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History of Arda

Ainulindalë

Valian Years

Days before days
Years of the Trees

Years of the Sun

Ages of Awakening

First Age
Second Age
Third Age
Fourth Age

Dagor Dagorath

Timeline of Arda

Here is the complete Timeline of Arda in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth canon - from Arda's creation to the last known events of the Fourth Age.

Timeline

Before the creation of the Sun, few dates can be given, and the dates that are are given in Valinorean Years, which are about a decade in length.

Before the creation of Eä

Creation of Arda

  • VY 500: Many Ainur enter Arda and become the Valar and Maiar; shaping of Arda begins; creation of the elder stars by Varda.
  • VY 1980: The First War: Melkor assaults his brethren, and Arda's "symmetry is marred".
  • Tulkas arrives, the last of the Valar to descend into Arda. Melkor runs from him and hides in the Outer Void.

c. 5000: Years of the Lamps

Endured 5 ages, or 15,000 years approx.

c. 10000: Years of the Trees

c. 30000: Years of the Sun

From this time on years are of normal length. Events from Valinor during the Years of the Sun cannot be accurately dated.

First Age

— approximately 590 years long

Second Age

— 3441 years long

Third Age

— 3021 years long Note on Shire Reckoning: Year 1601 of the Third Age, in which the Shire was founded, is year 1 of the Shire Reckoning. Thus, Third Age years can be converted into their Shire equivalents by deducting 1600.

- Fastred and Folcred, the twin sons of king Folcwine, were killed during the Battle of Crossings of Poros

Fourth Age

— length unknown

In the reckoning of Gondor, the Fourth Age began on March 25, 3021. Since most of the following events were dated according to the Shire Reckoning, their years in the Fourth Age cannot be stated with certainty. Some events may have occurred in the following year of the Fourth Age.

  • 6 - Peregrin Took marries Diamond of Long Cleeve.
  • 9 - Birth of Faramir Took son of Diamond of Long Cleeve and Peregrin Took.
  • (Date Uncertain) - Birth of Elboron son of Faramir and Eowyn.
  • (Date Uncertain) - Birth of Durin VII, son of Thorin III Stonehelm.
  • (Date Uncertain) - Birth Of Elfwine, son of Lothíriel and Eomer.
  • 13 - Peregrin Took becomes 32nd Thain of the Shire.
  • 15 - Death of Gloin, father of Gimli.
  • 34 - Death of Prince Imrahil. Imrahil's son Elphir assumes the Principality.
  • 41 - Birth of Holfast Gardner, son and heir of Frodo Gardner.
  • 43 - Birth of Harding Gamgee grandson and heir of Samwise Gamgee.
  • 61 - Samwise Gamgee leaves Middle-earth via Mithlond.
  • 63 - Meriadoc Brandybuck, aged 102, and Peregrin Took, aged 94; leave the Shire to live in Rohan and Gondor; death of Éomer, aged 93. His son Elfwine ascends the throne of Rohan.
  • 67 - Death of Prince Elphir son of Imrahil, 23rd Prince of Dol Amroth. Elphir's son Alphros assumes the Principality.
  • 73 - Death of Lothiriel, wife of Eomer and mother of Elfwine.
  • 83 - Death of Faramir, aged 120. His son Elboron assumes the Principality.
  • 91 - Events for The New Shadow happen this year.
  • 95 - Death of Prince Alphros of Dol Amroth, son of Elphir.
  • 103 - Death of Elfwine, King of Rohan, son of Eomer.
  • 120 - Death of Aragorn, King of the Reunited Kingdom of Arnor and Gondor, after 210 years of life and 122 years of reign; Aragorn's son Eldarion ascends the throne. According to legend, on the death of Aragorn, Legolas builds a ship and sails into the west to the Undying Lands, taking Gimli (now a very old dwarf) with him.
  • 121 - Death of Arwen, aged 2901.
  • 172 - A copy of the Red Book of Westmarch is made.
  • 185 - Death of Harding of the Hill, Sam Gamgee's heir
  • 220 - Eldarion, son of Aragorn, dies.

Major Battles

Before the Sun and Moon

First Age

See also Battles of Beleriand.

Second Age

Third Age

Fourth Age

  • 1427- Will Whitfoot resigns. Samwise Gamgee is elected Mayor of the Shire.
  • 1430-1469- Samwise Gamgee becomes Mayor of the Shire for seven years in a row.

The End of the World

Chronological Table of the Quest to destroy the Ring

The Lord of the Rings is unusual among Tolkien's works in that a large part of it is not written in Chronological Order. This chronology aligns the chapters by date.

Year (TA) Date The Fellowship
3001 September 22 A Long-Expected Party
3018 April 12 The Shadow of the Past
3018 September 23–24 Three is Company
3018 Sep. 25 A Short Cut to Mushrooms
A Conspiracy Unmasked
3018 Sep. 26 The Old Forest
3018 Sep. 26-28 In the House of Tom Bombadil
3018 Sep. 28 Fog on the Barrow-downs
3018 Sep. 29 At the Sign of The Prancing Pony
Strider
3018 Sep. 29-October 6 A Knife in the Dark
3018 Oct. 7-20 Flight to the Ford
3018 Oct. 24 Many Meetings
3018 Oct. 25 The Council of Elrond
3018-
3019
December 25-
January 12
The Ring Goes South
3019 Jan. 13-14 A Journey in the Dark
3019 Jan. 15 The Bridge of Khazad-Dum
3019 Jan. 15-
February 14
Lothlorien
3019 Feb. 14 The Mirror of Galadriel
3019 Feb. 16 Farewell to Lorien
3019 Feb. 16-26 The Great River
Year (TA) Date Merry and Pippin Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli Frodo and Sam
3019 Feb. 26 The Departure of BoromirThe Breaking of the Fellowship
The Departure of Boromir
The Breaking of the Fellowship
3019 Feb. 26-28 The Uruk-Haithe Riders of Rohan
3019 Feb. 29-
March 1
Treebeard the White Rider the Taming of Sméagol
3019 Mar. 2 The King of the Golden Hall The Passage of the Marshes
3019 Mar. 3-4 Helm's Deep
The Road to Isengard
3019 Mar. 5 Flotsam and JestsamFlotsam and Jetsam
The Voice of Saruman
The Black Gate Opens
3019 Mar. 6 The Palantir Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Year (TA) Date Gandalf Merry Aragorn Frodo and Sam
3019 Mar. 7 The Window on the West
the Forbidden Pool


Other Chronologies and Lines of Descent

Notes

1Silmariën was definitely the eldest child of Tar-Elendil, and her birthdate is given several times as SA 521. In the Tale of Years, the entry of Silmariën's birthdate is given as SA 548, a date that goes back to the first drafts of that text (see Silmariën's article for details).

2In the Tale of years, it says in SA 2251 "Tar-Atanamir takes the sceptre", however, Atanamir died in SA 2221. SA 2221 is itself an emendation of SA 2251, and the former (SA 2221) appears in the later tables, while the latter (SA 2251) in the earlier tables: therefore SA 2251 (properly SA 2221) should have read "Death of Tar-Atanamir. Tar-Ancalimon takes the sceptre."

3In one table (probably an earlier draft) of the Kings of Gondor, Castamir's birthdate is given at TA 1159, however this is clearly impossible: Eldacar was born in SA 1255, and they are in the same generation, so SA 1259 is more correct.

4The date of Sam's birth in the genealogies is SR 1380 (equivalent to TA 2980), however the Tale of Years gives it as TA 2983, which is incorrect; in SR 1476, Sam is said to have been ninety-six years old, so TA 2980 is more correct than SA 2983.

5 Lalia (b. SR 1283) only appears in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Pearl is the older sister of Pippin. See Took clan.

J.R.P.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium

External links

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