Long before the sun first rose, certain blessed beings awoke beneath the stars at Cuiviénen, where they lived and multiplied for many years. They were the firstborn children of Ilúvatar: the Elves.
Círdan was born during that time. Like Thingol, the High King of the Sindar, he was descended from Enel and his wife, one of the first three pairs of Elves to awaken and the ancestors of the Teleri.
As an Elf born beneath the starlight, Círdan had experienced a great deal in his life. He had not only taken part in the great migration of the three Elven peoples, but also fought in most of the wars of the past seven thousand years, pouring immense effort into them.
His extraordinary skill at shipbuilding was what people praised most. Thousands of years ago, he could already build ships capable of sailing the ocean. He had helped Eärendil build the white ship Vingilótë, which performed many great deeds in the War of Wrath and was hallowed by the Valar.
With such outstanding shipbuilding skills, Círdan should long since have been able to sail to the Undying Lands he yearned for. Yet he had not done so, for he bore an extraordinary mission: to send all the Elves to Valinor.
It was an arduous task, and Círdan had already devoted thousands of years to it. After Morgoth's defeat, this king of the Sindar settled in the Grey Havens with the Elves who followed him, building many great ships there to fulfill his mission. It was also Círdan who welcomed the five Wizards when they arrived in Middle-earth from Valinor, and he immediately singled out Gandalf, the wisest of those Maiar.
During the meeting, his gaze had often turned toward Gandalf. They had not seen each other for several hundred years, since