Things You Can Do - Dates, Times, Calenders, etc.

I'm looking for someone to just go nuts in regards to the following:

How do elves structure their weeks? Their months? Their years? What sort of calenders do they have, what sort of feasts or special days? In general, what form should the Calender take in the MUD? I'll likely base everyone's calender off either Sinda or Noldo, and I'm looking for someone to tell me what it should be, what it should include, and how it should be structured.

Thanks.

Elvish Calendar

Word translation.

Yén : Quenya for Full Year = 100 Human years ( 144 years = 8766 weeks = 52596 days )

Quantiën / Quantiéni = 1 Human century or also called a Full Year.

Coranar = 1 Sun round : 1 Human year. / Coránari = the year Also called Loa = Time of Growth ( Growth )

Enquië / Enquier : The Elvish week of 6 days.

Arë ( Ré ) = Day.

Quantarië = Day of Completion. Oldyears Day.

Vinyarië = Newyears Day.


The Coránari were divided into twelve months, six months with thirty days and six months with thirty-one days . This gives sixty-one weeks, each of them with six arë, which is one day, in all 366 days.

The Elvish Coránari always began on the same weekday every year as close to the first sunset after the Winter Solstice and the Elvish Arë / Day were reckoned from the moment of the disappearance of the Sun below the horizon observed from the shores of the sea

One Yén is 36524 days. But then one hundred Coránari would be 36600 days, 76 days too many many. To make up for the deficit they ejected 6 days every eighth year by reducing all the months with 31 days to 30 days. These years were called Short Years or Sixty-week Years.

When counting up an eight year cyclus ends at 96 year or 35064 days and there would be four years or 1460 days left to deal with to reach a full Yén and 36524 days. To fit in with the Elvish six day week and the costume of always starting the Coránari on the same weekday every year they had three normal years with 366 days and then one Short Year of 360 days. Now the total accounted for days were 35522 but still 2 days were missing to finish off the Yén. One of these, the Quantarië, were added at the end of the past Quantiën and the other, Vinyarië, before the new Quantiën. They were not counted as weekdays and did not belong to any month but to a year and they were days of festival. Thus the first and last year of the Yén had 367 days.

The Seasons.

Quenya. Sindarin.
Tuilë. Ethuil. Spring. ( 54 days )
Lairë. Laer. Summer. ( 72 days )
Yávië. Iavas. Autumn. ( 54 days )
Quellë. Firith. (Lasse-Lanta / Leaf-fall) (Narbeleth / Sun Waning) Fading. ( 54 days )
Hrívë. Rhîw. Winter. ( 72 days )
Coirë. Echuir. Stirring. ( 54 days )

The year began with First day of the year Yestarë the day immediately before Tuilë / Spring. And ended with Last day of the year, Mettarë, the day immediately after Coirë / Stirring.

Before Tuilë and after Coirë were inserted one day and between Yávië and Quellë three Enderi days making a full round of the Sun 365 days.)

The base of the Elvish calendar were one year, a Yén, but one Yén is not one human year, it is really 144 of the human years. In Elvish sometimes called Quantiën or a Full Year. One Human year were called a Coránari and one Elvish Yén consisted of 144 Coránari. This gives 52596 days.

One Yén is 52596 days. But then 144 Human years would be 52595 days, 1 days too short. ( 109x365=39785 + 35x366=12810 ) = 52595 days. The one day missing to acquire the full Yén is due to the exact length of a year which is not precisely 8760 hours but 8765 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. I have not counted with these hours, minutes and seconds. In any circumstances the resulting inaccuracy of the Yén was dealt with by the Elves by shortening the last year of the third Yén with three days. How any remaining and further inaccuracy was dealt with there is no records.

Elvish names of months and days.

Qyenya. Old Noldorin. Sindarin.
Víressë. Gwirith. Gwirith. April.
Lótessë. Lothron. Lothron. May.
Nárië. Nórui. (Ebloer) Nórui. June.
Cermië. Corfeth. (Cadloer) Cerweth. July.
Úrimë. Úrui. Urui. August.
Yavannië. Ifonneth. Ivanneth. September.
Narquelië. Narbeleth. Narbeleth. October.
Hísimë. Hithui. Hithui. November.
Ringarë. Girithron. (Ephriw) Girithron. December.
Narvinyë. Nerwinien. (Cathriw) Narwain. January.
Nénimë. (Nendessë) Nenneth. Nínui. February.
Súlimë. Gwaeron. Gwaeron. March.

Elvish names of days.

Qyenya. Noldorin. Sindarin.

Elenya. Argilion. Orgilion. The Stars day.
Anarya. Aranor. Oranor. The Suns day.
Isilya. Arithil. Orithil. The Moons day.
Aldúya. Argaladath. Orgaladhad. The Two Trees day.
Menelya. Arvenel. Ormenel. The Heavens day.
Valarya. (Tárion) Arvelain. (Ardórin) Orbelain (Rodyn) The Valar`s day.

Here are some suggestions for potential holidays. Note that these are of my own creation - Tolkien never mentions them, but I figure we might as well build the canon.

1. First-Fifth Days of Firith, the Fading (Late Fall/Descent into Winter.) - Celebrated feast day symbolizing the fall of Utumno by the Valar. (Legend has it that the warmth recedes from the earth to mirror the extinguishing of the flames of Utumno; hell.) Fasting for the first, second, and third days and feasting on the fourth and fifth.

2. 30 of Laer, height of summer. Feast Day to celebrate the birth of Feanor. Mass celebrations, parades, merrymaking.

3. 5, 6 7 of Ethuil, birth of spring. Remembrance of the First Battle of Beleriand. Celebrated by tourneys, jousts, and tests of strength/hunt/sportsmanship.

4. 10-20 Iavas, the autumn harvest. Crops are harvested and sold in a market, festival of dancing, song, and feasting.

5. 1 Ethuil - New Year's Day. Celebration, drunkeness, romantic proposals and trysts.

6. 72 Rhiw - Penance Day. Silent, solitary reflection for the entirety of the day and night. Each individual identifies their most prized belonging/habit. (See below.)

7. 1 Echuir - 54 Echuir. Days of the Stirring. During the passing of time between the old year and the new, as the year is born again, each elf and man gives up one thing that is prized to them - be it material or habit - until the New Year's Day. To remind the individual of this loss, a pebble is placed beneath their sleeping place each night, until 54 are gathered.

8. 54 Echuir - Old Year's Day. Day of festival to celebrate the end of the year.

9. 1 Laer - Finroday. Celebration in honor of Finrod's initial rendez-vous with the Beor. Presents are exchanged between friends and families.


Hope you like the ideas!

In addition to holidays, each Orbelain (Valar's Day) might have a cultural norm of honoring the Valar of choice through worship, meditation, prayer, idol, etc.

Given the six seasons of the Elvish calendar, I think it might make more sense to simply go with the seasons, rather than with months themselves - particularly given the 4x speed that the MUD runs at. On the player end, it's less to keep track of, as season description could follow the Sindarin name of the season.

DIKU simply loves handling months of multiple lengths!

Thanks for the research and planning. Likely, I'll institute a 365 day calender and just slap on the "actual" times and dates through a conversion function - so, the MUD will think it's the 12th day of the 3rd month, but the player will see the 8th of Laire, or whatever it may be. No doubt this will break a few things, but I'm sure someone will spot them for me.

5. 1 Ethuil - New Year's Day. Celebration, drunkeness, romantic proposals and trysts.

I hope you're talking about humans here, and not elves...

Yes - all fete descriptions were written in terms of human practice.

Fantastic work, Falconer!