Fourth Age 220 (abbreviated to Fo.A. 220 or F.O.) is the 220th year of the Sun of the Fourth Age of Middle-earth. Unless otherwise stated, Tolkien Gateway follows Shire usage in Appendix B for reckoning Fourth Age years: Fourth Age 220 was also known as S.R. 1641 in Shire-reckoning.
Notable events in this year include:
- Some "secret societies" emerge in Gondor "practising dark cults, and 'orc-cults' among adolescents".[1]
- This "secret Satanistic religion" is later discovered and overthrown in Gondor.[2]
- About this time, Eldarion's reign as High King comes to an end.[1]
Other versions of the legendarium
In The New Shadow, there is only one single dark cult that arose in Gondor. It is connected to the term Herumor. Before the events of the narrative, it is mentioned that a few Shipmen and a small vessel of the King's Ships mysteriously disappeared.[3]
In April, Berelach visited his father Borlas at Pen-arduin, telling him about the recent incident with the Shipmen, believing that they were unskilled and foolish; and as such, deserved their fate.[3]
In June, Borlas quoted Berelach's tale to Saelon, only for Saelon to put suspicion on Berelach's story, leading to a discussion about the nature of evil.[3]
Since the events of The New Shadow is described taking place during the reign of Eldarion and "after the death of Elessar", this dating contradicts to the second edition of The Lord of the Rings, where in Appendix B the date of Aragorn's death was ultimately changed by J.R.R. Tolkien from Fo.A. 100 to Fo.A. 120.
The text from which the date of Eldarion's death as the year 125 derives was written by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1959[4] and thus predates the second edition of The Lord of the Rings, where Tolkien ultimately changed the date of Aragorn's death from Fo.A. 100 to Fo.A. 120.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 338, (dated 6 June 1972)
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien; Humphrey Carpenter, Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 256, (dated 13 May 1964)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "XVI. The New Shadow" pp. 419 - 420, Note 7
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: XI. Ageing of Elves", p. 78