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Started III 1601 (Year 1 by the Shire-reckoning)
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  • Updated 31 January 1998
  • Updates planned: 3

Shire-reckoning

The count of years according to the Shire-hobbits

Encyclopedia of Arda Timeline
Years of the TreesFirst AgeSecond AgeThird AgeFourth Age and Beyond

The system of reckoning dates unique to the Hobbits of the Shire, based on the founding of that land in III 1601. The Shire-hobbits reckoned this as year 1. So, years of the Third Age can be converted to Shire-years by subtracting 1600 (e.g. the Downfall of Barad-dûr occurred in III 3019, but in the Shire this was counted as the year 1419).

The Shire-folk took no account of the change of Age in III 3021. While the other peoples of Middle-earth considered this to be the first year of the Fourth Age, in the Shire it was simply 1421.


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