Measuring time

[Cambra]

I'm not sure I want to use minutes seconds hours et cetera in my fantasy world, but what alternative is that for measuring time? More specifically the smaller units of time like seconds and minutes, I suppose perhaps they could be avoided by using phrases such as "shortly afterwards" but I think that would be extremely clumsy…

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[CupofJoe]

Does your world have clocks, watches?
Before that terms like Hours, let alone Minutes or Seconds could be a bit more than variable.
I think the Roman Day had 24 hours [12 Day and 12 Night] but as the year rolled by the length of those hours changed with the length of the day or night.
I try and avoid describing short ellipsis of time if I can. [So I sort of wimp out...]

 

[FifthView]

The idea of the minute and second didn't really come about until mechanical clocks were invented.

For simple description of a short passage of time, relational events can be used. For instance:

"In five breaths, the first arrow struck."
"The commander was already calling for a charge before I'd finished securing my tackle."
"The sun was peeking over the horizon when I set off, thinking to get an early start; but it was already nearing midday before I saw the walls of the city."

 

[X Equestris]

When my characters aren't in an area that would have a clock, I just use general times of day. Dawn, dusk, early or late morning/afternoon/evening, and so on. The passage of time is a trickier prospect. FifthView's first two examples are similar to what I do.

 

[ChasingSuns]

Dawn, dusk, evening, morning, and similar terms would help. Also, I came up with my own word for a day, and use a number of harvest seasons to describe years. I just asked myself how the people in the world would perceive/describe a day or a year, and got some good results.

 

[Cambra]

Some great suggestions here thanks!

I can't see complex mechanical clocks yet, perhaps sophisticated clepsydra though...