While researching dates for my story "Eleventy-one: Too Short a Time, Book One", I collected some information on Special Years in the Shire. I thought it would be helpful to share this information in case anyone else might find it useful; as for myself, I discovered that the chapter I wanted to write would not canonically fit into the time frame I wanted it to go! However, it did leave me with a good idea for another story sometime in the future.

The Years of a Shire Mayoral Election

We are told that elections for the Mayor of Michel Delving takes place every seven years, during the Midsummer (Lithe) Free Fair in Michel Delving. There are only two years specifically mentioned prior to Sam's election: S.R. 1420, in which year Frodo refused to run for Mayor and Will Whitfoot was re-elected, and S.R. 1427, in which year Samwise was elected Mayor for the first time, and each of Sam's terms is mentioned in the Tale of Years. A little simple math going backwards (subtracting 7 years) enabled me to pinpoint other Election Years. I went as far back as the last Election before Bilbo's birth in S.R. 1290, and forward through Sam's seven terms. In order to lend some context to these various years, I have also included information from canon as to what events were taking place in the Shire during those years for which we have the information, either in The Tale of Years in Appendix B, or in the Hobbit Family Trees in Appendix C.

(Years with an asterisk next to them are those years in which an Overlithe coincided with an Election Year. All years are, of course, in Shire Reckoning.)

1287

1294

1301

1308* (Drogo Baggins is born.)

1315

1322

1329

1336*

1343

1357

1364*

1371

1378

1385

1392*

1399 (The year Bilbo adopted Frodo.)

1406

1413

1420* (The year Frodo turned down the chance to run; Will Whitfoot's last term)

1427 (Samwise Gamgee's first term as Mayor. Peregrin marries Diamond, and the King's edict is issued.)

1434 (Samwise Gamgee's second term as Mayor. Peregrin becomes Thain; The Thain, Master and Mayor are appointed as Counsellors of the North.)

1441 (Samwise Gamgee's third term as Mayor.)

1448* (Samwise Gamgee's fourth term as Mayor.)

1455 (Sam's fifth term; Fastred of Greenholm, husband of Elanor, becomes the Warden of the Westmarch.)

1462 (Samwise Gamgee's sixth term as Mayor.)

1469 (Sam's seventh and final term as Mayor begins.)

The Years of Overlithe

Of Midsummer in the Shire, Tolkien says the following:

"The Mid-year's Day, and in Leap-years the Overlithe, had no weekday name. The Lithe before Mid-year's Day was called 1 Lithe, and the one after was called 2 Lithe...The Overlithe was day of special holiday, but it did not occur n any o the years important to the history of the Great Ring. It occurred in 1420, the year of the famous harvest and wonderful summer, and the merrymaking in that year is said to have been the greatest in memory or record." (LotR, Appendix D, "Shire Calendar")

As with the Election years, I begin with the Leap Year prior to Bilbo's birth, and go forward. Years marked with an asterisk are those in which an Overlithe coincided with an Election Year. All years are, of course, in Shire Reckoning, and naturally some events overlap.:

1288

1292

1296

1300

1304

1308* (Drogo Baggins is born.)

1312 (The Fell Winter took place from 1311-1312)

1316

1320 (Primula Brandybuck is born.)

1324

1328

1332

1336*

1340

1344

1348

1352

1356

1360

1364*

1368 (Frodo Baggins is born.)

1372

1376

1380

1384

1388

1392*

1396

1400

1404

1408

1412

1416

1420* (The year Frodo turned down the chance to run; Will Whitfoot's last term)

1424

1428

1432

1436 (The King comes North, and meets Sam, Merry and Pippin at the Brandywine Bridge.)

1440

1444

1448* (Samwise Gamgee's fourth term as Mayor.)

1452 (The Westmarch, from the West Downs to the Tower Hills, is gifted to the Shire.)

1456

1460

1464

1468

1472

1476*

1480

1484 (In this year, Merry and Pippin resign their offices and retire to Minas Tirith.)

If you need to go further back than I did for either Election Years or for Overlithe years, or further forward into the Fourth Age, the math is simple enough. It's my hope, though, that I can spare someone else the work. I hope this will prove useful to other Hobbit writers, and that it might even provide some plot bunnies!