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# Time in Aman & Middle Earth
- URL: https://olorin.games/time-in-aman-middle-earth/
- Published: 2026-10-19T10:28:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-19T10:28:00.000Z
- Author: Olórin

Any trip to Tolkien’s Middle Earth involves two major themes of the world: The Shadow, and the epic lore of Arda \[the world, of which Aman and Middle Earth are continents\]. Those are the two aspects that, in my opinion, lend themselves most readily to TTRPGs.

I previously wrote about [understanding The Shadow](https://olorin.games/understanding-the-shadow/). In this post I’ll explain time in Arda, how it impacts different races, what it means for certain NPCs in Middle Earth, and how that affects my games.

## The Ages of Arda & Middle Earth

If you have even a passing understanding of Tolkien’s mythology — even if all you’ve done is watch Peter Jackson’s film trilogy — you probably know that the events of *The Lord of the Rings* take place in Middle Earth, at the close of the Third Age. That implies that there were previously second, and first ages. Actually, it’s a little more complex, so bear with me…

### The Years of the Trees (First Age, Part One)

The First Age (also referred to as the Elder Days) is usually split in two: The Years of the Trees, and The Years of the Sun.

The Years of the Trees are named after the Two Trees of Valinor that originally lit the world. The Years of the Trees use the pre-solar Valian calendar.

Opinion differs on whether the Years of the Trees begin in the first Valian year (1 Y.T.) or at the awakening of the Elves (1050 Y.T.), but they end with the creation of the Sun (1500 Y.T.). According to the Tolkien Gateway, [Valian years](https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Valian%5FYears?ref=olorin.games) are equivalent to 9 years, 212 days, and 18 hours of the solar calendar. And so, when the Sun first rises, the equivalent of \~4,312 solar years have passed since the awakening of the elves, and Arda is the equivalent of \~14,373 solar years old.

### The Years of the Sun (First Age, Part Two)

From 1 Y.S. onwards, all time in Arda (Aman \[the continent containing Valinor\] as well as Middle Earth) is measured by the solar calendar.

The Years of the Sun begin with the first sunrise (1 Y.S.) and end with Morgoth’s defeat and banishment to The Void (590 Y.S.).

Loremasters in Aman do not consider the Years of the Sun to be part of the First Age, but for [reasons too complex](https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Exile%5Fof%5Fthe%5FNoldor?ref=olorin.games) to delve into here, loremasters in Middle Earth do. Depending on how you calculate it, the First Age lasts anything from 4,312 solar years, to 14,963 solar years.

Using the Middle Earth reckoning, the First Age of Arda dates from the awakening of the elves in 1050 Y.T. to the defeat of Morgoth in 590 Y.S., meaning 4,902 solar years.

### The Second Age of Middle Earth

Due to the Middle Earth-centric history of Arda, and the mystery of datable events in Valinor after the Noldori depart, from 1 Y.S. onwards the ages of Arda can be considered the ages of Middle Earth.

The Second Age begins immediately after the First Age. It ends with the Last Alliance of Elves and Men (3430 S.A. – 3441 S.A.) when Gil-galad and Elendil defeat Sauron, and Isildur cuts the The Ring from the Dark Lord’s hand before failing to destroy it \[Isildur, you twit\].

In Middle Earth the Second Age lasts 3,440 years. In Aman, if recognised at all, the Second Age is presumably 590 years longer, to encompass the Years of the Sun.

### The Third Age of Middle Earth

The Third Age, the one we’re most familiar with, in which the events of *The Lord of the Rings* take place, immediately follows the Second Age.

The Third Age ends when the White Ship, carrying Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf, plus Bilbo and Frodo, departs the Grey Havens for Valinor in 3021 T.A., making the Third Age 3,020 years long.

### Shire Reckoning

Hobbits, because they’re awesome, pay little heed to the doings of elves, men, and dwarves. Typically, hobbits are more interested in months and seasons, and how they affect growing things.

Shire Reckoning is based on the first arrival of hobbits in the Shire. That took place in 1601 T.A. And so, when Thorin and Company depart for Erebor in 2941 T.A. as far as Bilbo Baggins is concerned the year is 1341 S.R.

Naturally, most hobbits pay next to no attention to the new king, and consequently ignore the start of the Fourth Age, maintaining the Shire Calendar indefinitely.

### The Fourth Age of Middle Earth

The Fourth Age begins immediately after the Third Age, and other than a few key dates — King Elessar dies in 130 Fo.A. and the Last Ship sails in 170 Fo.A. — little canonical is written about it, other than it is approximately the same length as the other ages, \~3,500 years.

## How Many Birthday Candles does Elrond Get?

In real world terms, if the events of *The Lord of the Rings* took place today, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, when Sauron was first defeated and Isildur lost himself to The Ring, would have taken place in 993 B.C.E.

To put this into context, Elrond saying he was present at Sauron’s defeat, is the equivalent of a modern day person saying they took part in the Siege of Jebus in 1000 B.C.E. when the Israelite army, led by King David, captured the Canaanite city of Jerusalem.

But, of course, Elrond is older than that. He was born in 532 Y.S., making him 57 or 58 years old when Morgoth is defeated, bound, and cast into The Void. He lives throughout the Second and the Third Age. He is approximately 3,498 when he rides to war with Gil-galad in the Last Alliance, and is around 6,519 years old when he finally boards the White Ship for Valinor.

In real-world terms, Elrond would have been born in the Mesolithic period — the final stage of hunter-gatherer culture — part of the Stone Age, so named because the only tools we had at the time were made of stone. In Tolkien’s history Elves are not so primitive thanks to the teachings of the Valar, but that is the timescale.

Elrond isn’t even the oldest elf in Middle Earth. His mother-in-law Galadriel was born in 1362 Y.T. making her 8,373 years old when she finally sails to Valinor. Círdan, Master of The Grey Havens, was born sometime around 1050 Y.T., making him approximately 11,363 when the White Ship sails for Valinor at the end of the Third Age.

## Elves & Robots

When there are NPCs who have lived for many thousands of years, how does their world-view differ from, say, a man’s whose lifespan is 75–80 years. As I get older, I learn that I simply do not remember as much as I once did, and as a result my perception of time changes. When I was young, Summers seemed to be endless because they were filled with new experiences. As I age, there are fewer new experiences to be had, and so my perception of time accelerates.

Human brains — and I would argue that elven brains would be biologically similar — record *new* experiences. It is a neurological fact that the brain deletes duplicate information.

This brings to mind another masterful series of books that cover millennia: Isaac Asimov’s Robots, Empire, and Foundation books. In the robot novels, R. Daneel Olivaw is a robot created in the equivalent of 4920 C.E. The Foundation series concludes in 24,150 C.E. making Daneel 19,230 years old. Over that period, Daneel has more than one brain, and is continually forced to delete older information in order to create storage space for new information. Even though Daneel is 19,230 years old when he poses the ultimate question at the end of *Foundation and Earth*, he does not carry 19,230 years of memories.

This is not to suggest that elves are living with some kind of dementia; only that it’s impossible to retain thousands of years of experiences in a single mind. Galadriel remembers walking in the light of the Two Trees, but she probably can’t remember what she had for breakfast.

## How the Perception of Time Affects TTRPGs

The TTRPG I currently runs games in Middle Earth with is Free League’s *The One Ring.* In *The One Ring,* it is common to meet NPCs of great age. Elrond, Galadriel and Círdan are all available as patrons — although playing with me, you won’t meet them at lower levels.

In my games, all elves tend to carry an air of superiority. They can be patient — waiting a century or two means very little to an elf. They are dogmatic, having formed views that are difficult to change in the handful of years that the party is adventuring. Most importantly of all, they remember little but their earliest memories and the more significant events from their later lives.

And so, elves rely on libraries. There are towers of elves and men across Middle Earth that safeguard the wisdom of millennia that would otherwise have been forgotten long ago.

The need to seek out information, in the same way that in *The Fellowship of the Ring* Gandalf travels to Minas Tirith to consult the writings of Isildur, is a fantastic quest structure for a TTPRG campaign. In *The One Ring* it works particularly well with the Scholar calling.

Of course TTRPGs set in Middle Earth are not canonical. But I’d like to think that Tolkien would approve of an adventure that involves a long walk, via an inn, ending up in a library.

*\[Image credit:* [*Daniil Silantev*](https://unsplash.com/photos/abandoned-pillared-building-surrounded-with-trees-EAZYpk6f4ec?utm%5Fsource=unsplash&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcontent=creditShareLink)*\]*