Cirdan questions

[Cazoz]

I feel like I've only been here a few days and am already starting too many topics, oh well.

I've always found Cirdan a very mysterious character. I haven't read many HoME and haven't read the Sil so I don't know as much about him as they is to know, thus I have a few questions.

1) He obviously ranked highly amongst the Elves, as he was given one of the Elven rings, which he passed on to Gandalf. Why did he rank so highly?

2) Would he have been returned the ring after they set sail?

3) How might the quest have gone if they'd taken the ring to the Grey Havens and given it to an Elf travelling to Valinor?

4) Was his sole purpose towards the end of the Third Age simply to bide his time and wait for the ringbearers to exit ME? Or was his job more involved in the general help of all Elves travelling west?

5) If his intention was to stay in ME until the end of the quest, how did he know it would be successful? Did he have prophetic powers?

6) Did he even go West? There were many Elves left in ME, such as Celeborn, the Mirkwood Elves and Elrond's sons who might have required his help, should they have eventually gone to ME.

7) Wouldn't he have got bloody bored?

Sorry for so many questions, and the silly last one, but I've always been really curious about him, and about how he's so important and reverred, and yet simultaneously so absent.