Leap year most years that are multiples of 4 are leap years. In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding one extra day in the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a tropical year by almost 6 hours. Some exceptions to this basic rule are required since the duration of a tropical year is slightly less than 365.25 days. The Gregorian reform modified the Julian calendar's scheme of leap years as follows: Over a period of four centuries, the accumulated error of adding a
Middle-earth calendar more generally: The Elves also have a regular 365-day solar year called "coranar" meaning "sun-round" or more commonly "loa" meaning "growth". The Elven year, which began near the northward equinox, is divided into six seasons or 'months' which consist of four 54-day months and two 72-day months. Five or eight extra days outside the seasons make the length of the "loa" 365 or 368 days. Most years are 365 days, but every twelfth year is 368 days, resulting in an average year of 365.25 days with the additional suggestion that the 'Reckoning of Rivendell' made a further correction by omitting