Cirdan the Shipwright...the most significant 'bit parter' in Middle Earth?

[malickfan]

Hi everyone I recently joined the forum, and for the past few months I have been working on a long essay about Cirdan the Shipwright for my blog-cited in my signature.

Looking back through his appearances in the books I came to the conclusion that he was not only fasicanting, he was incredibily important to the fate of Middle Earth. Whether or not you read, or agree with the points made in my essay, I think he is certainly a character worthy of an in depth discussion:

A senior leader in both the battle of the last alliance and the seige of Agmar, he was member of the white council, and voulntarily surrendered the ring of fire to Gandalf. Said to be the most foresighted of all elves in Middle Earth, he conceievbaly paved the foundation for middle earth's future with the creation of the havens at Sirion, at the fostering of both Gil-galad and Earendil. He was almost alone in Middle Earth by having contact with both the valar and maia, and was said to be the last elve to set sail from middle earth.

Besides having a beard (rare for elves) and being the only known survivor of the great journey from Cuivinien in middle earth by the third Age (and the oldest known elve), through his minute appearances in the books he clearly comes across as loyal and steadfast , one of the wisest and 'good natured' persons to appear in the books.

Your thoughts and theories on the character?

[Pervinca Took]

Indeed. His determination to stay at the Havens building ships until the last ship sails is heartbreakingly noble.

He is perhaps one of Tolkien's best "hinted at" characters - where we can find the bare bones of his story (if we look for them) but can only guess what his "fleshed out" story would be like - one of those "untold stories" that Tolkien loved so much ... "A story must be told or there'll be no story, but for me it is the untold stories that are ..." (I forget the exact words - the ones that he loved most/found more intriguing, or something). And yet Tolkien liked to tie off loose ends, too. Perhaps a slight contradiction (and perhaps we all have certain contradictions in our personalities and views).

Another character I love for quite similar reasons is Amandil. Much shorter lived, yes ... a player in a much shorter stretch of Middle-earth's history ... but a man who makes a heartbreaking sacrifice and endures - as far as we can make out - a very lonely end.

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by malickfan

Besides having a beard (rare for elves)

In a certain sense yes, in a certain sense no. If I recall correctly, elves go through three major "ages". Growing a beard is actually normal for a male elf when he reaches his third age (there was oneelf if I recall, who did grow one in his second age but that was the exception, not the rule) . It's just that, among those elves who lived in ME in the third age, Cirdain was the only one OLD enough to have a beard. He's not only the oldest elf, he is the oldest elf by quite a bit, so he already has a beard (and based on how long it is described as being, has probably had it for a while (I'm assuming elven hair grows at more or less the same rate as human.) But I imagine that, if you were somehow able to get a look at the returned elves now living in Aman, you would see quite a few elven men with facial hair (elves do keep ageing after they reach the blessed lands, right?).