Lord of the Rings calculations

I've been wondering for some time how much time does the Lord of the Rings’ plot lasts. I did some research and I was able to create a timeline for the most important events until the ring is destroyed. Now everything I need to do is make the sum! *SPOILER ALERT* This post spoils some of the main events in the Lord of the Rings plot.

September 22, 3001 - Bilbo leaves the Shire.
April 13, 3018 - Gandalf tells Frodo about the ring.
Sept 26, 3018 - The Hobbits leave the Shire.

Sept 29, 3018 – The hobbits encounter Aragorn in Bree.

October 6, 3018 – Frodo is pierced by the Morgul blade.
October 20, 3018 - The Hobbits and Aragorn arrive at Rivendell.
December 25, 3018 - The fellowship leave Rivendell.

Jan 13 – the company reaches Moria.

Jan 25 – Gandalf falls with the Balrog of Moria.

Feb 15 – the fellowship reaches Lorein.

Feb 26, 3019 – the fellowship is scattered.

Feb 29, 3019 – Merry and Pippin find Treebeard.

March 2, 3019 – Frodo and Sam get to the end of the dead marshals.

March 3 – the ents destroy isengard.

March 5 – Theoden and Gandalf reach Isengard.

March 12, 3019 – Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into Shelob’s lair.
March 25, 3019 - The ring is destroyed.

All of the months in the Shire calendar have 30 days. A Shire year is 12*30=360 days long

From September, 3018 to March, 3019 there are 6 months, that’s 6*30 days, or 180 days. There’s almost 6 exact months since the start of the journey until the destruction of the one ring (1 day less). It took exactly 179 days to destroy the ring, if we count since Frodo becomes aware of the situation he’s in we would need to add 13 days (to get to April 26) and 5 more months (5*30 = 150 days), so the total would end up being 179+163=342 days, almost a full year!

We can also see that Frodo took (163/342)*100= 48% of the total time waiting on Gandalf, forcing the Fellowship to have their adventure starting in the winter.

I kept doing some calculations just out of curiosity, kind of finding out what characters are more productive and to give some use to the other dates in the timeline (none of them count the waiting time at the start):

Time spent in Rivendell: 2 months (60 days) + 5 days = 65 days, that is (65/179)*100 = 36% of the journey

Since Merry and Pippin were separated from the fellowship it took them 5 days (to get to march 1) + 2 days = 7 days to destroy Isengard with the aid of the Ents. That’s (7/179)*100 = 4% of the journey! (This didn’t delay the ring’s destruction though)

It took Frodo and Sam 1 month (30 days) – 1 day =29 days to destroy the ring. That is (29/179)*100 = 16% of the time

The first time of the journey (until the fellowship was scattered, without counting the waiting time) took 5 months (150 days), (150/179)*100= 84% of the journey, while the second part (from the scatter of the fellowship to the destruction of the ring) took 29 days, (29/179)*100 = 16% of the journey. I consider this break of first and second part of the journey fair because the distances are similar (the first part is a bit longer) and I also considered that Frodo and Sam had no horse/pony and had to choose another way into Mordor after finding the first one. Just in case I chose other frontiers:

From the leaving of the Shire until their arrival at Rivendell; then to the destruction of the ring (keep in mind Rivendell is SO much closer to the Shire than to Mordor): first =30-6 = 24 days, (24/179)*100 = 13%. Second: 5 (to get to oct 25) + 5*30 = 155 days, (155/179)*100 = 87%

From the leaving of the shire to the leaving of the fellowship from Rivendell; then to the destruction of the ring: first: first = 3*30 (3 months)-1 day = 89 days, (89/179)*100 = 50%. Second: 3*30 = 90 days, (90/179)*100 = 50% (Yay! I found where they were at the middle of the time by accident!)

Form the leaving of the Shire until the arrival at Moria; then to the destruction of the ring: first = 17 (to get to oct 13) +3*30= 107 days, (107/179)*100= 60%. Second= 12 (to get to jan 25) + 2*30 days = 72 days, (42/179)*100= 40%

From the leaving of the Shire until they arrive at Lorein; then to the destruction of the ring: first = 19(to get to oct 15) + 4*30 = 139 days, (120/179)*100 = 78%. Second= 10 days (to get to feb 25) + 30 days= 40 days, 22%

I don’t consider Rivendell a proper distance half since it is too far away from Mordor. My conclusion is: the first part of the journey took longer than the second part.

Note: I only used the calculator to get the percentages and the large sums; some of my steps in getting the answer were to make my like easier and less confusing. I added a map to help in guidance and orientation.