#cirdan the shipwright

cycas:

undercat-overdog:

Poor Cirdan gets neglected by the text, which is a pity, because he’s not only awesome but he does a ton of stuff:

1. Really wanted to go to Valinor, but stayed in Middle-Earth because his friend Ulmo told him that he would be needed there;
   
2. Fought in all the five major battles of Beleriand and survivedthem, the only named character to have done so; 
   
3. Gets along well with the Noldor (and fought with the Feanorians), despite Thingol being his king;
   
4. Was especially friendly with Fingon, and came to his rescue during the Bragollach;
   
5. Fought in the Nirnaeth, unlike Orodreth and Thingol;
   
6. Helped Turgon send ships to Valinor to plead for aid (and I think it’s likely that some of his own people were on those ships and drowned too);
7. Established the only refuge in (western?) Beleriand that lasted, and apparently took in whoever needed a safe place;
   
8. Close to Gil-Galad;
   
9. Fought in the Last Alliance and survived;
   
10. Knew who the Istari were when they arrived and which one to give Narya to;
    
11. and finally got to go to Aman at the end <3.
    

With that life story, he must be an interesting guy!, despite the lack of personal characterization. And he’s probably an insanelyskilled warrior.

I’m pretty sure that there were mariners from Cirdan’s people on the ships that he built for Turgon to send into the west to beg for help, but even if there weren’t, can you imagine how miserable it would be?

You’re living on the coast, knowing that the Noldor have your back against the hordes of Angband who would like to kill/enslave your entire people.

You know the Noldor arelosing.

You know that Morgoth isn’t going to stop at the fall of Gondolin and Nargothrond: you’ve seen his armies at your walls before, until the Noldor came.

You are forbidden to sail into the west, because, apparently, it’s your job to sit there in danger building ship after ship. Even though your family is in Valinor, and you always wanted to go there.

Oh yes, and your family, with their amazing ships that could cross the ocean even against the storms of Uinen with a novice crew, are apparently so unbothered by this that they refused to use those ships to get a rescue force to you.

So after Dagor Bragollach you know what’s coming. You’ve been there before. This time, at least, you have a plan. You build a secret refuge down the coast, as somewhere to run to when the orcs arrive at your gate again.

So, after Fingon falls, after your own cities have fallen, you’re living in hiding, and building ship after ship, seeing Turgon’s latest desperate messengers arriving from Gondolin, and knowing that each ship you build, every refinement you think of, every improvement to make it more stable, more robust, faster, is going up against the storms of Osse. (Who used to be your friend, who helped you build your first ships, who probably taught you some of the techniques you are now using to try to build a ship that will stand against him…)

They are probably all going to drown. Again. And you can’t think of a single thing you can do to change that, except to make sure the timber is properly dried, and the buoyancy and weight is distributed perfectly, and the words are said to ask Uinen’s blessing.

Oh, and look after the motherless, fatherless boy who is probably going to end up as Turgon’s heir, when Gondolin finally runs out of luck.

Poor Cirdan. He seems to have done absolutely nothing to earn his exceptionally terrible job.