As many children of the Second Age ask, "Why do we sometimes call the year by a number, saying 'It is the Year 870?' But other times we call the year by a name, and we say 'It's the Year of the Red Door?'"

The simple answer is that there are two kinds of year, and each has its own calendar. The first is the regular calendar that is well-known, starting from the Firstmonth of each year and ending on the last day of Twelthmonth. That year is numbered. Since the Second Age began the year that Queen Serith Ellyn of Vanara formally accepted the throne of that Realm, the years are counted from then forward. And so, this is the 870th year of the Second Age.

The other calendar marks the Royal Year of the Unknown King of Duinnor. That year ends on the day of the Spring Equinox and the new year begins the following day. On the day of the Equinox, the King is required by tradition (and some say by the law of the gods) to go forth from his palace in the city to the great Temple of Beras on a nearby mountaintop. There, with the monks and Oracle of that place presiding, the King renews his kingship for another year.

As most know, the King has a special servant that does his bidding, called the Avatar. This servant takes the shape of something of the world and floats along beside the King a foot or so from the ground or glides through the streets of the city when it is dispatched on the King's business. It does not speak, and it makes no noise. But whoever sees it is usually filled with fear and awe, since if it comes to your door, you must go away with it. And you may not be seen ever again. So when the people see it floating along through the streets of their city, they fervently hope that it will merely pass them by. Some people have such dread of the Avatar that they refuse to live within Duinnor City, since the Avatar may only go beyond the walls of the city in company of the King. And the King rarely leaves his palace, much less his city.

But each year, the Avatar must accompany the King to the Temple. When the King emerges from the Temple to go back to his palace, the Avatar comes out of the Temple with him in a new shape for the new Royal Year.

Thus, one year it was in the shape of a perfume bottle. Another year it was like fog. Still another year it was in the form of a terrible warlike battering ram. After a while, people began calling the Royal Year after the shape of the Avatar, and the practice continues to this day. That is why this Royal Year is called the Year of the Red Door, as it has been since springtime began and will be until winter ends. Then the Avatar will have a new shape. And the Royal Year will have a new name.

With the above in mind, it is interesting to note that as time passed, the people of Duinnor began to view the Avatar, and the name of the year, as a sign of what might cause the downfall of the current Unknown King. During the Year of the Frying Pan, people wondered if the King might be induced to eat something ill-prepared or even poisoned, while during one minor public demonstration of that year, frying pans were carried by rioters who called for reform. Likewise, during the Year of the Red Door, people went about painting their doors red, saying that the time of the current King was at an end. The king responded by making it a crime to paint a door red, or to refuse to paint over any existing red door. This led many to believe that the shape of the Avatar was, indeed, a sign of something that threatened the King's rule or even lead to his death. And indeed, as was indicated within The Year of the Red Door, there were several doors of significance. One, located within the chambers of the High Tower, led to the room where the King secreted his Bloodcoins (discovered by Beauchamp the Familiar, even though it had been painted over). In addition, a red door was presented to Lord Banis during a nightmare through which he was told to escape only to fall to his death, thus ridding the King of his most powerful ally.

For more about calendars, see Calendars and Clocks

Courtesy of The Reader's Companion to the Year of the Red Door
© 2024 by William Timothy Murray