The Shire Calendar was the calendar of the Hobbits of the Shire and is very close to the King's Reckoning.
Every month had 30 days, with five extra days which were their holiday. It was different from that used by the Men, Dwarves and Elves. The use of this calendar in Middle-earth is referred to as Shire-reckoning. Year 1 of the Shire Calendar corresponded when the Shire was founded by the Bree Hobbits Marcho and Blanco in the year 1601 of the Third Age. Therefore, years of the Third Age can be converted to Shire-years by subtracting 1600. The last year of the Third Age was year 1421 on the Shire calendar.
Months of the year and special days
The Shire calendar's year was divided into 12 months of 30 days. Five additional days were added to create a 365-day year. The months followed the lunar cycle.
| Month number | Name | Approximate relationship to Gregorian calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Yule | 22nd of December | |
| 1 | Afteryule | 23rd of December to the 21st of January |
| 2 | Solmath | 22nd of January to the 20th of February |
| 3 | Rethe | 21st of February to the 22nd of March |
| 4 | Astron | 23rd of March to 21st of April |
| 5 | Thrimidge | 22nd of April to the 21st of May |
| 6 | Forelithe | 22nd of May to the 20th of June |
| 1 Lithe | 21st of June | |
| Mid-year's Day | 22nd of June | |
| Overlithe | Leap day | |
| 2 Lithe | 23rd of June | |
| 7 | Afterlithe | 24th of June to the 23rd of July |
| 8 | Wedmath | 24th of July to the 22nd of August |
| 9 | Halimath | 23rd of August to the 21st of September |
| 10 | Winterfilth | 22nd of September to 21st of October |
| 11 | Blotmath | 22nd of October to the 20th of November |
| 12 | Foreyule | 21st of November to the 20th of December |
| 1 Yule | 21st of December |
The Yuledays were the days that mark the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one, so 2 Yule was the first day of the year. The Lithedays are the three days in the middle of the year, 1 Lithe, Mid-year's Day, and 2 Lithe. In leap years (every fourth year except centennial years) a day was added after Mid-year's Day called Overlithe. All these days were placed outside of any month. These days were primarily holidays and feast days. Mid-year's Day is meant to correspond to the summer solstice, which Tolkien describes as being 10 days earlier than the middle day of our year. However, since then the summer solstice has shifted slightly so it falls on a different date now, rendering the difference between Mid-year's Day and the middle day of our year eleven days, instead of ten.
Days of the week
There were seven days in the Shire week. The first day of the week was called Sterday and the last day of the week was called Highday. The Mid-year's Day and, when present, Overlithe had no weekday assignments. This arrangement was used because it caused every day to have the same weekday designation from year to year (instead of changing as in the Gregorian calendar).[1]
| Day Name | Meaning | Relationship to Gregorian calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Sterday | Stars of Varda | Saturday |
| Sunday | Sun | Sunday |
| Monday | Moon | Monday |
| Trewsday | Two Trees of Valinor | Tuesday |
| Hevensday | Heavens | Wednesday |
| Mersday | Sea | Thursday |
| Highday | Valar | Friday |
Highday was a holiday with evening feasts.
In The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the names of months and days are given in modern equivalents. For instance, Afteryule is called January and Sterday is called Saturday.
Translations around the World
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
|---|---|
| Akrikaans | Land Kalender |
| Albanian | Kalendari i vendit |
| Arabic | نشاير تقويم |
| Armenian | Շիրե Օրացույց |
| Azerbaijani | Qraflıq təqvim |
| Bashkir | Ил Календарь |
| Basque | Eskualdea Egutegia |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Графства Каляндар |
| Bengali | ষ্হিরে পাঁজি |
| Bosnian | Okrug Kalendar |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Графството календар |
| Burmese | ပြည် ပြက္ခဒိန် |
| Cambodian | ប្រទេស ប្រតិទិន |
| Catalan | Comarca Calendari |
| Cebuano | Nasud Kalendaryo |
| Chinese | 夏爾曆法 |
| Corsican | Paesi Almanaccu |
| Croatian | Okrug Kalendar |
| Czech | Shirský Kalendář |
| Danish | Herredet Kalender |
| Dutch | De Gouw Kalender |
| Esperanto | Lando Kalendaro |
| Estonian | Šairi Kalender |
| Faroese | Land Álmanakki |
| Filipino | Kabukiran Kalendaryo |
| Finnish | Konnun kalenteri |
| French | Calendrier de la Comté |
| Frisian | Lân Calendari |
| Galician | Comarca Calendario |
| Georgian | შირე კალენდარი |
| German | Auenland-Kalender |
| Greek | Σάιρ Ημερολόγιο |
| Hausa | Kasar Kalandar |
| Hebrew | הפלך לוּחַ שָׁנָה |
| Hindi | प्रांत कैलेंडर |
| Hungarian | Megye Naptár |
| Icelandic | Land Dagatal |
| Indonesian | Kalender Negara |
| Italian | Calendario della Contea |
| Irish Gaelic | Sír Féilire |
| Japanese | シャイア カレンダー |
| Kannada | ಶೈರ್ ಕ್ಯಾಲೆಂಡರ್ |
| Kazakh Cyrillic | Сһіре Күнтізбе |
| Korean | 샤이어 달력 |
| Kurdish | Welat Salname (Latin) |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Сhирэ Календарь |
| Laotian | ປະເທດປະຕິທິນ |
| Latin | Comitatus Kalendarium |
| Latvian | Širė Kalendārs |
| Lithuanian | Širės Kalendorius |
| Luxemboughish | Land Kalenner |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Шире Календар |
| Malagasy | Firenena Kalandrie |
| Maltese | Pajjiż Kalendarja |
| Marathi | शिर्ड कॅलेंडर |
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Сhирэ Хуанли |
| Nepalese | सायर पात्रो |
| Norwegian | Hobsyssel Kalender |
| Pashto | صهیرې جنتري |
| Persian | شایر تقویم |
| Polish | Kalendarz Shire |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Calendário de Condado |
| Portuguese (Portugal) | Calendário de Chire |
| Punjabi | ਸ਼ੈਰ ਕੈਲੰਡਰ |
| Romanian | Comitatul Calendar |
| Romani | Them Calendar |
| Romansh | Cuntrada Chalender |
| Russian | Шира Летосчисление |
| Serbian | Округ Календар (Cyrillic) Okrug Kalendar (Latin) |
| Scottish Gaelic | Siorrachd Mìosachan |
| Sindhi | ملڪ جو ڪئلينڊر |
| Sinhalese | ෂ්හිරෙ දින දසුන |
| Slovak | Grófstvo Kalendár |
| Slovenian | Šajerska Koledar |
| Somalian | Wadan Jadwal taariikh |
| Spanish | La Calendario de la Comarca |
| Swahili | Nchi Kalenda |
| Swedish | Fylketiden |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Сҳире Тақвими |
| Tamil | ஷ்ஹிரெ நாட்காட்டி |
| Tatar | Ил Тәкъвим |
| Telugu | షైర్ క్యాలెండర్ |
| Thai | ไชร์ปฏิทิน |
| Turkish | Ülke Kontluk |
| Turkmen | Ülke Kalendar |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Шайр Календар |
| Urdu | شائر کیلنڈر |
| Uzbek | ширин Календар (Cyrillic) shirin Kalendar (Latin) |
| Vietnamese | Quận Lịch |
| Welsh | Sir Calendr |
| Yiddish | תהירע קאַלענדאַר |
| Yoruba | Orilẹ-ede Kalẹnda |
| Yucatec Maya | Calendario le comarca |