Frodo's Sickness Timeline Is A Lot Darker Than You Know ( Book vs Movie )

Frodo's wound, the Morgul-blade, and the dates that keep coming back — why does a wound Elrond healed in Rivendell return on one exact night of the year, and why does the illness that hits Frodo hardest fall on a completely different date? This Lord of the Rings deep dive opens Tolkien's own calendar in the Tale of Years, straight out of Return of the King and his later Letters. We lay out every anniversary in order. October 6th, 1418 — the Witch-king's Morgul-knife on Weathertop and the seventeen days with the splinter inside. March 13th, 1419 — the date the Tale of Years ties to Shelob's venom, which doesn't kill but keeps the prey alive for later. March 25th, 1419 — Gollum, the finger, and the Ring destroyed. Arwen's parting gift — the white gem on a silver chain, and the passage West she gave him in her stead. October 6th, 1419 at the Ford of Bruinen, where Gandalf tells him some hurts cannot be fully healed, and Frodo counts the damage: "knife, sting, tooth, and a long burden." March 13th, 1420 — the Great Year of Plenty, and Frodo collapses: "It is gone for ever, and now all is dark and empty." The chronicle's flat voice: a collapse, a blossom, a wedding, all set down in the same tone. October 6th, 1420 — Sam doesn't realise what day it is until Frodo tells him. March 13th, 1421 — ill again. And the date the calendar is silent on, the one that should hurt most of all: March 25th, 1421, the anniversary of the Ring's destruction, which becomes the birthday of Sam's daughter Elanor. Plus Tolkien's own later explanation of what the Grey Havens actually offered — healing if healing was still possible, not immortality. Sources: The Return of the King (Appendix B, "The Grey Havens," "The Scouring of the Shire"), The Fellowship of the Ring ("Many Meetings"), and Tolkien's Letters (especially #246). Which anniversary surprised you most? Let me know in the comments. 🔔 Subscribe for more Tolkien lore and Middle-earth history: https://youtube.com/@YourTolkienGuy?si=uxWw-V7wt0TdJ1fB 📜 Watch next: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8Ffig0ZKeGBUOVhaav45Yq9j3pOII9aa ───────────────────────────── FAIR USE All content falls under fair use: any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and "transformative" purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. ARTWORK & ARTIST CREDITS This channel is built on the work of incredibly talented Middle-earth artists, and I want every one of them credited. Tracking down the original creator of a piece is often genuinely hard — art gets reposted, renamed, and separated from its source all across the internet. If your work appears in this video and you'd like a credit added, corrected, or your piece removed, just email me and I'll take care of it right away. Your wishes always come first. 📧 Contact / credit & removal requests: [email protected] Art credits (in order of appearance): Contact me for credits here! #LordOfTheRings #Tolkien #Frodo #Weathertop #GreyHavens