"It was observed in the middle of summer." Ce true quote is : "praise of Eru Ilúvatar at the Erulaitalë in midsummer". "Midsummer" isn't more used for "solstice of summer" in June and not "middle of summer" (about beginning of August) ?
Tolkien used it so in a text about Eol : "At Midsummer when sunset was about 8 pm and sunrise about 4 am" (cf Nature of Middle-earth part 3 chap 9), linked with chap 16 Silmarillion : "It came to pass that at the midsummer the Dwarves, as was their custom, bade Eöl to a feast in Nogrod; and he rode away."
chap 20 : "On the appointed day, on the morning of Midsummer, the trumpets of the Eldar greeted the rising of the sun" chap 21 : "And Níniel took him with joy, and they were wedded at the midsummer," => it seems to me that it is here again a peculiar day, so more at solstice than a vague period in the middle of summer.
same thing in the LotR, except one occurrence (which is fuzzy), on 8. That's why I think we should understand "midsummer" as "solstice of summer" here. —Unsigned comment by Erendis (talk • contribs).
- Sometimes when paraphrasing a text these things happen. Feel free to edit the article yourself if you see a clear mistake. We have an article for Midsummer, btw. --LorenzoCB 17:09, 8 March 2022 (UTC)