View source for Wheel of Time (History)

{{info|{{bwb1}}}}
==General==
{{comp}}
In the world of the [[Wheel of Time]], time is split into seven Ages, with the cycle of seven Ages repeating eternally, the Wheel of Time.

==The First Age==
Little is known of the First Age.  Some of the stories [[Gleemen]] tell are believed to come from the Age, and some believe [[Portal Stones]] are from this Age. It is not known what ended the Age.

==The Second Age==
{{Main|Age of Legends}}
{{Comp}}
A little more is known of the Second Age, the [[Age of Legends]]. By the late stages of this Age, society was highly advanced. It began to fall apart when the [[Bore]] was drilled, leading to a period known as [[the Collapse]] and ending with the [[War of the Shadow]] and [[the Breaking]].
===The Breaking of the World===
{{Main|The Breaking}}
The Breaking of the World, or the Time of Madness was a period following the Age of Legends when society collapsed completely and the world was reshaped as men channeling ''[[saidin]]'' went mad.  No cultures or institutions passed untouched, with even the [[Aes Sedai]] losing much of what they once knew. Once the last of the male Aes Sedai died, the land began to settle and people were able to form stable communities again, but it was many years before nations once more grew.

==The Third Age==
The current Age has lasted for about three and a half thousand years, generally considered to have begun when the last male Aes Sedai died.

===Years AB===
The first main period of time of the Third Age reckoned years from the arbitrarily decided end of the Breaking.  From around 200AB, when the [[Compact of the Ten Nations]], society recovered much in this period, which was which was brought to an end by the [[Trolloc Wars]].

===Years FY===
{{Main|The Free Era}}
The second period of time of the Third Age starts at the end of the Trolloc Wars.  Those nations that had managed to hold on fell apart and [[The_Free_Era#Nations|new nations]] arose.  This period came to an end following the death of [[Artur Hawkwing]], when the empire he had forged tore itself apart.

===Years NE===
The [[Nations_of_the_New_Era#Current_Nations|current nations]] were formed in the aftermath of [[the War of the Hundred Years]]. Initially, the whole of the [[Westlands]] were claimed, but over time, many of the nations dwindled and died and much land is unoccupied.

==The Fourth Age==
{{Main|The Fourth Age}}
The Fourth Age begins after the Last Battle in the Third Age has been fought. Little is known of this Age, except for fragments of songs and rhymes that commemorate the Dragon's victory over the Dark One.

[[Category:History]]