Yesterday I held a promt request contest, where the first three sending
me a character would get them drawn by me. So here is the first; Círdan,
the ship wright and lord of the Grey Havens, for @bodhvild!
I am very happy I
was given him as one of the characters, because i feel like he is one of
the most overlooked of the eldar of old, by me as well, and getting my
attention I realized how amasing he truly is. He may be one of the
oldest surviving elves in the third age, as one of those that awoke with
the first elves, which in my mind is truly mindblowing. Nowë was his
original name, and hinting to his early awakening, alongside Elwë and
Olwë. I like to think he may be their brother, though it is not
specified by Tolkien as far as I know. Truly he is one of the most
fascinatingly ignored of the moriquendi, and I would love to explore him
more throughout my art.
As for the promt this is only a rather
quick sketch, more drawing than sketch I guess, but I had so much fun
with it so I couldn’t help myself! ^^
Next is Varda! Very curious how I’ll make her, so I suppose we will all wait and see.
He fought in the Battle of the Last Alliance. During Gil-Galad’s duel against Sauron, on the slopes of the Orodruin, he was the only other one at his side besides Elrond.
He received Narya the Great, the ring of fire, from Gil-Galad, according to the Unfinished Tales. According to The Lord of the Rings’ canon (Appendix B), he received Narya from the start, directly from Celebrimbor.
It’s him who, willingly and unprompted, offers Narya to Gandalf as soon as he arrives in Middle Earth.
He has the greatest power of foresight among those in Middle Earth, second to no one, gifted to him by Ulmo, and is the oldest elf around in the Third Age in all Ennor.
He has another name, Nowë. Círdan is a chosen-name/epessë and means literally “shipwright” (Q. Ciryatan)
Wanted too see the light of Valinor more than anything but kept looking for Thingol in the woods out of loyalty.
He’s one of the two carpenters who made Vingilot, fairest ship evar.
Made friends with a Maia, Ossë.
Fought in a number of battles, among which the First Battle of Beleriand, the Siege of the Falas, sent aid by ship to Fingon during the Second Assault on Hithlum.
That he did despite knowing of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë.
Fostered Gil-Galad and Eärendil and Elrond and Elros as soon as they were under his tutelage. Dude did a pretty good job.
Aided the King of Arnor in battle against the Witch King of Angmar. And then sent a ship north to help the lost king Arvedui. And then fought in the battle of Fornost.
Controls one of the palantíri.
WAS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE WHITE COUNCIL, TOGETHER WITH GANDALF, ELROND, GALADRIEL AND SARUMAN.
Leaves Middle Earth with the very last ship, possibly one of the last Elves to sail to Valinor.
Kinda sure I forgot something. Dude’s that awesome.
17. Has a beard.
I’m forever ashamed that I put together all the more obscure stuff and forgot to mention the beard.
Tolkien is clear that while most Elves grew no facial hair, Cirdan the Shipwright had a beard. But he tells us little more than that the beard existed — we get (so far as I know) no explanation of its origin. Which means this is a topic for rampant speculative headcanons!
My theory starts from the premise that Elves aren’t entirely smooth-faced. A little downy fuzz is typical, and some — especially older men — can grow a few long, scraggly whiskers. For the most part, this hair would be treated as an embarrassing thing to be shaved off, since it couldn’t grow into a full beard of mustache.
Dwarves, meanwhile, are bearded, with thick, bushy hair on the faces of all genders. We know that when Elves first met Dwarves, the encounter was not friendly. Thinking themselves to be the only sentient race, the Elves hunted the Dwarves for sport. Only later did they realize that the Dwarves were adopted Children of Iluvatar. The Dwarves’ beards are an obvious point of difference with the Elves, and likely became a focus of racial stereotyping and disparagement. Perhaps Elves became extra-scrupulous about shaving once they came into contact with Dwarves, to distance themselves from this lesser and uglier folk.
Now let’s turn to Cirdan. From his actions throughout Tolkien’s writings, he seems to be humble, patient, and accepting of others. He minds his own business, but is committed to helping others (whether it be repelling a coastal attack against Hithlum, accepting refugees from all over Beleriand into the Havens of Sirion, passing his ring to Gandalf, or waiting for the last ship before coming to Valinor). It’s hard to imagine Cirdan engaging in Dwarf-hunting. I would guess he found it childish and embarrassing at best when the Dwarves were regarded as animals, and shocking once he knew their real origin.
Cirdan lived far from any Dwarven realms at first, but I see him as desiring friendship and being fascinated by Dwarven culture. Cirdan was, after all, a craftsman — and so he may have engaged in that sort of mutual admiration that can spring up between artists working in wildly different media. And as part of that, he set to growing his beard out. We don’t need to postulate that he was especially hirsute in his natural state, since he could doubtless cook up some Elvish Rogaine for his face. This wouldn’t be done in a cultural appropriation sort of way, either. I can envision him having long discussions with Dwarf emissaries about beard care, and journeying to Nogrod or Belegost to have his braids done by the top Dwarven stylists.
All of this would have paid off well after the end of the First Age, when his home base shifted to Lindon, right at the doorstep of the Dwarvish realms of the Blue Mountains. His beard could then stand as a symbol of Elf-Dwarf friendship that was uncommon in other parts of Middle-earth.
MisbehavingMaiar: Tumblr Archive 