Klingon Months, sorta to Mangels and Martin

[foravalon]

This question is aimed at Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin, but if anyone else knows I'd love to hear from ya! In Forged in Fire you guys named off several Klingon months like Doqath, Lo'Bral, Soo'jen, and Xan'lahr. In addition we have the canonical months of Maktag and nay'Poq. My question, is there a definitive list somewhere of all the Klingon months which you referenced from or were the months a creation of yours?

 

[EmperorKalan]

On top of that: Just to avoid confusion -- you're treating 1 Klingon year as the same as 1 Earth year, right? I know once source stated the Klingon year was 10% longer (The Final Reflection, IIRC), but that hasn't followed through with the assorted "Year of Kahless" numbering.

 

[foravalon]

On top of that: Just to avoid confusion -- you're treating 1 Klingon year as the same as 1 Earth year, right?

Others may have chosen to, but I do not.

 

[Frodo Lives]

Yeah I'd avoid that, seeing how it appears Klingon years are either a lot longer than Earth years, or measured/named some other way, as evidenced by Worf saying it was the Year of Kahless 999 in Soldiers of the Empire, which is reportedly in the Earth year 2373.

Perhaps the Year of Kahless is something like the Year of the Dragon, or the Rat?

 

[foravalon]

Perhaps the Year of Kahless is something like the Year of the Dragon, or the Rat?

That's an interesting take on it, I like it! But just for the record to EmperorKalan, in The Final Reflection Ford wrote that 22 Terran years were about 20 Klingon years, making the Klingon year about 1/11th shorter than a Terran Year.

 

[captcalhoun]

Yeah I'd avoid that, seeing how it appears Klingon years are either a lot longer than Earth years, or measured/named some other way, as evidenced by Worf saying it was the Year of Kahless 999 in Soldiers of the Empire, which is reportedly in the Earth year 2373.

Perhaps the Year of Kahless is something like the Year of the Dragon, or the Rat?

more like a new clander that came into effect when Kahless united the Klingon peoples. no different to our AD system being based on Christ's birth.

For Muslims, the current year is only 14XX since they count from when Mohammed prophesised stuff... (yes, my knowledge of Islam is shaky)

so, the Kahlessian calender started in 1374AD, probably when Kahless had unified Qon'os.

 

[Smiley]

I don't care how the Klingon calendar operates as long as AD 2400 corresponds to a round number Year of Kahless (read Millennium for more details).

 

[ATimson]

I don't care how the Klingon calendar operates as long as AD 2400 corresponds to a round number Year of Kahless (read Millennium for more details).

Forged in Fire would have us believe that 2400 AD is Year of Kahless 1026. But then, Millenium is already in trouble from the lack of female candidates for Kai, unless Opaka gets reelected...

 

[Frodo Lives]

Of course, Kathless supposedly united the Klingon people around the 9th Century, that's about 1500 human years before Soldiers of the Empire, so I suppose the Klingon year should be about 1.5 human years, if the Year of Kahless does indeed refer to the amount of time since he united them.

 

[foravalon]

Of course, Kathless supposedly united the Klingon people around the 9th Century, that's about 1500 human years before Soldiers of the Empire, so I suppose the Klingon year should be about 1.5 human years, if the Year of Kahless does indeed refer to the amount of time since he united them.

Which no source has ever claimed it does.

 

[Timo]

...Also, for those that believe that each TOS season covered a year, it would actually appear that Klingon years are shorter than Earth ones. According to Kang, you can squeeze three of them between "Errand of Mercy" and "Day of the Dove".

(The problem goes away if you believe that TOS covered about five years, with a thousand stardates marking one year.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[EmperorKalan]

Perhaps the Year of Kahless is something like the Year of the Dragon, or the Rat?

That's an interesting take on it, I like it! But just for the record to EmperorKalan, in The Final Reflection Ford wrote that 22 Terran years were about 20 Klingon years, making the Klingon year about 1/11th shorter than a Terran Year.

No, if the Klingon year is shorter, why does it take fewer of them to measure the same amount of time?

The math: 22 Terran years= 365.25 Terran days*22=8035.5 Terran days for the period referred to.

8035.5 Tdays/20 Klingon Years=401.775 Terran days per TFR Klingon year.
401.775/365.25=1.1 Klingon years per Terran year.

The Klingon year in TFR is 10% longer than Terran years. QED

 

[EmperorKalan]

so, the Kahlessian calender started in 1374AD, probably when Kahless had unified Qon'os.

Kahless was supposedly 1500 years prior to the TNE era, but the "Year of Kahless" calendar was only in the ballpark of 1000 years. Barring a year differential on the order of 33-50%, it does go well with the Hur'q invasion.

That might also help explain the peculiar year given for the "Great Qu'Vat Plague": two calendars.

 

[foravalon]

Perhaps the Year of Kahless is something like the Year of the Dragon, or the Rat?

That's an interesting take on it, I like it! But just for the record to EmperorKalan, in The Final Reflection Ford wrote that 22 Terran years were about 20 Klingon years, making the Klingon year about 1/11th shorter than a Terran Year.

No, if the Klingon year is shorter, why does it take fewer of them to measure the same amount of time?

The math: 22 Terran years= 365.25 Terran days*22=8035.5 Terran days for the period referred to.

8035.5 Tdays/20 Klingon Years=401.775 Terran days per TFR Klingon year.
401.775/365.25=1.1 Klingon years per Terran year.

The Klingon year in TFR is 10% longer than Terran years. QED

Well sonaovabitch, there go all of my calculations! Now I know how the Mars probe guys felt when they realized they'd done half their equations in Imperial and half in metric!

damn it, I just got pwned!

 

[EmperorKalan]

The Klingon year in TFR is 10% longer than Terran years. QED

Well sonaovabitch, there go all of my calculations! Now I know how the Mars probe guys felt when they realized they'd done half their equations in Imperial and half in metric!

damn it, I just got pwned!

I know exactly how you feel, since I'd made the same mistake.

Then one day only a few months back, I reread the passage and something nagged at me. Did the above calculation, and had that horrible "Oh my God, I spent how many years having it completely ass-backward?!?!?" moment.

Welcome to the club. We have jackets.

 

[foravalon]

Sorry to deviate back to the OP guys, but I really do want some information about the original question in the thread, does anyone else out there know for sure if M&M made up the month names?

 

[EmperorKalan]

Sorry to deviate back to the OP guys, but I really do want some information about the original question in the thread, does anyone else out there know for sure if M&M made up the month names?

You probably want to take a look at http://members.aol.com/talonstudio/treks/khistory.html
by a guy named Steve Kenson, one of Last Unicorn Games' writers for their ST RPG, and containing material for their unpublished Klingon module. An explanatory page is here:
http://members.aol.com/talonstudio/treks/

From the first page:

The Klingon year-known as a DIS or "turn"-is 384.2 days long. It is divided into eight jar or months of 48 days each. Each month is divided into six Hogh or weeks of 8 days. The Klingon year begins with the Kot'baval festival, celebrating Kahless' victory over Molor. The months of the year are: A'Kahless, Jo'vos, Maktag, Merruthj, Soo'jen, Lo'Bral, Doqath, and Xan'lahr. Every five years, the Klingons add an additional day on to the Kot'baval festival, the balance out the calendar. Such "festival years" are considered particularly auspicious.

(At the time of its writing it was accurate. "nay'Poq" was referred to on Voyager a year or two after the above was written.)

I'm not part of the "cultural Klingon" set (i.e., costumer/enactor), but it wouldn't surprise me if they drew from this material just as they drew from FASA's game materials. So the names could be in circulation among "Klingons".

Only M&M can tell you precisely where they got the names from, but the (flawed) list you're asking about is above.

 

[Andy Mangels]

Mike worked out all of the months and years based on research he did. He says, "As best as I can remember, the non-canonical months were gleaned from a couple of web sites that I mentioned in the acknowledgments." So, perhaps, a look through the acknowledgments would be helpful?

 

[foravalon]

An once again, the most obvious solution eludes me. Thanks Andy, after slapping my forehead I did in fact look up the Acknowledgments again, and I see the credit is cast in KRAD's direction. So hey Keith! Any insight into the Klingon Calendar or was Steve Kenson the originator of this info?

 

[KRAD]

^ I only provided the appropriate Year of Kahless for the section in question. The months came from elsewhere.