Ages of the Valinor and the Ice Ages.

[James the Just]

The Annals of Aman take us deep into the past, especially if we assume a Valian Year is 144 of our own. What was it like back then? Here are some charts that can give us an idea with a quick glance. Some of these periods are hot, like in our present time, while others can be quite cold, with most of the northern lands covered in glaciers.

The Valian Years start near the beginning of the geological Ionian Age, when the Earth last experienced a pole shift. We can date this precisely if we set the Fall of Barad-dûr to 4502 BC.
Here are the dates in Before Present (before 1950) for the Ice Ages back then. MIS stands for Marine Isotopic Stage.

774000 BP Ionian Age.

761000 BP Cromerian (MIS 18).
712000 BP Cromerian (MIS 17).
676000 BP Cromerian or Donian (MIS 16).
621000 BP Cromerian (MIS 15).
563000 BP Cromerian (MIS 14).
533000 BP Cromerian (MIS 13).
478000 BP Anglian or Elsterian (MIS 12).
424000 BP Hoxnian or Holsteinian (MIS 11).
374000 BP Wolstonian (MIS 10).
337000 BP Purfleetian (MIS 9).
300000 BP Fuhnian (MIS 8).
243000 BP Dömnitzian (MIS 7).
191000 BP Drenthian (MIS 6).

The chart shows the Ages of the Valinor in different colours. They began in 733500 BP (exactly) and lasted for 100 Valian Years each, or 14400 of ours.



After the Ionian came the Tarantian Age. Here are the dates for the stadials (cooler periods) and interstadials (warmer periods). Peaks or mid-points are shown by a thin line.

129000 BP Tarantian Age.

129000 BP Eemian (MIS 5e).
115000 BP Herning (MIS 5d).
106000 BP Brörup Interstadial (MIS 5c).
93000 BP Rederstall Stadial (MIS 5b).
85000 BP Odderade Interstadial (MIS 5a).
71000 BP Early Middle Weichselian (MIS 4).
57000 BP Late Middle Weichselian (MIS 3).
28000 BP Late Weichselian (MIS 2).
15070 BP Oldest Dryas.
14670 BP Bølling oscillation.
14100 BP Older Dryas.
13900 BP Allerød oscillation.
12900 BP Younger Dryas.

11650 BP Holocene Epoch.

11650 BP Greenlandian.
8186 BP Northgrippian.
4200 BP Meghalayan.

Is it just me or do the Ice Ages seem to correspond pretty closely to the Ages of the Valinor and Middle-earth?

128700 BP Y.T. 701.
114300 BP Y.T. 801.
107100 BP Y.T. 851.
92700 BP Y.T. 951.
85500 BP Y.T. 1001.
71100 BP Y.T. 1101.
56700 BP Y.T. 1201.
27900 BP Y.T. 1401.
15084 BP Y.T. 1490.
14652 BP Y.T. 1493.
14076 BP Y.T. 1497.
13932 BP Y.T. 1498.
13500 BP Years of the Sun.
12910 BP Second Age.
9469 BP Third Age.
6449 BP Fourth Age.
4109 BP Fifth Age.
1949 BP Sixth Age.
5 BP Seventh Age.



Note that the Morgoth is up for release in 2850 AD!

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Whoa, that definitely had to take some work! I like it.

But - and this is just me being bad at deciphering tables, so for clarification - so how would this correspond with first recorded presence of humans in our known history vs. the emergence of Men at Hildórien? Do I get it right that we'd have the appearance of Men just before the start of Holocene - which would actually kinda make sense (in terms of first recorded finds being later than their emergence itself)?

And also what about the Elves? Which of the skeletal remnants of supposed human ancestors are, according to this, in fact Elves? Which period would that put their Awakening in exactly? Did Oromë meet them while hunting which type of -therium in the woods?

Originally Posted by James the Just

Note that the Morgoth is up for release in 2850 AD!

Hey, nice timing, I'd say! Not the typical "Beware! The End of Days is coming in three years!" but neither the "it's so far in the future that it's pretty much irrelevant". I like that one.

[James the Just]

Well, let's see. The first year of the First age of the Sun was 13,500 BP. This would apparently start an age of exploration. For example, the Clovis Culture came on the scene right around then while the -theriums soon left it.
The Elves were awakened in Y.T. 1050, or 78,444 BP. You'll find it on the chart as the thin line in the middle of the aqua-colored age. The weather was decent then. Not long after, though, there came the Toba catastrophe, a supervolcanic eruption, wiping out most of mankind.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

What happened then? Who knows? If there is someone out there with some lore about those times they ought to write it as 'fan fiction'.*
I imagine that Elven bones just kind of fade away over time, explaining the lack of physical evidence. But some live ones are still around, hiding underground perhaps, and don't think that 2850 AD is all that far in the future. It's been 94¼ yén since the start of the First Age. In fact, many will celebrate the 13,573rd year of it soon, on March 29th. Have fun while you can; there's only 5¾ yén to go.

* If anyone wishes they may use anything I've come up with in their fiction with or without attribution. I have no intention whatsoever of copyrighting the chronologies or geographies. They're for anyone to do with as they please.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by James the Just

Not long after, though, there came the Toba catastrophe, a supervolcanic eruption, wiping out most of mankind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

What happened then? Who knows?

It would make sense if it was a first attempt of Morgoth to destroy the Atani. Perhaps it seemed to him at that point that destroying them could be the safest course of action if he for example realised that he could not turn all of them to his side. He would then further revise his plans later.

Originally Posted by James the Just

I imagine that Elven bones just kind of fade away over time, explaining the lack of physical evidence.

Well I would also imagine most of the Elves did not die. Those who would would die violently. But they are immortal otherwise, after all, so no reason for large amount of bones.

[James the Just]

So Melkor almost wiped us out right from the beginning. No wonder no one could find us for some time.
Elves aren't exactly immortal. Some of the nobility age at only 1/144th the rate of humans. It depends on where they're living, Aman (America) or Middle-earth (Europe). Check (G)NoMe for more details.

Speaking of Gnomes why aren't their rings normally included?

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Five for the Gnome-princes over the sea,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

[James the Just]

Happy Yestarë!