Q: Why Does Cirdan Have a Beard?
ANSWER: In The Lord of the Rings Cirdan is mentioned several times but he appears in only one passage, where he greets the company of Elves led by Elrond and Galadriel as they are about to depart from Middle-earth:
As they came to the gates Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars; and he looked at them and bowed, and said: ‘All is now ready.’
This is the only mention of a beard among Elves in The Lord of the Rings, although some readers have fancied Elrond with a beard (seemingly unable to explain why). The perceived beardlessness of Elves is closely associated with Prince Imrahil, whom Legolas recognizes as having Elvish blood:
At length they came to the Prince Imrahil, and Legolas looked at him and bowed low; for he saw that here indeed was one who had elven-blood in his veins. ‘Hail, lord!’ he said. ‘It is long since the people of Nimrodel left the woodlands of Lórien, and yet still one may see that not all sailed from Amroth’s haven west over water.’
Despite the lack of any reference to Imrahil’s face in the above passage, in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth Christopher Tolkien seemed to confirm the notion that Imrahil had no beard:
In a note written in December 1972 or later, and among the last writings of my father’s on the subject of Middle-earth, there is a discussion of the Elvish strain in Men, as to its being observable in the beardlessness of those who were so descended (it was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless); and it is here noted in connection with the princely house of Dol Amroth that “this line had a special Elvish strain, according to its own legends” (with a reference to the speeches between Legolas and Imrahil in The Return of the King V 9, cited above).
How is it that Elves are beardless if Cirdan has a beard? Is not this note from 1972 inconsistent with the published texts? So it would seem, but then the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship published a text in Vinyar Tengwar issue 41 (July 2000) which seems to settle the issue. Christopher Tolkien published the majority of a text in The Peoples of Middle-earth which he titled “The Shibboleth of Fëanor”; this essay explained the deep divisions of the Noldor of Aman and provided much previously undisclosed information about the descendants of Finwë, including previously unpublished members of the House of Finwë. Vinyar Tengwar Issue 41 included other parts of the “Shibboleth”, among which was an editorial comment that reads:
The following etymological note pertains to the name Russandol in the discussion of the name Maitimo in the numbered list of names of the seven sons of Fëanor (XII:352-52). A marginal note against that discussion provides the detail that Nerdanel “herself had brown hair and a ruddy complexion”. A note elsewhere in the papers associated with this essay reads: “Elves did not have beards until they entered their third cycle of life. Nerdanel’s father [Cf. XII:365-66 n.61] was exceptional, being only early in his second.”
It should be noted, however, that these various texts were composed at different times in Tolkien’s life and they may not necessarily be directly connected to each other. For example, the passage in The Lord of the Rings describing Legolas’ meeting with Imrahil and the passage describing Cirdan were probably written between 1946 and 1948; Christopher dates the “Shibboleth of Fëanor” to 1968; and of course the note regarding the “beardlessness of Elves” described in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth is dated to 1972. How much Tolkien may have been thinking of earlier texts, both published and unpublished, when he wrote that final note is wholly a matter for speculation (unless some other paper has been published of which I am unaware — I should mention that I do NOT have copies of all the linguistic newsletters). There is, however, one other point that should be mentioned before closing. In the essay on “The Istari”, which Christopher dates to 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote of Gandalf:
…Mostly he journeyed unwearingly on foot, leaning on a staff; and so he was called among Men of the North Gandalf, “the Elf of the Wand”. For they deemed him (though in error, as has been said) to be of Elven-kind, since he would at times works wonders among them, loving especially the beauty of fire; and yet such marvels he wrought mostly for mirth and delight, and desired not that any should hold him in awe or take his counsels out of fear.
If the bearded Gandalf was thought by men to be of Elven-kind (in 1954, only 6-8 years after the Cirdan passage was written) then it seems that for some time Tolkien felt it was acceptable for a very aged Elf to have a beard. Cirdan is, of course, one of the most ancient living Elves at the time of the War of the Ring, older by many years than either Celeborn or Galadriel, the two next eldest Elves encountered in the story. Perhaps Tolkien had thought of the three cycles of life all along, and he only wrote down the point late in his life in an essay where he felt it made sense. We shall never really know for sure. But Cirdan’s beard at least seems to be consistent with the idea that Men could accept a very ancient Elf with a beard, as well as with the later note that Elves eventually did grow beards.
Of course, the Rings of Power (as Tolkien notes in some letters and some of his essays) were created to slow or delay the effects of Time and Decay, slowing the aging process of Elves in Middle-earth to a ratio of 1:10 years. That is, for every 10 years that passed in Middle-earth the Elves felt the effect of only 1 year. The Rings of Power slowed the decaying effects of Time in Middle-earth for about 4800 years, which was a substantial portion of the lifespans of Elrond, Galadriel, and Celeborn. Hence, they all continued to appear quite young (having aged at most only about 480-500 years since the Rings had been made). Cirdan, however, was already quite old by the time the Rings were created. Hence, even aging only another 480-500 years by the end of the Third Age he still must have been quite old for an Elf. His beard thus seems appropriate and consistent with all the texts.
See Also
How Would the Seven Rings Have Affected Mortals?
Shhh! It’s A Secret Ring! (Classic Essay)
Middle-earth Connections: Lore of the Rings (Classic Essay)
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