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LoTR Fans: The Birthday WAS September 14, NOT the 22nd!
September 21, 2003 at 01:08:02Millions of loyal Tolkien fans around the world may observe the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins on the wrong day....
Why is that? Because readers often forget that Tolkien's Shire calendar is not the same as the calendar we grew up with. This year, his September 22 falls on our September 14.
Tolkien's Shire calendar system is explained in Appendix D to The Lord of the Rings. All of the months have 30 days in them, but there are also 5 extra days (in non-leap years) which are placed at the beginning of the year, in the middle, and at the end.
In his discussion of the Shire Calendar, Tolkien noted that "the Shire-dates were actually in advance of ours by some ten days, and our New Year's Day corresponded more or less to the Shire January 9."
Uh oh.
If you've been waiting all year to observe The Birthday, you just missed it.
Our January would correspond to the Shire's January 9 through February 10.
The following chart shows how the Shire Calendar and the Modern Calendar compare. So, if you didn't toast the Baggins Boys on September 14, you'll have to wait until next year to do it in a timely fashion.
| SHIRE | MODERN |
|---|---|
| January 9 | January 1 |
| January 30 | January 22 |
| February 1 | January 23 |
| February 9 | January 31 |
| February 10 | February 1 |
| February 30 | February 21 |
| March 1 | February 22 |
| March 7 | February 28 |
| March 8 | March 1 |
| March 30 | March 23 |
| April 1 | March 24 |
| April 8 | March 31 |
| April 9 | April 1 |
| April 30 | April 22 |
| May 1 | April 23 |
| May 8 | April 30 |
| May 9 | May 1 |
| May 30 | May 22 |
| June 1 | May 23 |
| June 9 | May 31 |
| June 10 | June 1 |
| June 30 | June 21 |
| Lithe | June 22 |
| Mid-Year's Day | June 23 |
| Lithe | June 24 |
| July 1 | June 25 |
| July 6 | June 30 |
| July 7 | July 1 |
| July 30 | July 24 |
| August 1 | July 25 |
| August 7 | July 31 |
| August 8 | August 1 |
| August 30 | August 23 |
| September 1 | August 24 |
| September 8 | August 31 |
| September 9 | September 1 |
| September 22 | September 14 |
| September 30 | September 22 |
| October 1 | September 23 |
| October 8 | September 30 |
| October 9 | October 1 |
| October 30 | October 22 |
| November 1 | October 23 |
| November 9 | October 31 |
| November 10 | November 1 |
| November 30 | November 21 |
| December 1 | November 22 |
| December 9 | November 30 |
| December 10 | December 1 |
| December 30 | December 21 |
| Yule | December 22 |
| Yule | December 23 |
| January 1 | December 24 |
| January 8 | December 31 |
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