Seventh Moon: the Kyngsmoon

 

The seventh moon of the year is a midwinter moon of 31 dawns. It is named in honour of King Theseus.

It is a cold, melancholy and frosty moon. Many folk spend their time baking bread during this moon; collecting firewood in the bare forests; and slaughtering their swine. The wealthy often hunt boar in the thick and misty woods.

The Feast of the Translation

One of the four great quarter days occurs during this moon: the Feast of the Translation of the Relics of Theseus (or, the Feast of the Translation, for short). It is celebrated over 12 dawns, beginning on the longest night of the whole year: usually after the third dawn of Kyngsmoon. The feast has been observed since 735 A.T. and marks to return of the relics of Theseus to the Parthenion in that year.

The Parthenine general Coalemus received a prophecy from Lord Carneius that the bones of King Theseus were interred on the Island of Dolopon. Theseus had sailed to his estates on this island after being deposed from his throne in the Parthenion in 21 R.T. But the local king, Lycurgus - fearing that the charismatic Theseus might usurp him - had Theseus thrown from a cliff to his death.

Some seven centuries later, Coalemus took an expedition to that island, conquered the local inhabitants, and then scoured the island for Theseus' remains. He found a tomb containing the bones of a gigantic man and a mighty bronze sword. These he translated back to the Parthenion, and interred them in a magnificent tomb in the heart of the city: the Theseium. This tomb thereon served as a sanctuary for the defenseless and the oppressed of the world. The relics are closely guarded, not only for their holy significance, but also for the sacred and mighty properties of the sword of Aegeus.

The Theseium

Even to this day, an important part of the Feast of the Translation is donations of bread and meat to the poor, which thus is for them a feast at which they feel no want and might fancy themselves equal to the wealthiest citizens. Folks of all stations stop work, decorate their homes, and feast merrily. 

Merry Translation!

The Reckoning of Hellot

 

Much of Hellot uses the Ancient reckoning of the passage of time.

This begins with the reign of King Theseus, and his unification of the Ancient lands of Cecropia under Parthenine rule. The counting of summers in this period is abbreviated, R. T, for Reign of Theseus. His reign lasted 29 summers.

 

King Theseus

 

After his deposition, the reckoning is noted as After Theseus (A.T). Thus...

• the War of Ilion raged from 11 to 21 A.T. 

• Acmon founded the Agrinium in 22 A.T. and Chionopolis in 55 A.T. 

• The Emperor Crinos was born 1105 A.T, and the famed Ancient architect, Neson, circa 1270 A.T.

• the Road of Crinos was built between 1166 and 1169 A.T.
  

• Neson completed the Bridge of Homados in 1309 A.T.
  

• Sir Jade the Bronzfoot was born 2496 A.T.

• the Battle at the Pass of the Batelbrygg (Homados) was fought in 2559 A.T.
  

• the prolonged war between Rûna and Zarya began in 2762 A.T.
  

Summers before the Reign of Theseus are recorded as Before Unification (B.U). Thus...

• the mighty Ilion began as a mere village around 1700 B.U.

• Cecrops, the first king of the Parthenion, reigned from 322 to 272 B.U. 

• Acmon, hero of the war of Ilion, was born in 9 B.U. 

A new summer begins when the Sun is at his highest point in the sky...