recording time in First age

[alqua]

I know I asked a question like this somewhere else before, GoI, I think, but this is a different time period, so yeah...

How would the people of Beor have recorded dates? Would they have just taken from the Sindarin tongue because that eventually became the language they used most often in daily life? If so, how would the Sindar have written down dates? y/m/d like in China, etc... or d/m/y like in most of the world or in USA m/d/y?

EDIT: Were the people of Beor even literate? Did the elves teach them the Cirth of Daeron within the short time of the Seige of Angband? (Some thoughts that came to me after mulling over my question.)

[sanna]

I'd like to continue with a question of how a day would have been divided into smaller bits. Would people have had any kinds of clocks or other devices in measuring time? Water clocks? Sundials?

Sunrise-noon-sunset would be the obvious answer but since the days are not the same length throughout the year I would imagine that something more accurate was required.

And into how many bits the day would have been divided? 24 hours like we do or something else completely?

[jael]

How would the people of Beor have recorded dates? Would they have just taken from the Sindarin tongue because that eventually became the language they used most often in daily life? If so, how would the Sindar have written down dates? y/m/d like in China, etc... or d/m/y like in most of the world or in USA m/d/y?

If I were you, I'd dodge the question entirely by not being very specific. "In the fall of the year that *** became chief of the ***" or "in the middle of the day." Back then people didn't think down to the hour and minute, or the exact date.

[alqua]

Jael: I may have to go with that. There probably wasn't time even for the Beorans to actually build an advanced culture or learn enough to adapt to their daily life, from the elves.

[Rhapsody]

I should be adding to my Nanowrimo word count (probably writing about nearly the same topic as you Alqua)but... Alqua, have you read Arthrabeth Finrod ah Andreth? There is a lot of talk about wisemen and wisewomen and how they preferred to keep lore amongst themselves.

She was wise in thought, and learned in the lore of
Men and their histories; for which reason the Eldar called her Saelind, 'Wise-heart'. Of the Wise some were women, and they were greatly esteemed among Men, especially for their knowledge of the legends of ancient days.

or

Finrod would often visit Andreth, whom he loved in great friendship, for he found her more ready to impart her knowledge to him than were most of the Wise among Men. A shadow seemed to lie upon them, and there was a darkness behind them, of which they were loth to speak even among themselves. And they were in awe of the Eldar and would not easily reveal to them their thought or their legends. Indeed the Wise among Men (who were few) for the most part kept their wisdom secret and handed it on only to those whom they chose.

But already we had our lore, and needed none from the Elves: we knew that in our beginning we had been born never to die.

Of special interest for you, note 9 from the chapter:

In one version a complete legend (compressed in time-scale) is given explicitly as a Numenorean tradition, for it makes Andreth say: This is the Tale that Adanel of the House of Hador told to me. The Numenoreans were largely, and their non-Elvish traditions mainly, derived from the People of Marach, of whom the House of Hador were the chieftains.(22) The legend bears certain resemblances to the Numenorean traditions concerning the part played by Sauron in the downfall of Numenor. But this does not prove that it is entirely a fiction of post-downfall days. It is no doubt mainly derived from actual lore of the People of Marach, quite independent of the Athrabeth. [Added note: Nothing is hereby asserted concerning its 'truth', historical or otherwise.] The operations of Sauron naturally and inevitably resembled or repeated those of his master. That a people in possession of such a legend or tradition should have later been deluded by Sauron is sad but, in view of human history generally, not incredible. Indeed if fish had fish-lore and Wise-fish, it is probable that the business of anglers would he very little hindered.(23) The 'Tale of Adanel' is attached [pp. 345 - 9].

After the war of wrath, not many of the House of Hador were left (if not none), this somehow tells me that indeed there must have been recordings from the houses that made it to Numenor. Oral tradition can only get you that far. Since Finrod took pleasure in teaching the edain things and given his own personal thirst for knowledge, I wouldn't be surprised if Felagund had a hand in that.

Besides spending lots of time on mapping the house of Boromir, I didn't paid that much time on what wisemen and wisewoman actually do, for me it feels that Tolkien went for a mix of oral and written tradition. However going back to your dates question, they did record birthdates, dates that they became lord of the house and the year of death. For example Boron (Boromir's father) died Yule, 407 (Finrod visited Andreth in 408, in the new year).