ou do not use numbered years in dating. As far as you know, this is the twelfth year of the rule of Baron Godfrey III. A few people used to use the years of the King's reign. By that reckoning, this would be the seventh year of King Varion II; Varion II is dead, however, and this practice—never common— is now very rare.

The annual calendar contains ten months of thirty days and two, June and July, of thirty-one. There are three days which are not part of any month: Yestrow, the day before January 1; Midsummer's Day, between June and July; and Yule, the day after December 30. On leap years an extra day, St. Gwenilain's Eve, is inserted before Midsummer's—a time of merriment, celebration, and marriages. There are various holidays and celebration days, including Candlemas (February 2), May Day (May 1, Saint Melenor's Day), Captivity (September 22, the date of Melenor's capture by the Pyrrhenians), Angelmas (January 10), and All Saints' Day (November 1).