1st July, 294 [The Hobbit]
- Elrond examines Gandalf and Thorin’s swords and reads the moon-letters
Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls’ lair, and he said: “These are not troll-make. They are old swords, very old swords of the High Elves of the West, my kin. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. They must have come from a dragon’s hoard or goblin plunder, for dragons and goblins destroyed that city many ages ago. This, Thorin, the runes name Orcrist, the Goblin-cleaver in the ancient tongue of Gondolin; it was a famous blade. This, Gandalf, was Glamdring, Foe-hammer that the king of Gondolin once wore. Keep them well!”
[The Hobbit, Chapter 3: A Short Rest]
“Moon-letters are rune-letters, but you cannot see them,” said Elrond, “not when you look straight at them. They can only be seen when the moon shines behind them, and what is more, with the more cunning sort it must be a moon of the same shape and season as the day when they were written. The dwarves invented them and wrote them with silver pens, as your friends could tell you. These must have been written on a midsummer’s eve in a crescent moon, a long while ago.”
[The Hobbit, Chapter 3: A Short Rest]
2nd July, 2941 [The Hobbit]
- The company leaves Rivendell, heading up into the Misty Mountains
4th July, 3018 [The Lord of the Rings]
- Boromir sets out from Minas Tirith to Rivendell
