...It is a long tale...
| History of Arda | ||
|---|---|---|
| Music of the Ainur | ||
| Timeline of Arda | ||
| Days before days | ||
| Years of the Trees | ||
| Years of the Sun | ||
| Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar | ||
| First Age (Y.T. 1050 - Y.S. 590) | ||
| Second Age (S.A. 1 - 3441) | ||
| Third Age (T.A. 1 - 3021) | ||
| Fourth Age (Fo.A. 1 - ?) | ||
| Later Ages (up to present day) | ||
| Dagor Dagorath | ||
| Second Music of the Ainur | ||
| See also: Round World version of the legendarium | ||
A Valian Year is a reference to the passage of time in Arda, after the arrival of the Ainur in it and before the Two Trees of Valinor were destroyed by Melkor and Ungoliant. Valian Years finally ended with the first rising of the Sun towards the end of the First Age.
Both Trees had equal and consistent cycles where they would each wax, come to full bloom and light, and then wane and cease to shine. This cycle, starting with the flowering of Telperion, they deemed a "Valian Day".[1]:§29
Twice during each Valian Day, as one Tree waned and the other waxed, there was a period of softer light when both Trees were faint and their gold and silver mingled.[2]:§17 The duration of this period the Valar deemed a "Valian Hour", and it was one twelfth of a Valian Day.[1]:§29
Hence a Valian Day would comprise the following:
- Hours 1 - 5: Telperion shines alone in full bloom
- Hour 6: Telperion wanes and Laurelin waxes, their lights intermingle
- Hours 7 - 11: Laurelin shines alone in full bloom
- Hour 12: Laurelin wanes and Telperion waxes, their lights intermingle
Every 1000 Valian Days, the Trees would put forth a new branch and their stature would increase. This length of time the Valar deemed a Valian Year.[1]:§29
Relation of the Trees to the reckoning of the Sun
The amount of actual time consumed by these cycles changed throughout the evolution of the legendarium.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the length of the Valian Year fluctuated slightly around a round number of 10 solar years.
In the The Annals of Aman, a direct correlation was made with one Valian Hour being equal to seven solar hours. Thus, a Valian Day was 84 solar hours long, and a Valian Year was 84,000 solar hours. This then translates to a Valian Year being 9.582 solar years long.[3]:§§5–10
In 1959, Tolkien came up with a new scheme for Valian Time (VT). In this, one Valian Day was equal to one löa (a solar year) and all multiplications or divisions of time were by 12. Increasingly, 12 Valian Days made a Valian Month, and 12 Valian Months made a Valian Year (a yén, equalling 144 löa). A Valian Day was divided into 12 Valian Hours, which were further divided into Primes, Seconds, Terces, Quarts, Quints, Sexts, and lastly Minims.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Two. The Annals of Aman: First section of the Annals of Aman"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Three. The Later Quenta Silmarillion: (I) The First Phase: 2. Of Valinor and the Two Trees"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, "Part Two. The Annals of Aman: Commentary on the first section of the Annals of Aman"
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, Carl F. Hostetter (ed.), The Nature of Middle-earth, "Part One. Time and Ageing: II. Valinorian Time-Divisions"