Forums:Abridged timeline of Arda?

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Tolkien Gateway > Forums > Abridged timeline of Arda?

Do you think an abridged version of the timeline would be useful? Specifically, I feel that having the timeline on one page with only the most important events may be easier for people to read and understand. (Not suggesting to replace the existing one, just another and simpler version of it.) --Oromë 18:35, 13 September 2021 (UTC)

Yes, but it would be harder to define what is a major event for the parts where the timeline gets into the weeds like during the Third Age. --Turiannerevarine 19:52, 13 September 2021 (UTC)
Agree with Turiannerevarine: it is hard to do when so many small events have a historical impact. Index:Conflicts kinda serves that purpose. --LorenzoCB 21:36, 13 September 2021 (UTC)
I would maybe use the histories presented in the Shadow of the Past and the Council of elrond as a baseline. If Tolkien himself didn't need Frodo to know who Arveleg I was, the average reader wouldn't need to either.Turiannerevarine 12:00, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
It would still be a bit difficult to decide, for instance, whether it should just focus on the history of Elves and Men of Westernesse or if we should refer to Dwarves, Rohirrim, and the like. Furthermore, I might question whether we need to know about the events of The Hobbit, for instance, which are certainly more widely known and matter to more people than the history of the line of Elendil, but Elendil matters more to Arda's history. We might try, however. --SingingOrc 12:14, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
I don't think it would be impossible to decide a level of importance in an abridged timeline. For example, if we start with major events in The Silmarillion, we could match the importance of events in the second and third ages to those in the first. I agree about The Hobbit. In my mind, I was envisioning a simplified enough version that would make the events of the Hobbit summed up in one to three points. (I think the retaking of Erebor, the death of Smaug, and Bilbo's possession of the Ring would definitely need to be included.) --Oromë 13:03, 14 September 2021 (UTC)
Good point. That will be difficult, but I suppose it could be done (yes, I suppose the tragic deaths of Tom, Bert, and William won't be necessary. SingingOrc 18:59, 14 September 2021 (UTC)