What did Middle-Earthians celebrate? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

dragoneyes · 12-04-2002, 04:36 PM

Or is it Middle-Earthlings? Anyway, did they have their equivilent Chrstmas, harvest festival, Easter or is it just not mentioned?

Beruthiel · 12-04-2002, 04:39 PM

I don't recall there being any specific celebrations anywhere, except maybe in the Shire of course.There would have been one after the ring was destroyed I suppose and probably a New Year party as well. I wonder what elves would celebrate though...

Raefindel · 12-04-2002, 07:34 PM

I believe they celebrated YULE and the Dwarves certianly celebrated DURIN'S DAY, the first day of the Dwarves' new year which is the first day of the last moon of Autumn.

Hanna_Gamgee · 12-04-2002, 10:50 PM

*Spoiler*The appendix D tells the calendar of Middle Earth. According to my book after the LOTR the elves celebrated Frodos Bday on September 22 with a festival.

Selmo · 12-05-2002, 04:10 AM

In The Hobbit the Elves of Rivendell held a Mid-summer festival.

Inderjit Sanghera · 12-05-2002, 04:32 AM

Didn't the Hobbit's celebrate their coming to the Shire every year? They also had a 'county fair' every 7 years didn't they?

Merri · 12-05-2002, 12:48 PM

Well, they certainly did celebrate birthdays . . . I wish I could be a hobbit just so I could celebrate my birthday in the Shire . . .

Orual · 12-05-2002, 07:02 PM

They certainly didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter, or anything similar, because it was set in a pre-Christian time. I don't have the appendices with me because I lent RotK out...ARGH! It's driving me crazy. 13 days till TT and I wanted to read the whole of LotR again...meow.

~*~Orual~*~

Raefindel · 12-07-2002, 02:57 PM

True enough, Merri, Hobbits did celebrate birthdays, but generally they gave rather than recieved gifts on their birthdays.

Susan Delgado · 12-07-2002, 09:02 PM

It was still a day of great celebration. Actually, it wasn't unlike Christmas in the way they looked forward to it, and with the giving of presents to everyone.

dragoneyes · 12-08-2002, 03:23 PM

Quote:

They certainly didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter, or anything similar, because it was set in a pre-Christian time.

Before Christianity came along there was a mid-winter celebration, around the time of Christmas because winter's winter and you need something to cheer you up while you're half-way through. My mum always told me that was why Christmas was when it was.

Diamond18 · 12-08-2002, 03:51 PM

Appendix D

Quote:

Every year began on the first day of the week, Saturday, and ended on the last day of the week, Friday. The Mid-year's Day, and in Leap-years the Overlithe, had no weekday name. The Lithe before Mid-year's Day was called 1 Lithe, and the one after was called 2 Lithe [naturally]. The Yule at the end of the year was 1 Year, and that at the beginning was called 2 Yule. The Overlithe was a day of special holiday, but it did not occur in any of the years important to the history of the Great Ring. It occured in 1420, the year of the famous harvest and wonderful summer, and the merrymaking in that year is said to have been the greatest in memory or record.

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The last day of the week, Friday (Highday), was the chief day, and one of holiday (after noon) and evening feasts.

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There is no record of the Shire-folk commemorating either March 25 or September 22; but in the Westfarthing, especially in the country round Hobbiton Hill, there grew up a custom of making holiday and dancing in the Party Field, when weather permitted, on April 6. Some said that it was old Sam Gardner's birthday, some that it was the day on which the Golden Tree first flowered in 1420, and some that it was the Elves' New Year. In Buckland the Horn of the Mark was blown at sundown every November 2 and bonfires and feastings followed.

12-04-2002, 04:36 PM	#1
dragoneyes Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Completely lost track, sorry! Posts: 733	What did Middle-Earthians celebrate? Or is it Middle-Earthlings? Anyway, did they have their equivilent Chrstmas, harvest festival, Easter or is it just not mentioned? __________________ "We might succeed in roasting Pippin alive inside." - Frodo.

12-04-2002, 04:39 PM	#2
Beruthiel Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Set adrift on the Great Sea Posts: 373	I don't recall there being any specific celebrations anywhere, except maybe in the Shire of course.There would have been one after the ring was destroyed I suppose and probably a New Year party as well. I wonder what elves would celebrate though... __________________ ~I am not young enough to know everything~ Oscar Wilde

12-04-2002, 07:34 PM	#3
Raefindel Sword of the Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,313	I believe they celebrated YULE and the Dwarves certianly celebrated DURIN'S DAY, the first day of the Dwarves' new year which is the first day of the last moon of Autumn. __________________ Blessed be the Lord my Strength, Who trained my hands for war and my fingers to fight. Psallm 144:1

12-04-2002, 10:50 PM	#4
Hanna_Gamgee Animated Skeleton Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The Shire section of Antarctica Posts: 37	SpoilerThe appendix D tells the calendar of Middle Earth. According to my book after the LOTR the elves celebrated Frodos Bday on September 22 with a festival. __________________ Aragorn: 'Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.

12-05-2002, 04:32 AM	#6
Inderjit Sanghera Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Wolverhampton, England Posts: 716	Didn't the Hobbit's celebrate their coming to the Shire every year? They also had a 'county fair' every 7 years didn't they? __________________ “If I’m more of an influence on your son as a rapper then you are as a father then you've got to look at yourself as a parent” ~>Ice Cube. "Life is so beautiful"->Don Vito Corleone

12-05-2002, 04:10 AM	#5
Selmo Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: The Shire (Staffordshire), United Kingdom Posts: 273	In The Hobbit the Elves of Rivendell held a Mid-summer festival.

12-05-2002, 12:48 PM	#7
Merri Wight Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: The Shire Posts: 221	Well, they certainly did celebrate birthdays . . . I wish I could be a hobbit just so I could celebrate my birthday in the Shire . . . __________________ Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon. -Children of the Mind, by Orson Scott Card.

12-05-2002, 07:02 PM	#8
Orual Speaker of the Dead Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Superbia Posts: 868	They certainly didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter, or anything similar, because it was set in a pre-Christian time. I don't have the appendices with me because I lent RotK out...ARGH! It's driving me crazy. 13 days till TT and I wanted to read the whole of LotR again...meow. ~~Orual~~ __________________ "Oh, my god! I care so little, I almost passed out!" --Dr. Cox, "Scrubs"

12-07-2002, 02:57 PM	#9
Raefindel Sword of the Spirit Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,313	True enough, Merri, Hobbits did celebrate birthdays, but generally they gave rather than recieved gifts on their birthdays. __________________ Blessed be the Lord my Strength, Who trained my hands for war and my fingers to fight. Psallm 144:1

12-07-2002, 09:02 PM	#10
Susan Delgado The Perished Flame Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: behind my eyes Posts: 1,096	It was still a day of great celebration. Actually, it wasn't unlike Christmas in the way they looked forward to it, and with the giving of presents to everyone. __________________ "Man as a whole, Man pitted against the universe, have we seen him at all 'til we see that he is like a hero in a fairy tale?"