Calendars of Alina

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Calendars of Alina The Alinyu Lorn Stephen

Two seperate calendars dominate the reckoning of time upon Alina: the Elfin, or Lornian, calendar and the Human, or Ruûnian calendars. Dates are typically given in Elfin Reckoning (E.R.), or as After Baûl (A.B.) if one is using the Human calendar. Other calendars exist, of course, such as the dwarven calendar based on sets of ten and using twenty-hour days, or the complex nomeclature of the gnomish reckoning, but none of these have the popular prominence of of either the calendars of the elfin or human peoples.

The Elfin Calendar The Ruûnian Calendar

A Timeline of Alinian History

The Elfin, or Lornian, calendar is lunar, that is, based upon the cycles of the moon. Each season lasts for exactly 81 days, which is comprised of three total lunar cycles (three full and three new moons.) A new season always begins on the night of a full moon. The elfin year lasts for four seasons, and therefore 324 days.

Vernal equinox: Nované
     Spring: Novochassé
Summer Solstice: Jarkom
     Summer: Shôd
Autumnal equinox: Osien
     Autumn: Stranachassé
Winter Solstice: Utrom
     Winter: Iveré

Elves do not concern themselves with the naming of days or weeks (though they do have a rough approximation of a week which lasts for nine days - 1/3 of a lunar cycle.) If one must be specific about a certain day, it is simply identified as the nth day of a certain season. For example, a day in mid-spring would be referred to as the 42nd day of Novochassé. Elves, Lornian citizens especially, tend to utterly ignore the clumsy and abritrary Ruûnian calendar, giving dates and days only in the ancient calendar of Elfin Reckoning, which traces itself back to the very beginning of time.

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The Human, or Ruûnian, calendar was instituted by Baûl on the 13th day of Iveré, in the year 2975 E.R. In contrast to the elfin calendar, it is solar instead of lunar and based upon sets of seven: seven days comprise week, seven weeks to the cycle and seven cycles to the year. This creates a year which is 343 days long. Before Baûl's institution of the Ruûnian calendar, in the Time Lôr, humans simply used the elegant elfin calendar. However, five centuries of Baûl's terrible reign has left many indelibel marks upon humanity - one of the most lasting and obvious is his calendar, though most of its nomeclature has been changed.

Days of the week
     Lôrde, Lûnde, Halümde, Solde, Lythuéde, Gaide, Sabbatom
Weeks of the cycle
     Lôrdaum, Lûndaum, Halümdaum, Soldaum, Lythuédaum, Gaidaum, Sabbot
Cycles of the year
     Lôrdoth, Lûndoth, Halümdoth, Soldoth, Lythuédeth, Gaidoth, Sabbatoth

Dates among humans are usually quickly rattled off as a string of each of these identifiers. Using this system, the third day of the fifth week of the second cycle would be referred to as Halümde Lythuédaum Lûndoth (with a year given if one is discussing historical time, off course.) The first day of the Ruûnian year is always called AuLôrde.

Since they do not match up, every 17 years, the Lornian calendar “jumps” the Ruûnian, i.e. an entire elfin year passes within the span of a single human year and a new elfin year begins before the human year does. However, even this is not perfect, for every 324 years the caendarl falls back one year, in effect negating one of the “jumps” which occur every 17 years. (Terribly confusing isn’t it?)

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