith.
- 17. March
- The Battle of Dale: Brand and Dáin Ironfoot fall, and the survivors are shut up in Erebor.
- 24. March
- Frodo and Sam struggle the last stretch to the foot of Mount Doom.
- 25. March
- The One Ring is destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom; the Dark Tower falls and Sauron passes forever.
April
- 8. April
- On the Field of Cormallen the host does honour to those who bore the Ring.
- 12. April
- Gandalf reaches Hobbiton — the visit at which Frodo learns what his ring is.
May
- 1. May
- Aragorn is crowned King Elessar in Minas Tirith, and the Third Age draws to its close.
June
- 20. June
- Sauron strikes at Osgiliath; at about the same hour Thranduil's realm is assailed and Gollum escapes.
- 25. June
- Elessar finds a sapling of the White Tree on the mountainside above Minas Tirith.
July
- 10. July
- Saruman holds Gandalf prisoner on the pinnacle of Orthanc.
August
- 28. August
- The travellers come upon Saruman on the road; he turns his steps towards the Shire.
September
- 22. September
- Birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins — kept together at Bag End.
- 23. September
- Frodo leaves Bag End; before dawn four of the Riders slip into the Shire.
- 26. September
- The hobbits pass through the Old Forest, and Frodo comes to the house of Tom Bombadil.
- 29. September
- Frodo, Bilbo and the Keepers of the Rings sail from the Grey Havens into the West.
October
- 6. October
- Frodo is wounded by the Morgul-knife of the Witch-king upon Weathertop.
- 18. October
- Glorfindel finds Frodo at dusk upon the Road; Gandalf reaches Rivendell.
- 20. October
- The Ring-bearer escapes the Black Riders at the Ford of Bruinen below Rivendell.
- 25. October
- The Council of Elrond is held in Rivendell, and the quest of the Ring is resolved upon.
November
- 3. November
- The Battle of Bywater — the last battle of the War of the Ring, fought in the Shire itself.
December
- 25. December
- The Fellowship of the Ring sets out from Rivendell on the quest to unmake the Ring.
The twelve months
- Afteryule
- Solmath
- Rethe
- Astron
- Thrimidge
- Forelithe
- Afterlithe
- Wedmath
- Halimath
- Winterfilth
- Blotmath
- Foreyule
Ten of the twelve names are unchanged in German: Tolkien's Shire months are modernised Old English, and the German translation keeps them.