The Shire-Reckoning

In the year S.R. 1418

July 10
(40 days ago) →archive
	Waxing Gibbous

Gandalf reaches the fortress of Orthanc late in the evening. Twelve days ago he received a message from the White Wizard Saruman that the Nazgûl were searching for the Shire, but that Saruman could offer aid if Gandalf came quickly. But once Gandalf enters the fortress, Saruman reveals that his own desire is to either ally with Mordor or possess the Ruling Ring himself. He imprisons Gandalf on the platform atop his fortress, where the Grey Wizard will remain imprisoned for more than two months.

July 4
(46 days ago) →archive
	Waxing Crescent

Boromir leaves Minas Tirith to journey north in search of the legendary valley of Imaldris, where dwells the lore-master Elrond Halfelven from whom Boromir hopes to learn the meaning of a dream. His father, the Steward of Gondor, has entrusted the long journey to Boromir despite the fact that the dream came first — and most often — to his brother Faramir.

Lithe 2
(50 days ago) →archive
	Waxing Crescent

Gandalf and his horse leave Bree at dawn, and begin the several-hundred mile journey down the Greenway to the fortress of Isengard, where the wizard Saruman has summoned him.

The innkeeper in Bree, Barliman Butterbur, cannot find anyone to take Gandalf's letter to the Shire, and he will soon forget about it entirely; the letter will sit at the Inn for three more months until Frodo himself arrives in Bree with the Nazgûl nearly upon his heels.

Midyear
(51 days ago) →archive
	Waxing Crescent

Having learned from fugitives on the southern borders of the Shire that Gondor suffered a defeat nearly two weeks ago, Gandalf rides the Greenway north from Sarn Ford toward Bree. On the road he meets his fellow wizard Radagast, who comes from their peer Saruman the White with the news that the Nazgûl have come forth from Mordor to war, but that Saruman offers aid if Gandalf can reach him in time. Gandalf is too weary to set off at once, and spends the night at the Prancing Pony in Bree. He leaves with the proprietor a letter that urges Frodo to leave the Shire at once.

June 29
(54 days ago) →archive
	Waning Crescent

[In some editions, the Tale of Years gives this as the date on which Gandalf meets Radagast. The main text, however, twice places their meeting on Midyear's Day: (a) Gandalf at the Council of Elrond quotes Radagast as saying “I was told to find you before Midsummer, and that is now here.” (b) The letter Gandalf leaves at Bree that evening is dated “Midyear's Day.”]

June 20
(63 days ago) →archive
	Waning Gibbous

The forces of Sauron make a sudden attack upon the ruins of the ancient city of Osgiliath that straddle the River Anduin. Not only are allied Easterlings and Haradrim present for the battle, but Sauron for the first time deploys openly the Nazgûl, who exert their terror to drive back the soldiers of Gondor and take the eastern half of the ruins.

They fail to push across the river, however, for Boromir and Faramir — the sons of the Ruling Steward — hold the eastern end of the bridge with a few remaining soldiers until the rest of their forces are able to destroy the bridge behind them. Of the soldiers then trapped on the eastern bank, only the two brothers and two other others are able to swim the river and return alive.

But the main objective of Sauron is accomplished: to make it appear as for the sake of the attack that the Nine had been sent forth from Mordor and Dol Guldur, so that their appearance in the West will be thought an act of war rather than the beginnings of his hunt for the Ruling Ring.

At around the same time as the Nazgûl assault Osgiliath, Orcs move over the mountains into northern Mirkwood and attack the Wood-elves who hold Gollum hostage. Though they are successful in freeing Gollum, the Orcs themselves are apparently unable to apprehend him, and Gollum disappears into the woods and travels southeast.

May 1
(112 days ago) →archive
	Waning Crescent

Gandalf meets Aragorn at Sarn Ford and informs him that Frodo will be leaving for Rivendell in September.