According to the Book of Mudora, prior to the coming of the Golden Three the world is in a state of howling chaos and strife, dominated by ancient and nameless gods. Two are still remembered: the Gerudo Goddess of the Sand, known to Hylians as Lady Chaos, and her dark consort known only as the Fierce Deity.

0 year - Creation of Hyrule
Din, Nayru and Farore, the golden goddesses, raise the land of Hyrule out of darkness and chaos. They bring to life five races of beings: the Hylians, Fairies, Gorons, Kokiri and Zoras. Each of these races is gifted with the virtues of courage, wisdom and power to raise them above the beasts. On their departure from Hyrule, the goddesses leave behind an artifact known as the Triforce, imbued with the three virtues.

380 year
Hyrule I becomes warrior-chieftain of a hill fort and settlement. Sporadic wars over the next six years end with a unified kingdom.

412 year
Hyrule I dies. The little kingdom of Hyrule passes to his grandson, also named Hyrule. The neighbouring kingdoms of Parapa and Kasuto are conquered, uniting northern Hyrule under a single monarchy.

470 year
Hyrule III crowned.

483 year
Southward expansion by the Hyrulians causes strife with a nomadic tribal folk, the Sheikah, who inhabit the thick forests of central and eastern Hyrule. Trouble between the two peoples continues on and off for over a century. The first Hyrule Castle is built - with wood - on the site of the original hill fort.

499 year
A dark-skinned sailing folk cross the Far Sea to settle in barren, uninhabited country to the far west of Hyrule. The Gerudo will not encounter the Hylians until developing technology allows the forbidding Shadowed Mountains to be crossed.

505 year
The University of Kasuto is founded. A new era of scholarship and discovery begins. Hyrule becomes renowned, not only as a rich and stable kingdom, but as a center of learning.

560 year
The sage-king Kaepora builds the Temple of Time and reconstructs much of Hyrule Town in stone, including the castle. In the new climate of enlightenment, old superstitions and religious taboos come tumbling down. Various efforts are now underway to discover and claim the legendary Triforce.

573 year
First contact is made with the Gorons of Death Mountain. There are some skirmishes and small battles before a truce and general accord is struck. The Gorons become firm allies of the Hyrulian kings.

579 year - The War of Shadows
The Sheikah tribes unite under the wizard-king Agahnim, who resurrects the worship of the Fierce Deity. In secret, Agahnim crafts a mask that is blessed by the dark god. In summer of 579 the Sheikah go to war against Hyrule. The spectre of the Fierce Deity, wielding the infamous Twisted Blade, strikes fear into the hearts of the Hylian armies. Northern and central Hyrule is laid waste and the city is sacked. The Hylians are driven into the Celcarden mountains on the eastern edge of Hyrule. Agahnim becomes master of Hyrule; however, he does not enjoy power for long. In the mountains, the Gorons are hard at work, forging a very special sword...

585 year
The Hylians, united with the Gorons and Zoras, defeat and decimate the Sheikah forces. Remorseful Sheikah survivors, sickened by the bloodshed and the worship of the dark god, swear to serve the Hylian kings henceforth. The Sheikah become an elite fighting force under the command of Arn I.

812 year
Arn I begins to collect together prophetic texts that will eventually become the Book of Mudora. Research into the Triforce continues. At the same time, Hylian expansion begins to make inroads in the great bulk of Kokiri Forest. Central Hyrule is entirely cleared of forest and becomes farmland. The Kokiri and Hylians are now aware of each other but the forest children stay well clear of the "giants" and retreat steadily deeper into the woods, away from their destructive neighbours.

819 year
Arn I sets his scheme in motion. Massive renovations are made to the Temple of Time according to the ancient plan set out by Kaepora I. The Gorons aid in this, as well as in a much bigger project to wall Hyrule Town in white stone. Bridges are stretched over Zora's River to replace the ancient ford.

850 year
Arn II crowned. As a coronation gift the Gorons present the new king with an ocarina carved from a single massive crystal. The enchanted instrument becomes an heirloom of the kingdom.

884 year
Sages under Queen Illumea I discover a piece of the Triforce secreted in a mysterious ruin deep within Kokiri Forest. The Triforce of Wisdom is borne back in triumph to Hyrule Town and installed in a tower of the castle.

892 year
Exploration of the Shadowed Mountains begins. Intrepid explorers report that another unknown race is living in the land beyond. With the aid of Goron stonemasons, the Hylians begin to cut a pass through the western mountains.

993 year
First contact is made with the Gerudo. Sheer hardship has made this people brutal and mercenary, and relations are strained from the beginning. Some trade takes place at first, but as more and more of the mountain passes are opened up, the Gerudo become bolder and begin to raid the fertile and comparatively defenceless lands of western Hyrule.

1028 year - The First Triforce War
The Gerudo, believing that the Triforce of Wisdom is the reason for Hyrule's fertility, declare war. The war rumbles on for two years as a series of running battles, and ends in an uneasy truce.

1077 year
The Triforce of Courage is discovered in a strange ruin on Death Mountain. The Gorons take it into their keeping. Relations between the Hylians and the Gorons become very uneasy.

1081 year
The Sage Rauru assembles the definitive Book of Mudora.

1084 year - The Second Triforce War
Led by King Hildesar, the Gerudo once more attack Hyrule - this time armed with the Triforce of Power. The war swiftly becomes a three-way one as the Gorons join in. Each race hopes to regain the full Triforce. The war drags on for a full seventeen years, causing devastation the like of which has never before been seen. The Zoras and even the Kokiri are drawn in on one side or another. Hyrule is eventually victorious, acquiring the Triforce of Power from the vanquished Gerudo. Arn II of Hyrule meets with Darmani of the Gorons, Deku of the Kokiri and Toto of the Zoras to discuss how such a war might be avoided in future. Magicians of each race place the Triforce in a place known henceforth as the Sacred Realm. The portal to it is shut away behind the Door of Time and the jeweled "key" broken into three pieces. The Sword of the Hyrulian kings seals the pathway.

1220 year
Impa of the Sheikahs is born.

1437 year
Hyrule VII strikes a truce with the Gerudo.

1465 year
Ganondorf Dragmire is born into a new world of peace and prosperity.

1481 year
Ganondorf defeats his royal father Galgabrand in ritual combat, as demanded by Gerudo custom, to become Ganondorf I. Ferociously intelligent, and raised in a climate of bridled resentment against Hylians, the young king embraces the black arts and studies ancient Sheikah lore. He swiftly learns of the Triforce.

1486 year
Princess Ruto is born to King Toto XIX and Queen Imri V of the Zoras.

1487 year
Gerudo raiding bands once more plague western Hyrule, and range as far south as Lake Hylia. As a part of this disruption, a male child is orphaned and taken in by the Kokiri. A female is born to the Hyrulian Royal Family at much the same time; the new Crown Princess is named Zelda.

1488 year
Malon is born to Talon and Yusane of Lon Lon Ranch. Yusane dies two years afterwards when a sickness sweeps northern Hyrule.

1489 year
Hyrule VII sends pointed messages to Ganondorf, who promises to put a stop to the raiding. Once again an uneasy peace descends.

1494 year
Ganondorf travels to Hyrule Town, ostensibly to swear allegiance to the Hyrulian King. In reality he hopes to open the Door of Time and acquire the Triforce for himself. Learning of the "key", he seeks out the three races chosen as guardians and attempts to persuade them to part with their pieces. The Kokiri, Gorons and Zoras all refuse. Ganondorf's actions result in the death of the Kokiri Forest guardian, the Deku Tree. As a result of this, the boy Link leaves the forest bearing his part of the "key"...

1494 year - June 2nd
Ganondorf secretly brings a Gerudo force into Hyrule Town. That night, King Hyrule VII is assassinated. Impa flees the castle with the young Princess Zelda. The boy Link opens the Door of Time and breaks the seal upon the Sacred Realm. Ganondorf has waited for this moment; he swiftly passes within and acquires the Triforce of Power - and a new name, Ganon. Several things now happen instantaneously. The boy Link is borne away to the Sacred Realm, where he is placed in an enchanted sleep. Bereft, the other two pieces of the Triforce seek out suitable avatars within which to dwell. In Hyrule, resistance to the Evil King is short-lived, and soon the whole country is subjected to Ganon's rule. Here begin the Seven Dark Years.

1494 year - June 5th
Link First flees Hyrule and enters the strange world of Termina.

1495 year
Link of the Gorons is born to Chief Darunia. (Little is known about Goron marital arrangements; presumably there must have been a female involved but her name has not come down to us).

1503 year - July 12th
Link First returns to Hyrule, aided by the sage Rauru and other spirits of the Sacred Realm, and begins his quest to defeat the Evil King.

1503 year - July 18th
Dark Link is brought into being, in the Water Temple, when Link First is tricked into striking his own shadow with the Sword of Evil's Bane.

1503 year - July 21st With the help of the disguised Zelda I, the Hero of Time awakens six people to their destinies as sages. Each sage creates a medallion imbued with elemental power. Link First uses the medallions to enter Ganon's fortress and faces the Evil King in single combat. However, he is unable to vanquish Ganon even with the help of the sages. Ganon is sealed within the Sacred Realm, which subsequently becomes the Dark World. Zelda I returns Link First to his own time.

1503 year - July 30th
The adult Link First returns to Hyrule by coming over the Celcarden mountains. He is accompanied by Kafei Dotour, the Zoran bard Japas, and the fairy Tatl.

1504 year
Link First weds Malon daughter of Talon. Hyrule begins to recover from the damage caused by the Seven Dark Years.

1508 year
Link First and Zelda I discuss the future. As a result of this conversation, Link First labours to set up a secret order that will preserve the knowledge of the Triforce in the centuries to come.

1577 year
Malon dies. The aged Link First returns to Kokiri Forest and thence vanishes quietly out of history. With his passing, the Age of Legends is deemed to be over.

1630 year
After several very poor harvests, Ella, granddaughter of Link First, sells the Lon Lon lands to the Crown and removes the entire family to Calatia.

1682 year
A program of civic reform removes the last traces of Ganon's ravages. The shattered remains of old Hyrule Castle are pulled down and a much larger, stronger edifice is constructed on the north side of Hyrule Town, using some of the salvaged stone. Creatively, the new building is named North Castle.

1780 year
Crown Prince Lysander is born.

1782 year
Zelda II is born.

1783 year
A boy named Link is born in Calatia.

1791 year
All is not well in Hyrule. Strange monsters begin to appear in and around Death Mountain, and plagues and crop blights ravage the land. The disturbances get progressively worse.

1795 year
Prince Lysander, growing impatient to ascend the throne, strikes a secret accord with the wizard Carock - a servant of Ganon acting under Dark Link's orders. Lysander and Carock attempt to force Zelda II to tell them where the six Medallions are: this being knowledge preserved only by the Princess Royal. She refuses, and Carock places her into an enchanted sleep that cannot be broken. Plagued by conscience and gifted with the prescient knowledge that his actions will cause untold suffering, the grieving Lysander places his sleeping sister's body in a tall tower in North Castle and seals the entrance.

1799 year Link Second comes of age and discovers a strange mark on his hand. The ancient Impa takes him to the sealed door and presses his hand against it. The door opens and Zelda II's body is revealed. Armed with a scroll that tells of the location of the ancient temples, and a bag containing the six Medallions, Link Second sets off on a quest to break the wizard's spell. By returning each Medallion to its rightful place, the power of the sages will be unlocked. Learning of his intentions, Dark Link sends monstrous creatures to each palace to oppose the Hero, including the mighty Thunder Bird. When they are unsuccessful, Dark Link goes himself to the final palace and awaits his nemesis, intending to kill Link and use his blood to resurrect Ganon. Link is victorious: he defeats Dark Link and banishes the shadow to the Dark World. But a drop of the Hero's blood has stained Dark Link's sword...

1803 year - The Imprisoning War
Ganon breaks free of the Sacred Realm and heads a combined army of dark Gerudos and monsters. Hyrule XVI opposes him with the Hyrulian army but is unsuccessful. The war rages for seven terrible years, during which time old Hyrule Town is beseiged and the castle reduced to rubble. The province of Kasuto holds out at this time.

1804 year - March
Ganon's most dreaded servant, the animate shadow Dark Link, leads part of the monstrous army into Kasuto. After two months under siege, the city of Kasuto falls. Dark Link destroys the city utterly, slaying every inhabitant down to the dogs and cats. The fabled University is burned to the ground.

1804 year - May
Ganon's third army under Gomez defeats and routs the disorganised Zora army at Lake Hylia. Some Zoras change sides; the majority retreat beneath the waters, rarely to be seen again in Hyrule.

1804 year - September
Ganon's forces unite for the final attack against Hyrule Town. After three months, it falls. Hyrule XVI is killed; Lysander I is crowned in exile. The Hylians, pushed to the edges of their realm, will continue to fight from strongholds in Kokiri Forest and the Celcardens.

1810 year
Link travels through the benighted land with five companions and recovers the Sword of Evil's Bane from the closely guarded ruins of Hyrule Town. Seven wise men re-forge the Master Sword now that the Gorons have faded into myth. Link Second faces Ganon in single combat and defeats him; the Evil King's spirit is returned to the Dark World and his power over his monsters is broken.

1811 year
Link Second leads a group of Hyrulian heroes in search of Dark Link. The evil shadow evades capture time and time again, and at last the warriors return depleted and empty-handed, having lost the trail in the snowy wastes of Lotharia.

1818 year
Dark Link passes into Calatia and begins a systematic genocide of all those related to the Hero of Time. This continues until Link Second returns to Calatia and defeats his doppelganger. Unfortunately the shadow's physical form is all that is slain. Disembodied but by no means powerless, Dark Link flees northward once more and takes refuge in the Underworld.

1819 year
New Kasuto is built two miles south-west of the ruins of the old town. Although a thriving community, it retains little of its former majesty.

1820 year
Link Second places the Master Sword in a shrine in the Lost Woods, so that Ganon's henchmen will not be able to find it so easily. After this he returns to Calatia.

1824 year
Lysander dies. Zelda II is crowned Queen.

1984 year
Queen Hera I orders construction of a guard tower that will watch Death Mountain for signs of monstrous activity. The Tower of Hera takes eight years to complete.

2052 year
After rumbling ominously for several years, Death Mountain erupts. Although the eruption is a small one, the Tower of Hera is engulfed in poisonous fumes and an entire garrison is killed. Hera I orders the tower to be abandoned; in any case, no monsters have been sighted in Hyrule for over a century. Gradually the Hyrulians let down their guard.

2084 year
Link Third is born in Calatia. In the same year Princess Zelda III is born in Hyrule.

2091 year
Hyrule falls into chaos, with plagues and natural disasters ravaging the land.

2099 year
A mysterious wizard named Agahnim--really the ancient Sheikah sorceror, resurrected by Ganon's magic--offers his services to Harkinian III, claiming that he alone can stop the destruction. The grateful king accepts. After insinuating himself into a position of power, Agahnim overthrows the king and embarks on a program of systematic murder to remove descendants of the ancient Heroes.

2102 year Link Third travels to Hyrule to put a stop to Agahnim's scheming. After a long quest he recovers the Master Sword from the Lost Woods. With the Sword of Evil's Bane, Link Third vanquishes Agahnim and then travels to the Dark World to face Ganon's ghost. He prevents Ganon from rising, and recovers all three parts of the Triforce. With the power of the united Triforce, Hyrule enters a Golden Age. Link Third moves his family from Calatia back to Hyrule.

2106 year
Link Third leaves Hyrule to sail across the Far Sea. He never returns.

2129 year
Zelda III ascends the throne. Her first action is to begin a programme of civic reform, rebuilding the Hyrulian capital once again. Hyrule City becomes known as the White City for its beauty and splendour.

2130 year
Zelda III splits the Triforce into three once more, and separates the pieces for safety. The Triforce of Wisdom is kept in a tower of North Castle. The other two pieces are placed in towers at the edges of Hyrule to protect the kingdom.

2169 year - The Third Triforce War
Other countries become increasingly jealous of Hyrule's prosperity. Eventually Hyrule is attacked by the allied southern kingdoms of Calatia and Sosaria, and the northern kingdom of Lotharia attempts to profit from the disruption. The entire continent swiftly descends into bitter strife. When the dust clears nine years later, a technically victorious Hyrule is in ruins. Calatia is utterly defeated and becomes a Hyrulian province. Lotharia changes sides, and Sosaria finally surrenders, but is allowed to keep its independence. The location of the Master Sword is forgotten in the chaos, and, most bitterly, the Triforces of Power and Courage are also lost...

2178 year
By now an elderly woman, Queen Zelda III sets in progress a scheme to reconstruct the shattered country. New towns are built and named after ancient sages.

2182 year - October
Hyrule mourns for a month when Zelda III dies. Her death marks the end of the Middle Kingdom age. Harkinian V is crowned.

2387 year
In a climate of steadily increasing disturbances, Dark Link reappears. With the aid of a Sheikah sorceress named Sepultura, he hunts down and kills the Hero's entire family so that Ganon will be able to rise without opposition. Unfortunately for Ganon, a two-month old child is overlooked. Friends of the family rush Link Fourth out of Hyrule and bring him up in an obscure Calatian village. He is not told of his true identity.

2388 year - August
Zelda Fourth is born in Hyrule. The Princess's mother dies in childbirth, and a woman named Impa is employed as a wet-nurse.

2392 year
Monsters begin to spread outwards from Death Mountain. Recognising the signs and determined not to be caught unawares, Harkinian VII expands the army and fortifies the larger towns.

2394 year
An earthquake devastates Kakariko, which is already in trouble thanks to the large numbers of monsters flooding out of Death Mountain. The area is abandoned to the monsters. Dark Link begins to build up a power base in the Underworld, in preparation for his master's return.

2403 year - February
A noonday eclipse plunges Hyrule into darkness for several minutes.

2403 year - June
The Triforce of Power reappears - in the hands of Ganon, who returns to Hyrule in the form of a two-legged boar. From his domain in the Underworld, Ganon takes over the Death Mountain area, but does not launch a frontal attack on Hyrule at this time. A period of very uneasy coexistence begins.

2403 year - August
On her sixteenth birthday Zelda IV inherits the Triforce of Wisdom. Fearing that Ganon will steal it, she breaks it into sixteen pieces and sends Impa to search across the continent for the Hero of the generation. Ganon sends Dark Link to capture Zelda, and imprisons her in Death Mountain when she will not reveal the location of the Triforce.

2404 year - November Impa makes her way to Calatia and asks Link Fourth for aid. He travels to Hyrule, recovers all the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom and defeats Ganon once again, discovering in the process that he is the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. However, without the Sword of Evil's Bane he cannot defeat Ganon, who escapes into the Underworld. The uneasy truce resumes.

2405 year - January
Link Fourth leads a force of Hyrulian soldiers to Death Mountain, where they discover the source of the monsters. Link Fourth breaks the Evil Jar.

2405 year - June
Link Fourth has his final showdown with Ganon and recovers the Triforce of Power. With the united Triforce Link and Zelda wish for Ganon to banished to the Dark World once again. After granting the wish the Triforce returns to the Temple of Light within the Dark World.

2408 year - June
New monsters begin to be sighted around Death Mountain. At the same time, attempts are made on the lives of Link and Zelda but the assassin proves elusive. It is eventually discovered that Dark Link is responsible. Link and Zelda craft a magical mirror. After a long and elusive quest, they finally succeed in imprisoning the evil shadow.

2411 year - February
Harkinian VII dies, and Zelda IV is crowned Queen. Years of peace follow.

2412 year
Zelda IV marries a Lotharian duke.

2413 year
Link Fourth returns to Calatia and settles down in the village of Haven. He weds a local woman.

2477 year
Zelda IV's son Lore is born.

2490 year
Link Fourth's first and only son is born. The child is named Arn.

2550 year
Zelda IV dies. Lore I is crowned.

2620 year
Lore I dies in a fall from his horse. His son Harkinian VIII is crowned.

2681 year - February
Galdenor Dragmire is born in Gaelaidh.

2687 year - June
Link Fifth is born in Calatia. Three days later, Zelda Fifth is born in Hyrule.

2688 year - March
Sofia Dragmire is born in Gaelaidh.

2694 year - September
Link Fourth dies.

2699 year
The sorceress Sepultura searches the Underworld and acquires a piece of cloth stained with Link Fourth's blood. She uses the blood to resurrect Ganon's physical body within Hyrule. Once again he is the Gerudo King, Ganondorf. As an unexpected side-effect, Sepultura falls in love with Ganondorf!

2702 year - January
The old pattern reasserts itself as monsters spread out of Death Mountain into the surrounding countryside. Harkinian VIII at first refuses to believe in the old legends, but soon changes his mind.

2702 year - February
It begins to be whispered in Hyrule that Ganon is back.

2702 year - May
Harkinian VIII writes a letter to the Hero and dispatches it in the direction of Calatia. It never reaches its destination as the messenger is waylaid by monsters.

2703 year
Link Fifth hears of trouble in the north, and travels to Hyrule. He is just in time. Although Link Fifth does not possess the Master Sword, Ganondorf does not possess the Triforce of Power, so the match is a little more even. After chasing Ganondorf through half of Hyrule, Link Fifth defeats his nemesis on a peak of Death Mountain, and Ganondorf's spirit returns once more to the Dark World, bodiless and defeated. Link Fifth goes quietly back to Calatia.

2704 year
Princess Zelda V writes a letter to Link Fifth...