| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
 Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:42 am Post subject: |
 |
|
the main BG info on Cirdan is in the Silm, or in Peoples of Middle Earth (there is a whole essay on him in there) as well as a few bits (on why he has the beard, I believe) in the Professor's letters. I'll hunt out my copies and get back to you.
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
Ok, so from the Silm:
| Quote: | | When many years had passed, Ulmo hearkened to the prayers of the Noldor and of Finwe their king, who grieved at their long sundering from the Teleri, and besought him to bring them to Aman, if they would come. And most of them proved now willing indeed; but great was the grief of Osse when Ulmo returned to the coasts of Beleriand, to bear them away to Valinor; for his care was for the seas of Middle-earth and the shores of the Hither Lands, and he was ill-pleased that the voices of the Teleri should be heard no more in his domain. Some he persuaded to remain; and those were the Falathrim, the Elves of the Falas, who in after days had dwellings at the havens of Brithombar and Eglarest, the first Mariners in Middle-earth and the first makers of ships. Cirdan the shipwright was their lord. |
So Cirdan remained in Middle-earth / Beleriand after the other elves had been persuaded to head off to Aman (and settled I believe in Alqualonde). He's next mentioned in the Silm in that he supplied many pearls to Elwe Thingol, as they could be found in the shallow waters around the coasts.
After the Noldor returned to Middle-earth, chasing after the Silmarils, it was Cirdan's messengers who told Thingol what had happened and about the kinslaying etc, which prompted Thingol to ban the use of Quenya and to take a real downer on the Noldor in general.
After the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, Cirdan's elves helped out the beleagured elves, taking a lot of them in inside their havens and using their ships to go up and down the coasts, making swift attacks on the enemy. Finally though, Morgoth sent his forces against the Havens.
| Quote: | | Then the Havens were laid in ruin, an dthe tower of Barad Niras cast down; and the most part of Cirdan's people were slain or enslaved. But some went aboard ship and escaped by sea; and among them was Ereinion Gil-galad, the son of Fingon, whom his father had sent to the Havens after the Dagor Bragollach. This remnant sailed with Cirdan south to the Isle of Balar, and they made a refuge for all that could come thither; for they kept a foothold also at the Mouths of Sirion, and there many light and swift ships hid in the creeks and waters where the reeds were dense as a forest. |
At the bidding of Turgon, Cirdan even tried to send ships into the West (to do what Earendil would eventually achieve) but only one of the seven ships sent out returned, and that one claimed to have hit a storm whilst still within sight of Middle-earth's coasts and had to turn back.
Later though Cirdan would teach Earendil (Elrond's dad) the art of shipbuilding and helped him to build Vingilot, the Foam Flower, in which Earendil did finally undertake to sail to Valinor and implore the Valar to aid them in the battle against Morgoth, resulting ultimately in the destruction of Angband, the breaking of Beleriand and the changing of the world after the War of Wrath.
After this, Cirdan settled along the coasts of what had been Ossiriand or Lindon near the Blue Mountains, but which had become the western coast of Eriador. The Gulf of Lune and the river Lune then cut through the land and divided it into Forlindon and Harlindon (north and south Lindon) and Cirdan built the Grey Havens or Mithlond on either side of the river at its mouth.
So that's the backstory from the Silm. Peoples of ME goes more into the conversations with Osse that persuaded Cirdan to remain in Middle Earth, basically telling him that he would be needed, and since Cirdan was far-sighted, he knew this to be true, so despite his desire to go across the sea, he remained to help his people. It also gives a bit more detail about his people in general, saying that they had their own language, which hardly anyone could understand, and that 'Cirdan' in fact was not his real name, but one given him by the other elves. He never told his true name, and it is assumed that it would be in that obscure language of the coastal elves. His people tended to keep to themselves, save where circumstance made that impossible.
Cirdan the Shipwright, this is your life....
(guess who's bored today)
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Eruanna
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 426
Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Texasgirl wrote: | beards are sexy, eruanna! and they make elvesies look more manly and less feminine, which is good.
but to go back to original topic, is there any background information on cirdan? like more than a sentence like "cirdan lord of mithlond...." |
Texas:
Run that one by Inglor or Weavil. I never was a Cirdan fan, so I never noticed. All I recall is "the shipwright," and that he origiginally had one of the elven rings.
--Eruanna, lover of the five o'clock shadow on the movieverse Celeborn and Haldir LOL!
_________________
"I have returned from the Northern Fences," said the Elf, "and I am sent now to be your guide again." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SpaceWeavil
Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 23
Location: Looking at shiny things
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Eruanna wrote: | | Texasgirl wrote: | beards are sexy, eruanna! and they make elvesies look more manly and less feminine, which is good.
but to go back to original topic, is there any background information on cirdan? like more than a sentence like "cirdan lord of mithlond...." |
Texas:
Run that one by Inglor or Weavil. I never was a Cirdan fan, so I never noticed. All I recall is "the shipwright," and that he origiginally had one of the elven rings.
--Eruanna, lover of the five o'clock shadow on the movieverse Celeborn and Haldir LOL! |
Erm, look above your post...heh
SW
_________________
Pervy Nazgul Fancier and owner of Fluffy the Fell Beast |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Eruanna
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 426
Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| SpaceWeavil wrote: | | Eruanna wrote: | | Texasgirl wrote: | beards are sexy, eruanna! and they make elvesies look more manly and less feminine, which is good.
but to go back to original topic, is there any background information on cirdan? like more than a sentence like "cirdan lord of mithlond...." |
Texas:
Run that one by Inglor or Weavil. I never was a Cirdan fan, so I never noticed. All I recall is "the shipwright," and that he origiginally had one of the elven rings.
--Eruanna, lover of the five o'clock shadow on the movieverse Celeborn and Haldir LOL! |
Erm, look above your post...heh
SW |
 Wow, Weavil!  I was responding to Tex!
I did not see that wonderful post! You have me there! I concede the field to you, oh, dear Weavil!
--Eruanna 
_________________
"I have returned from the Northern Fences," said the Elf, "and I am sent now to be your guide again." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Texasgirl
Joined: 18 Oct 2004
Posts: 895
Location: Texas (no shit, sherlock)
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
it's all coming back.....i must have hit my head harder than i thought
and spacey, weren't you supposed to be celebrating?  tsk tsk!
eruanna darling, unless it's on a 500 pound guy, beards are sexy. that is my rule - although in RL, there turn out to be many exceptions. 
_________________
Damn, I love my home - except for the fact the nearest bit of civilization is forty miles away.
*Other co-founder of the "Howdy!" committee*
*Other co-founder of the official  foundation* |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Eruanna
Joined: 11 Jan 2005
Posts: 426
Location: Dor-Cuarthol, betwixt the Bow and the Helm...
|
| Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:00 pm Post subject: Bearded elves... |
|
|
| Texasgirl wrote: |
eruanna darling, unless it's on a 500 pound guy, beards are sexy. that is my rule - although in RL, there turn out to be many exceptions. |
Tex:
Your current avie of Haldir does not EVEN have a 5 o'clock shadow...
My current avie sort of does...
Hmmm...again, just laughing over the movieverse Haldir and Celeborn and their beards! The casting of Legolas was a stroke of genius--the character is almost beardless in the films.
SO--Let's go back to the Lord of Mithlond, shall we?
--Eruanna, wedded to a man who sometimes shaves twice a day
_________________
"I have returned from the Northern Fences," said the Elf, "and I am sent now to be your guide again." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ghettoelleth
Joined: 06 Nov 2004
Posts: 1804
|
| Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2005 2:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
There's lots about him in Sil and UT, he is in POM in HoME 12 and Tale of Years. I'm sure he's in other histories as well, Just can't remember off the top of my head. Here's a pretty good synopsis of his third ageyness:
http://www.tuckborough.net/cirdan.html
_________________
"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can not confirm their validity." Abraham Lincoln |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Live Journal Feed
