m. c. de marco

Today is the start of meteorological summer, the hottest quarter of the northern year which incidentally runs from June 1st to August 31st. Of all the definitions for the seasons (see Durin’s Autumn for details), the meteorological one seems to fit the weather best. So happy summer!

See the calendar category page for my previous blog entries about calculating Durin’s Day. Today’s entry is a note on the interpretation of “new moon” in the definition of Durin’s Day. To recap:

“The first day of the dwarves’ New Year,” said Thorin, “is as all should know the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter.”

Durin’s Days are coming soon, many thanks to Alan Eliasen and Frink. This entry is just a note on the interpretation of “autumn” in the definition of Durin’s Day and of the dwarves’ New Year in general. To recap, in The Hobbit, the dwarves’ New Year’s Day is said to fall on the last new moon of autumn, where autumn is unfortunately not defined.

I’ve been rereading The Hobbit on the train, because it’s more portable and durable than my 30-year-old Houghton Mifflin trade paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings, despite being even older (specifically, the 1966 Ballantine revised, “authorized” paperback edition). Yesterday I reached the discussion of Durin’s Day:

“The first day of the dwarves’ New Year,” said Thorin, “is as all should know the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter. We still call it Durin’s Day when the last moon of Autumn and the sun are in the sky together.

Someone on a mailing list asked why New Year’s Day is the first of January instead of some more significant date, like a religious holiday or the solstice. Since I’ve done a fair share of calendar research for my writing and had a little more to do as homework for a class, I decided to answer the question at some length, and also blog it (below the cut).