THIS PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS and is aimed at hardcore fans who really want explanations. And the "explanations" contained herein take a lot of license. This page is definitely unofficial.
EDIT: There is one key person whose birth is linked into the timeline and thus defines what years later events take place: Princess Elspeth. She was born in 1378. She defines the years of Talia's story (she looks "about 7" years old when they meet, but she is actually 8 based, 5 years apart; which is nailed down in Arrow's Flight; she is 13 when Talia is 18.) All events in Talia's life are based on Elspeth's birthdate. Alberich's guesstimated age isn't at all important to the main timeline, it's only heavy speculation to have fun tracking his life events.
The timeline of Valdemar is quite non-specific. This corresponds to statements by Mercedes Lackey about writing. She has said in general that she does not like to paint herself into a corner, accidentally blocking off something she might want to use later.
There are only a few "hooks" into actual years and ages.
Official Valdemar Timeline[]
We begin with the Official Valdemar Timeline, which gives the reigns of some (but not all) monarchs. Here are the ones given:
- 750 AF Elspeth the Peacemaker
- 798 AF Randale
- 1077 AF Theran
- 1270 AF Co-Consorts Arden and Leesa
- 1315 AF Roald
- 1355 AF Sendar
- 1376 AF Selenay
The Reign of Selenay is considered "modern" Valdemar, and is where most of the books take place. Elspeth's birth is linked to Selenay's reign beginning in 1376 AF, and thus defines what years later events take place.
Every other date in the timeline in "modern" years is based on Elspeth, just as the dates in the The Last Herald-Mage era focus on Vanyel and his rulers.
Elspeth's dates[]
- 1376. Selenay is crowned. (Official Timeline)
- 1376-1377 Midsummer to Midsummer, a total of one year of mourning.
- 1377, the Midsummer at the end of her mourning - Selenay gets engaged to Karathanelan. {{Exile's Valor}, Chapter 14.
- 1377, less than a month later, they marry. Exile's Valor, Chapter 17
- 1377, very shortly after (the next page, lol) Selenay gets pregnant. Exile's Valor, Chapter 18
- 1378, Spring, Selenay gives birth to Elspeth. Exile's Valor, Chapter 21
Talia[]
The next critical factor turns up in the very first book published, Arrows of the Queen, Chapter 3. When they first meet, Talia thinks to herself that Elspeth looks "about seven." Talia is 13 at that moment, which would make them 6 years apart.
But when Talia turns 18, Elspeth is Chosen at the age of 13 ("almost 14"), making them 5 years apart. This is all spoken out loud, and considering the previous was just speculation, it can be discounted.
- 1386, two weeks after Midsummer's Day, Elspeth meets Talia. She is 8 years old based on the reasoning above. Arrows of the Queen Based on her birth in 1378, the year is 1386.
- 1386, Talia's 13th birthday was Midsummer's Day. Her age and the day are specified in the book. Arrows of the Queen
So now we can calculate Talia's birth: 1373 AF. These dates will be summarized in order at the bottom of this page.
- 1391, five years and 5 (something: weeks?) after Talia's first class at the Collegium (Orientation?) she gets her Whites. Repeat: Elspeth is 13 ("almost 14", and Elspeth's birthday is not until spring.) Arrow's Flight
Alberich[]
Now we have the option of counting backwards, although it is not really necessary, heading towards Alberich's birth.
- 1391, The day Talia gets her Whites, when she is training with Alberich, she says he is "at least in his mid-forties, if not older." Arrow's Flight
- 1376. Selenay is crowned (Official Valdemar Timeline).
- 1376. King Sendar falls in the fourth year of the Tedrel Wars.
- 1375. Third year of Tedrel Wars.
- 1374. Second year of the Tedrel Wars.
- 1373. First year of the Tedrel Wars. This is the same year that Alberich arrives. He helps confirm that the Tedrels have been hired and will attack shortly. Exile's Honor
- 1373. Alberich states that he served on active duty in the Karse military for "seven years" before now, which is 1366.
- 1366. Alberich graduates from the Karse military academy.
How old was he when he graduated? We hope to get him to his "mid-forties or later" by 1391, which is 25 years after he graduates.
Heralds tend to graduate from the Collegium at 18. However, this does not necessarily qualify them as officers that can direct large groups of soldiers. If Alberich had graduated at 18, he would be 43 years old. Not quite his "mid-forties."
In the real world, a West Point or Naval Academy cadet typically graduates at 21 or 22 years old. Because Alberich entered the Academy at 13, he got the equivalent of a military prep school plus military university. If he graduated at 21, in 1366, he would be 46 years old in 1391, which suits the "mid-forties or later" comment.
Mage Winds series date troubles[]
The first book of the The Mage Winds series, Winds of Fate, states it is seven years after the second war with Ancar. The war happened in 1395 AF, so now it is 1402 AF. Elspeth was seventeen years old at the war, so now she is twenty-four years old.
In book 2, Winds of Change, the last page of the Prologue says it has been five years since the war. Which would be fine; the date now would be 1400 and Elspeth would now be twenty-two. But on the very next page, the FACING page, the first page of Chapter One, it says Elspeth is twenty-six years old. Which would be nine years after the war, and a VERY long time to have been cooling her heels in Haven with no fixed role.
What to do? Darkwind is twenty-one when they meet (information in the text makes this exact), but we must not be ageist. And the fact is, your faithful "Collegium Historian Assistant" had already seeded the Timeline up to 1402 with dates based on Elspeth being twenty-four.
It gets more difficult when trying to decipher how long Elspeth trains her magic. You'd think at least a year, right? From the events and weather, it appears that she trains for around three months and is ready to go back to Valdemar. Okay, her Gift training gave her a very solid foundation that young mages do not usually have. But still, three months? It would be nice to find enough seasonal indicators to show her spending a year, but they are not there. Moving on, she will have been gone from home for nine months (summer to spring.) But then when they arrive at Forst Reach, she says it has been two years since she had to deal with fish oil lamps.
Progress on the timeline halted at that point.
EDIT: The official published timeline ended up saying that The Mage Winds series events started in 1402 AF. Apparently they used the seeded timeline. :-D