• There are no months; the largest unit of time short of a year is a season.
• 1 season = 11 weeks (sometimes less in Winter)
• 1 week = 2 conjunctions
• 1 conjunction = 4 days (marked by both moons rising at the same time)

Dates are written in the format (week) (season) (day), with (year) before or after. Fully articulated day names are usually used, but some scholars prefer the numeric form (i.e. "fourthday"). Example:

• 11 Summer Merriday = 5th day of 11th week of summer
• 9 Winter Firstday = 1st day of 9th week of winter

Holidays

Every culture has its own holidays, but there a few that pop up on the same day in most of them:

Astronomical Dates of Importance

These days are generally not celebrated, but are marked for scientific purposes:

Common Holidays

Tellandor has, as all planets must, a yearly and a daily cycle.

The rotation of Tellandor's companion moons creates two additional cycles: the Double Lunar Conjunction and the Triple Lunar Conjunction. The former occurs every 2 days, when Olorín reaches the zenith. The latter occurs every 4 days, when Olorín and Baradí­n reach the zenith together. This does not happen at the same time every day--indeed, half the year, this occurs during the day, and causes frequent lunar eclipses--so the 4- and 2-day cycles are usually marked by the simple rise of Baradí­n and Olorín, respectively.

There is also The Long Cycle, the 80-year procession of the date of solar conjunction--when the Dark Star is eclipsed by the Sun--through the calendar year. Long used by elder races to mark long periods of time, the 80-year cycle has been adopted into the time measurements of Man.

The year is divided into four seasons. It begins with Spring and ends with Winter. (Astronomer's note: though Tellandor has little axial tilt relative to Io, Io's own obliquity results in an effect similar to Earth's seasons)

Each season is divided into 22 lunar conjunctions (when both moons rise and set in the same day). By convention, the first day of the year is always the day of a lunar conjunction. Since the year does not divide evenly into conjunctions (1 year = 87.7 conjunctions), the convention is as follows:

• Spring, Summer, and Fall always have 22 conjunctions, for a total of 264 days.
• Winter has 21 or 22 conjunctions, followed by a special holiday period of 0-4 days, depending on the year.
  • The Festival of Years-End not only reconciles the lunar cycle, but also contains leap days as needed to ensure against seasonal drift.
• Because of this lunisolar approach, the year is not of consistent length, varying between 347 and 352 days. Though this causes some confusion in a few cases, years are the same length on average over a long enough period.

The traditional Junean calendar named every conjunction according to a complex procession of animist gods which rose and fell in prominence throughout the year. In some respects, this practice survives today, although much simplified.

The "week" of Tellandor is two conjunctions long, spanning 8 days. Each day is traditionally named for one of the gods of the Great Church, though each is more commonly known by other names, as "Morrowyn's Day" was a little too long to say every time. Since the rise of the Church of the One God, the common names have been enshrined as the official names, as they do not bear any obvious similarity to the names of pagan gods.

Traditional Meaning of the Days

The common names for days evolved over millennia, from the culture of the common folk of the realm (that realm being, primarily the Kingdom of the Sword). The concept behind the names, and the traditional religious meaning of each cyclical day, influenced the common culture around the days. As a result, each day has a specific connotation, and that influences human culture noticeably.

Hayday

As the first day of the "work week", for those with the privilege of Serving the Soroday, Hayday is seen as a happy time, more a release from the sorrow of the previous day than the begrudged return to work the following day. This word pops up in a figurative context in the public lexicon, i.e. "This is a good time for our people; it's our hayday."

Jusday

Long has the second cyclical day been seeing has having an affinity with Albur, particularly in his role as the Supreme Justice. Most important cases are heard in this day in Court; in the lesser courts of small towns, Jusday is sometimes the only day the Court is in session.

Wisday

Wisday is often thought to be a time of reflection and thought, and a good time for studies. Most schools begin their lecture week on Wisday, with Hayday and Jusday reserved for independent study.

Mainday

Mainday is a mostly unexceptional day. It is sometimes used as a time for meetings, a throwback to earlier days when it was considered auspicious to gather forces-at-arms (when necessary) on Hellas' Day, though only in Spring.

Merriday

Merriday has long been considered a good day for celebrations and socializing. Most folk work this day, but partake in festivities well into the night.

Winday

Winday is traditionally a holy day, reserved for acts of mercy and compassion. Those who were able were called upon to serve their communities, especially the sick and the poor. Nowadays, the concept has been altered somewhat; the concept of all leaving their homes and occupations to serve the community morphed into a day for general social and outdoor activity. Those who can afford to usually do not work on Winday, preferring to go to town or to social gatherings.

Soroday

Soroday is also a traditional holy day, though, unlike Winday, it has not yet been perverted into something else. In the traditions of the Great Church, all folk are meant to acknowledge death on this day, and thus feel the imminent and paramount need to supplicate themselves to the gods. It is a day of worship and humility. The scriptures command that none work on this day, but rather render their crops and their crafts to the gods, in whose mercy they may be provided for. This is called Serving the Soroday.

Sainday

Sainday has long been held as a day of rest, after the public service and divine contemplation of the previous two days. Increasingly, in the lands of the Church of the One God, religious services are held on Sainday, effectively co-opting the traditions of Soroday. Many common folk cannot leave their works unattended for three days straight, so Winday traditions are fading in these lands.

The most verbose form:

• (day of week), the (date)th day of the (week)th week of the season of (season) in the year (year)
• example: Mainday, the 4th day of the 11th week of Summer in the year 1299 GC

Many variations exist, but this is the core form. It has the advantage of being unambiguous, and the disadvantage of being very cumbersome.

• (week) (season) (day of week) (year)
  • Ex: 11 Summer Mainday 1299
• Year's End:
  • (date) Year's End 1299

Advantages:

• Brevity (relative to literary form)
• Consistent (a de facto standard bundled with the Grand Chronology)

Disadvantages:

• Ambiguous: the week indicator does not describe itself as such, and positions in the string do not have intuitive meaning
• Culturally Biased: the the names of the days of the week are different in many cultures, and some use no names at all

This standard arose due to the rise of the Grand Chronology, which mandated this form. At the time, the value of a standard date form was clear, compared to the mess of brief forms in place. Over time, and especially after the fall of the Empire, its disadvantages led it to fall into disuse outside the Church of the One.

• Standard: (year)-(week)-(date)
  • Ex: 1299-27-7 (5 Fall Soroday 1299)
• Expanded: (year)-(season)-(week)-(date)
  • Ex: 1299-3-5-7 (5 Fall Soroday 1299)
• Options:
  • Leading date (culture-specific):
    • Sa 1299-3-5-8
    • Sainday 1299-3-5-8
  • Verbose form (culture-specific):
    • 1299-Summer-5-Sainday
    • 1299-Su-5-Sa
• Year's End:
  • Standard form: 1299-YE-2
  • Expanded form: 1299-5-1-3

Notes:

• The dual forms which might otherwise be confusing are disambiguated by the number of dividers; the expanded form always has 4 elements, even at Year's End where the week element is unnecessary.
• The numbers are written in logical order: the most important units are first, the least important last. Year, then season, then week, then day.
  • When bundled with a time, the timestamp proceeds in similar manner, e.g.: 1299-3-5-8 12:30 PM
• The separators need not be dashes--as long as they are consistent, the exact glyph is not important. Periods, dots, and slashes are popular replacements.
• The standard form is "preferred", but largely by academics, as the expanded form is hardly any longer, and far easier to use.