There's Only One Elf With A Beard In Lord Of The Rings - Here's Why

The topic of Middle-earth facial hair comes up a lot. Fans had a problem with the dwarf princess on "The Rings of Power" not having a canonical beard. Aragorn was different in "The Lord of the Rings" movies, partly because he did have a non-canonical beard. And then, there's Círdan. The aged Elf shows up briefly in "The Lord of the Rings" books and movies. While he has a fascinating backstory, one feature stands out above everything else: he has a beard — a rare feature for the immortal folk. In fact, no other Elf in "The Lord of the Rings" is described with facial hair of any kind.

Nevertheless, the book "The Return of the King" deliberately calls out Círdan's immortal whiskers, saying, "Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars." So, in the midst of a Middle-earth race known for its eternal youth, vibrant vigor, and smooth cheeks and chins, we have this old-looking fella with a beard — and a long one, to boot. What gives?

As with most deep-cut J.R.R. Tolkien factoids, the answer isn't as clear-cut as one might hope. Much like beards on Dwarven women, the Oxford professor went back and forth on the issue of Elvish facial hair. But there are enough breadcrumbs to follow to at least get a rough idea of why Círdan gets to sport a lengthy beard while his fellow elves remain perpetually clean-shaven. The lack of beards is relatively easy to explain, so let's start there.

In the book "The Nature of Middle-earth," J.R.R. Tolkien definitively states, "the Elvish race has no beards." (It's one of several such references scattered through his writings.) He adds that when Elves and Humans occasionally marry, their male descendants typically sport the beardless look too (hence Aragorn's canonical lack of scruff).

However, Círdan's Elvish bristles also have an explanation. The creator of Middle-earth was notoriously inconsistent with his non-published writings, and in the scholarly journal "Vinyar Tengwar" issue 41, Tolkien explained, "Elves did not have beards until they entered their third cycle of life." The line comes from part of the author's convoluted, contradicting, and half-finished theories on Elvish aging and life cycles. In essence, Círdan is one of the oldest Elves in Middle-earth. While we don't have a solid number, he is over 11,000 years old by the time he follows Frodo and Bilbo to the Undying Lands in the West a couple of hundred years after "The Lord of the Rings."

 According to some of Tolkien's writings, by that time, he is well into his third and final cycle of life, which means he could finally, at long last, grow some facial hair. In "Vinyar Tengwar 41," Tolkien references one other Elf named Mahtan who starts growing facial hair in his second cycle of life. This is called out as an exception to the rule, though, and since most Elves simply can't match Círdan's incredibly old age, the elderly shipwright is the only Elvish character in "The Lord of the Rings" who is old enough to have a proper beard.

Círdan is a really important character throughout J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. He is a wise, stable presence on the edge of Tolkien's story who gets involved in the narrative on and off and in various ways for millennia. "The Return of the King" book reinforces his value as an experienced counselor, saying, "For Círdan saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth."

Círdan saves the Elven king Gil-galad (played by Benjamin Walker in "The Rings of Power") when the immortal lad is young. He welcomes the Wizards as they cross from over the sea into Middle-earth, too, and even gives Gandalf the Elven Ring Narya, the Ring of Fire, to help him with his labors. He is one of the few who can resist Sauron face-to-face during the War of the Last Alliance (the battle depicted at the beginning of the "Fellowship of the Ring" movie) and spends much of his later years overseeing his coastal people as they ferry the immortal folk over the oceans into the Undying Lands in the West.

We'll get to see Círdan, played by Ben Daniels, in "The Rings of Power" Season 2. While we got a quick glimpse of the character at the very end of Peter Jackson's trilogy (played by a beardless Michael Elsworth), Daniels' Second Age iteration in the Amazon Studios' series will doubtless be more fleshed out and involved in the action, silver gray beard and all.