The Tolkien Translation Game!

[elengil]

Ooh... okay... So was it spoken to ... Elrond?

[Jude]

Nope.

To bring it to the new page:

"But I stare at the sea, live on the gray coast and guard the shelter until the last ship departs. Then I will wait for you."

[elengil]

Was it spoken to another elf? Or perhaps to Ulmo? No wait, was this in reference to the rescue of Arvedui??

[Jude]

No. Looking at the Tale of Years, I'm guessing it was spoken long before that.

[elengil]

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This would be almost at the end of "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" where it tells of Círdan having given Narya, the Red Ring of Fire, to Mithrandir, saying to him: 'But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails. Then I shall await thee.’

[narya]

[elengil]

Poor Círdan. He really is rather tragic... I wish Tolkien had written more about him

[Jude]

Me too.

Voronwë's right. I'll just add that even though it's narrated near the end of "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age", it was almost certainly spoken centuries earlier, probably when the Istari arrived in Middle Earth.

Your turn, Voronwë!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Interestingly, almost (but not quite) identical language is used at the end the introduction to the Third Age section of Appendix B, the Tale of Years, in LOTR. If you hadn't said it was in The Silmarillion, that's where I would have looked. Personally, I don't really think of Círdan as a tragic figure; I think of him as a Middle-earth Zen master.

Here's the new quote:

I'm going to get into training a little bit too.

[narya]

As the daughter of a shipwright (not to mention granddaughter and sister of ships' engineers) I was always fond of Círdan. And I share my family's fondness for the sea, though I prefer to enjoy it from the shore.

[Inanna]

That is just glorious. That reflection!

[elengil]

Personally, I don't really think of Círdan as a tragic figure; I think of him as a Middle-earth Zen master.

Not tragic on the level of, say, Túrin, but rather just the way in which he forever aids others, building ship after ship that he never gets to sail, never able to make that journey (until the very last). So, what, 10,000 years, give or take, he has to wait to go to Valinor (while ensuring others make it) which is like the only thing he ever wanted.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Personally, I don't really think of Círdan as a tragic figure; I think of him as a Middle-earth Zen master.

Not tragic on the level of, say, Túrin, but rather just the way in which he forever aids others, building ship after ship that he never gets to sail, never able to make that journey (until the very last). So, what, 10,000 years, give or take, he has to wait to go to Valinor (while ensuring others make it) which is like the only thing he ever wanted.

He is a Bodhisattva.

[elengil]

Not tragic on the level of, say, Túrin, but rather just the way in which he forever aids others, building ship after ship that he never gets to sail, never able to make that journey (until the very last). So, what, 10,000 years, give or take, he has to wait to go to Valinor (while ensuring others make it) which is like the only thing he ever wanted.

He is a Bodhisattva.

Had never heard the term before (had to look it up), but seems to be most fittingly applied here.

Now, will stop veering the thread OT

[elengil]

Back ON topic...


Was this spoken by a hobbit, by any chance?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

(You definitely got me thinking about Círdan in terms that I have never done before, so thank you! ).

Yes, spoken by a hobbit!

[elengil]

Pippin in Gondor?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not stated by Pippin, but he was present (though it wasn't stated to him). Earlier than in Gondor.

[elengil]

So... Merry in Rohan, then?