The Lithedays or just The Lithe refers to the three (sometimes four) feast days between the months of Forelithe and Afterlithe of the Shire Calendar; in purpose and function the Lithedays were equivalent to the enderi of the Reckoning of Rivendell.
They were:
- 1 Lithe (midsummer-eve)
- Mid-year's Day
- Overlithe (observed only in leap-years)
- 2 Lithe
They were called Summerdays in Bree.[1]
Events that occurred on 1 Lithe:
- T.A. 2778 (circa)
- T.A. 2941:
- The moon is "a broad silver crescent".
- Elrond discovers the moon-letters on Thrór's Map.[2]
- T.A. 3019:
- Elrond, Glorfindel, Erestor, Elladan, Elrohir, Celeborn and Galadriel arrive with Arwen to Minas Tirith.[3]
Each midsummer-eve the Old Took held parties, where Gandalf impressed the hobbits with fireworks.[4]
Etymology
Old English líða, is the old name for the months June and July.[5] It probably referred to the first new moon around the summer solstice.[6]
References
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix D, "The Shire Calendar"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "A Short Rest"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, "The Steward and the King"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, "Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings" in Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (eds), The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, p. 780-1
- ↑ Jim Allan (1978), An Introduction to Elvish, Giving of Names, p. 227