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The year no doubt was of the same length¹, for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth.

 

¹365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.

 

_{The Lord of the Rings Appendix D: Calendars
Page 1107 (Single volume 50th Anniversary Edition)}

The Eldar preferred to reckon in sixes and twelves as far as possible.

 

_{The Lord of the Rings Appendix D: Calendars
Page 1107 (Single volume 50th Anniversary Edition)}

The year no doubt was of the same length¹, for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth.

¹365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.

_{The Lord of the Rings Appendix D: Calendars
Page 1107 (Single volume 50th Anniversary Edition)}

The Eldar preferred to reckon in sixes and twelves as far as possible.

_{The Lord of the Rings Appendix D: Calendars
Page 1107 (Single volume 50th Anniversary Edition)}

• The First Age covered the period up to the defeat of Morgoth. This included 590 years after the creation of the Sun (and thousands of years before that).
• The Second Age began with the defeat of Morgoth and lasted for 3,441 years
• The Third Age began with the death of Sauron by the Last Alliance and lasted for 3021 years.
• The Fourth Age began with the departure of the ring-bearers from Middle Earth.

That makes 364 days and exactly 52 weeks (of 7 days each). Between the two days is an additional day called Midyear's Day that was not considered part of any week (it was an extra day between Friday and Saturday). In leap years, another day called Overlithe (also not part of any week) was added after Midyear's Day to keep the calendar approximately in synch with the solar year.

• The First Age covered the period up to the defeat of Morgoth. This included 590 years after the creation of the Sun (and thousands of years before that).
• The Second Age began with the defeat of Morgoth and lasted for 3,441 years
• The Third Age began with the defeat of Sauron by the Last Alliance and lasted for 3021 years.
• The Fourth Age began with the departure of the Ring-bearers from Middle-earth.

That makes 364 days and exactly 52 weeks (of 7 days each). Between the two days of Lithe is an additional day called Midyear's Day that was not considered part of any week (it was an extra day between Friday and Saturday). In leap years, another day called Overlithe (also not part of any week) was added after Midyear's Day to keep the calendar approximately in synch with the solar year.

• The First Age began with the first rising of the Sun.
• The Second Age began with the defeat of Morgoth and the founding of Númenor.
• The Third Age began with the death of Sauron by the Last Alliance.
• The Fourth Age began with the departure of the ring-bearers from Middle Earth

With each new Age, the count of years began again at "1".

This was the calendar used in Númenor, and in Arnor and Gondor until the end of the kings. It had weeks of 7 days. The year began in midwinter and consisted of 12 months. The 6th and 7th months had 31 days and the rest had 30. There were three additional days (not part of any month) at the start, middle and end of the year. Every fourth year (except a century year), there were two middle days instead of one. There were also adjustments made every millennium to more closely match the solar year.

Kings Reckoning began with the founding on Númenor at the beginning of the Second Age.

Steward's Reckoning

This was introduced by Mardil the Steward in part to correct inaccuracies in the millennial adjustments that were introduced when the Third Age began in the middle of a millennium.

Shire Reckoning

• The First Age covered the period up to the defeat of Morgoth. This included 590 years after the creation of the Sun (and thousands of years before that).
• The Second Age began with the defeat of Morgoth and lasted for 3,441 years
• The Third Age began with the death of Sauron by the Last Alliance and lasted for 3021 years.
• The Fourth Age began with the departure of the ring-bearers from Middle Earth.

The chronology of the First Age is complicated by the fact that the counting of years couldn't start until the Sun was created. With each new Age, the count of years began again at "1".

The houses of Men who fought alongside the Eldar in the First Age adapted the calendar of the Eldar for their own use. They changed the week to 7 days and split the year into months of almost equal length.

Kings Reckoning began with the founding on Númenor at the beginning of the Second Age and was the calendar used in Númenor, and in Arnor and Gondor until the end of the kings. 

The year began in midwinter and consisted of 12 months. The 6th and 7th months had 31 days and the rest had 30. There were three additional days (not part of any month) at the start, middle and end of the year. Every fourth year (except a century year), there were two middle days instead of one. There were also adjustments made every millennium to more closely match the solar year.

Steward's Reckoning

This was introduced by Mardil the Steward of Gondor in part to correct inaccuracies in the millennial adjustments that were introduced when the Third Age began in the middle of a millennium.

The changes were adopted by most people in the west of Middle-earth, except the Hobbits of The Shire.

Shire Reckoning

Shire Reckoning was adapted by the Hobbits from the Kings Reckoning.