Real Time starts tomorrow
[Dates will be given here: Kings Reckoning (Shire Reckoning)]
Get excited everyone!! Our true adventure begins tomorrow with Gandalf’s arrival in Hobbiton!
Now those of you who are already experienced with LOTR lore may be wondering, doesn’t Gandalf arrive on April 12? The answer is yes, but that is according to the Shire Reckoning which, as I discussed yesterday, is a day or two offset throughout the year. In order to keep the timescales as clear as possible I will preserve the offsets, but clearly state at the beginning of each post the date in the various calendars. Hopefully that will keep it clear!
Update on the state of things:
We are about to enter the Shire in the year 3018 of the Third Age of Middle Earth. However, for the Hobbits it is year 1418 – meaning the Shire was founded 1418 years ago. Frodo Baggins has been living alone for 17 years now, ever since old Bilbo, his uncle, disappeared. Despite the bachelor being viewed as eccentric, he has made many friends, including Merry and Pippin, and his garden is tended by Samwise Gamgee (son of the Gaffer, Bilbo’s gardener). For the past few years Frodo has become restless, and dreams of mountains and adventures unwittingly enter his sleep. I like to imagine he sits for long hours in his study, examining Bilbo’s maps and wondering what lies beyond the edges of the page. (Here is a map Bilbo might have made of the lands around the Shire, by amegusa). In other news, rumours have been spreading about many evil things, most especially the dark tower in Mordor. Only a whisper of this reaches the Shire, through Dwarves that come and go from Bag End and Elves that travel through the woods at night on their way to the sea.
Notes: Hope you all are ready! Tomorrow is just a short section, but Friday will be a whole chapter of reading, so plan ahead for that. ~Tom, coordinator
LOTR Read Along! 