Navigation

Home

Chronicles

Vignettes

Université de Magique

Weekend Artist

FAQs

New Reader

Prelude

Heroes

Villains

Background

Free Stuff

Buy Stuff

Fan Stuff

Art Competitions

Advertisements

Links

Contacts

Whines & complaints

Compliments

Fixin's

General World Information:

The Year and Seasons

The Wheel of the Year consists of eight months, each named after a different element.  This leads scholars to believe that the Ancients originally knew of the eight elements, before that information was lost to Time.  The Ancients were obviously a superstitious lot, though, for much symbolism is attached to the months themselves and the rites and blessings that attend each of the (?) octavannual festivals. 

Eight months, each consisting of 45 days, are subdivided into 3 15-day fortnights.  These fortnights are each divided into 2 weeks, which are separated by a holy day.  Thus, in the course of every month, one goes through:

7 days, a holy day, 7 days (one fortnight)

7 days, a holy day, 7 days (second fortnight)

7 days, a holy day, 6 days plus Festival day (third fortnight)

The day after the Winter Solstice is the first day of the new year.  This first month is called Veederburt, believed to be a corruption of the early Zwergen Wiedergeburt, or rebirth.  This is the month of Flesh, so named in honor of the rites of rebirth as the land begins to wake once more from the vast slumbers of winter.  The Early Spring Festival invites Spring to come again to the land and bring with it another year of glad tidings.

The second month is called Prancetime, possibly a Human corruption of the early Elfish Printemps, meaning spring.  The Spring Festival (Spring Equinox) celebrates the fullness of Spring and warmer weather, and the happiness that comes from Humans emerging from their huts at last like bears to… It is the month of Water, thought to be in honor of the spring rains that fill the land.

The third month is Drevno, an early version of Drevwno, or growing.  Strangely enough the etymology hints that the language of the Human mountain man may have grown from this proto-language of the midlands, perhaps even from a Elfish off-shoot?  This month is named in honor of the element of Wood, symbolizing the planting and nurturing of new crops.  Many rural rites attend the Early Summer Festival to ensure the health of the harvest.

The fourth month is called Ehrda, a long-standing Human mispronunciation of the Zwergen Erde, or summer.  The end of this month marks the half-year point, and the Summer Festival (Summer Solstice) is filled with celebrations of a more Earthy nature, as betokens the month’s chosen element.

The fifth month, Worksong, is so named because it marks the beginning of the yearly harvests.  The month’s element is Metal, believed to be in deference to the Early Fall Festival where many farmers bless their tools.  This widely-held festival has grown to encompass the blessing and special care given to all tools of trade, and a general air of thanksgiving for both the harvest to be reaped and the tools to be used in the reaping is prevalent.  Some argue that the name originated in the Zwergen werkzeug, referring to the tools, but most scholars hold that the name is purely Human in origin as well as use.

The sixth month is called Lautum, another early Human corruption of the Elfish l’Autumn, meaning fall.  It is the month of Fire, both in reference to the early practices of burning the fields once the harvest was in and symbolizing the [clean sweep of the homes, out with the old, getting ready for winter].  The Fall Festival (Fall Equinox) is perhaps the most widely-varied in terms of celebrations—the Zwergen celebrate with vast quantities of ale at their DankFest, while Humans often have giant bonfires where they burn the effigies of Old Man Trouble, and Elfes usually constrain themselves to genteel pyrotechnic displays of fireworks and brightly-lit balls.

The seventh month is Kaiyoo, the Human mispronunciation of the Elfish word caillou, meaning stone???.  It is believed to be in reference either to the crystals of early frost, or the stone used in grinding grain.  It is a time of stuff, just like the Early Winter Festival.  Celebration of the first snows?

The eighth month is Shneg, another example of the proto-language from the north which left the midlands in earlier times before Elfish civilization took over.  The original word Śníeg?? means snow.  Air is the month’s element, signifying the cold Northern winds that cross the land and sing the earth to sleep.  The ending Winter Festival (Winter Solstice) is both a celebration of the wintry snow and the end of another year, with all the trappings of good food and joyous song that accompany such a time.  Oftentimes the five days leading up to the Festival are part of the Festival of Ice, prolonging the joy of the times and characterized by the ice sculptures, sleigh rides, snow fights, and feasts inherent in its name.

Geography * History of the world, part 1 * Cultures * Seasons * Magie * Spare * Spare * Spare *