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02-08-2008, 07:15 PM | #1 |
Pile O'Bones
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Was Cķrdan...
... married?
I unconsciously said elsewhere that he was assuredly single, but someone brought the question up once more. I had said so probably because I've never seen any mention to some possible wife of Cķrdan in all Tolkien writings available to me. Was he married? |
02-09-2008, 05:25 AM | #2 | ||
Guard of the Citadel
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxon
Posts: 2,205
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Just read through HoMe XII - Last Writings - Cķrdan and there is no mention of something like that there either.
However, perhaps an explanation for the lack of a partner: Quote:
Quote:
So it was perhaps because of this 'mission' he had received from the Valar that he did not wish to seek another in M-e, waiting for the Last Ship to bring him to his long lost love. Then again, maybe he wasn't interested.
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02-09-2008, 12:19 PM | #3 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Back on the Helcaraxe
Posts: 733
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I agree that Tolkien left a rather strong impression that Cirdan was not married. Aside from the aforementioned passages, there is the fact that Tolkien often mentions the children (especially sons) of prominent Elves, even when he never (or only in an obscure reference somewhere in the HoME writings) mentions the names of their wives. No child of Cirdan's is ever mentioned, unless one counts his protective fostering of Ereinion Gil-galad. If Cirdan had had sons, one would think they would have been as brothers to Gil-galad, but nothing of that sort is ever seen.
Still, it's possible that Cirdan had a family, but none of them ever did anything of note and therefore were not mentioned. Somewhere, either in the HoME books or in the letters, I believe Tolkien said that he thought all the sons of Feanor would have been married; I can't recall if he said that their families did not follow them into exile, or if they simply never came up as "players" in the Silmarillion. Celebrimbor appears to have been mentioned because he did things that were noteworthy. The others...? Not a word. So following that pattern, the possibility exists that Cirdan had a wife and descendants, but they were not sufficiently significant to come into the stories. Nonetheless, I personally feel that in Cirdan, Tolkien was expressing the lot of the classic mythic mariner, for whom the sea is both his calling and his greatest love. The sea is a harsh mistress, and ill tolerates any competition. Moreover, if Cirdan felt himself to be an instrument of some greater destiny, he may have remained deliberately unattached, so that he could fulfill that destiny without risking heartbreak for himself or his loved ones. Just my rambling feelings, here, of course.
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