The Field of Cormallen and Easter Sunday?

[Eljorahir]

Maybe this is old news, but I don't recall hearing it discussed before.

Did Tolkien or any of the Tolkien scholars ever note that Frodo and Sam were honored the day before what would be Easter by our calendar?

Is my reckoning below correct?

Frodo and Sam are honored at the Field of Cormallen on Saturday April 8th (about one week into spring).
In the chapter, the "round moon" (full moon) is noted at the end of the day.
The next morning (Sunday) the narration states that Frodo and Sam "rose again".

Nowadays, Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. So, it seems to me that Frodo and Sam "rose again" on what we'd observe as Easter Sunday.

I'm making special note of the "rose again" phrase because it resonates in my memory and is particularly associated with Easter. Every Sunday at church we'd recite the Catholic 'Profession of Faith' which included: "on the third day he rose again..."

 

[Eljorahir]

It's now a more appropriate time of year for this topic. I'm mostly just restating the same information from the original post. However, I am still curious to know if anyone's heard of this elsewhere.

This might be my favorite of Tolkien's Easter Eggs; it's an Easter Egg in more than one way (an Easter Easter Egg!)

In the chapter: Sam awakens, Gandalf tells him it's April the 8th, he and Frodo get their well-deserved: "praise them with great praise!", and they observe the full moon before going to bed. Consulting the appendix reveals that April the 8th is a Saturday in early spring. So, the next morning is the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring which makes it Easter (for us). When Sam and Frodo wake up on Easter morning Tolkien leaves us a nice little Easter Egg: "...they rose again in hope and peace...".

 

[Deimos]

It's possible but Easter moves (as you noted).
Of much greater significance (because of what Christians acknowledge on the dates every year) are March 25 and December 25.
The Fellowship left Rivendell on 25 December (the date of Christ's birth as recognized by all Christians, East and West) and 25 March, the date of the Annunciation, again a date agreed upon by both both Western and Eastern Christian Churches.
The Eastern Orthodox Date of Easter usually differs from that of the Western Churches.; not that Tolkien would be too concerned about that because he is of a "western Church" .
Coincidentally (and I mean that literally) this year both Eastern and Western Christians celebrate Easter on 20 April. But this is not typical at all.
E.g., last year Western churches celebrated Easter on 31 March, while Eastern Orthodox churches celebrated it on 5 May.... pretty far apart.

 

[d4rk3lf]

Interesting theory.
I give it 50/50% chance that it's either easter egg, or accidental.

 

[Deimos]

FWIW Easter was on 28 March the year Tolkien completed ROTK.
He made other "events" in LOTR coincide with real events at the time he was writing LOTR.
E.g., the low red "star" in the south Frodo sees from Rivendell really was the planet Mars at the time--the particular year-- Tolkien was writing FOTR; Mars as seen from where he was then living.
And Tolkien would have known it was Mars, just as he knew "Red Borgil" rising in the east at 1 AM (leading Orion) on 25 Sep was the red star Aldebaran (in the constellation Taurus), which really does rise ahead of Orion (Menelvagor)-- always has, always will.

 

[Eljorahir]

I give it 50/50% chance that it's either easter egg, or accidental.

Yikes, only 50/50?

I'm at about 99% on this one; there's just so much coming together.

 

[Eljorahir]

this year both Eastern and Western Christians celebrate Easter on 20 April. But this is not typical at all.

Off-topic, but an interesting little factino I noticed on the Easter Wikipedia page:

"In November 2022, the Patriarch of Constantinople said that conversations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches had begun to determine a common date for the celebration of Easter. The agreement is expected to be reached for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025."

It seems that East and West may be coming together.

 

[Eljorahir]

25 March, the date of the Annunciation,

The Annunciation seems like another great Easter Egg; the great Eagle flies to Minas Tirith on March 25th and announces (annunciates) the fall of Sauron and the coming of 'The King'. There's the parallel with the angel Gabriel announcing the coming of another 'King' in his conversation with Mary.

What of December 25 though? What happens in Rivendell that links up with something from the first Christmas? I'd expect there's something there, but at the moment I can't think what it might be.

Edit:

Maybe this is a Christmas Easter Egg: After reviewing the story I noticed our friends encounter some Christmas-connected plant life a few paragraphs after December 25th...

'The travelers reached a low ridge crowned with ancient holly-trees whose grey-green trunks seemed to have been built out of the very stone of the hills. Their dark leaves shone and their berries glowed red in the light of the rising sun.'

Ilex aquifolium, the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia.

Ilex aquifolium is the species of holly long associated with Christmas, and previously the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Its glossy green prickly leaves and bright red berries (produced only by the female plant) are represented in wreaths, garlands and cards wherever Christmas is celebrated. It is a subject of music and folklore, especially in the British tradition.

 

[Eljorahir]

Here we are once again. Tilion, the unsteady Steersman of the Moon, brought us the full moon just two days ago, April 2nd by our calendar. So, today being the first Saturday after the first full moon of spring makes it the astronomical anniversary of the day Frodo and Sam awoke and received their well-earned ‘Praise them with great praise!’ And, after a sound night’s sleep they will awaken on our Easter Sunday. Or, as Tolkien phrases it: ‘in the morning they rose again in hope and peace…’

Periannath on the Field of Cormallen
by Miriam Ellis​