In defense of Galdor: A faithful believer in the den of the rebels, schismatics, and apostates?

Back-Nitpick ;)
In LOTR Elladan and Elrohir are not counted as elves:

"And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the others', and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell." (Legolas)

"Presently Éomer came out from the gate, and with him was Aragorn, and Halbarad bearing the great staff close-furled in black, and two tall men, neither young nor old. So much alike were they, the sons of Elrond, that few could tell them apart: dark-haired, grey-eyed, and their faces elven-fair, clad alike in bright mail beneath cloaks of silver-grey."

"The Lady Éowyn greeted them and was glad of their coming; for no mightier men had she seen than the Dúnedain and the fair sons of Elrond."

"There was Gandalf as chief herald, and Aragorn with the sons of Elrond, and Éomer of Rohan, and Imrahil; and Legolas and Gimli and Peregrin were bidden to go also, so that all the enemies of Mordor should have a witness." - if sons of Elrond were counted as elves, Legolas would not have been needed.

citied after:

Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but I have to do it.

Ok, so I don't have a reddit post to back me up, nor have I performed as exhaustive an analysis as I'd like to refute this claim that relies on cherry-picked evidence.

A. Given that they aren't Lords, they can't be Elven-Lords, regardless of their race. Hardly compelling on its own.

B. Elves are described as looking neither young nor old (sometimes the term used is ageless), so this is actually a point in favour of them being (and being considered) Elves.

C. Counter evidence for usage of 'men' to mean Humans exclusively, from Book 1 alone:
In chapter 1, when the post-offices are overwhelmed they call for volunteer assistant postmen.
In chapter 2, in the Ring poem and Gandalf's explanation of it 'Mortal Men' is used for metrical reasons and to distinguish Humans from Elves and Dwarves.
In chapter 3, as they leave Bag-End the Gaffer (a Hobbit) is referred to as a man (lowercase m), then after the first roadside encounter with a Nazgûl "'There are some Men about,' said Frodo. 'Down in the Southfarthing they have had trouble with Big People, I believe.'" and when talking with Gildor "The tidings were mostly sad and ominous: of gathering darkness, the wars of Men, and the flight of the Elves."
In chapter 8, after the rescue from the Barrow-wight, Merry reports "'Of course, I remember!' he said. 'The men of Carn Dûm came on us at night, and we were worsted."
In chapter 9, after arriving at the Prancing Pony, "...but at the moment he was finding his first sight of Men and their tall houses quite enough," and after Frodo's vanishing incident "Most of the Hobbits and the Men of Bree went off... The Dwarves and the two or three strange Men that still remained..."
In chapter 10, Gandalf in his letter states "You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a Man, lean, dark, tall, by some called Strider."
In chapter 11, when Aragorn ends his recitation under Weathertop he refers to Beren as a 'mortal man'.
In Chapter 12, Strider describes Athelas as "a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle-earth." and later in the same chapter Strider responds to Frodo's question "'No!' said Strider. 'Trolls do not build. No one lives in this land. Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now.'"

There are more examples, but I believe the pattern to be clear here. The usage falls into three categories:
1. Man - Used to distinguish the Race of Man from other races. Note that the term Big People is used exclusively to describe Humans.
2. man - used to refer to the males of any race. As we don't seem to see any female Dwarves or Orcs, people don't seem to feel the need to mark their gender, so we don't get confirming datapoints there.
3. -man - used as a suffix to associate a role with the root word, e.g. postman, horseman, Swordsman.

Therefore, there doesn't appear to be any evidence of their race from the examples given by Odola or greyvagabond on reddit.

D. Regarding 'Elven-fair', if this discounts the sons of Elrond then Luthien is not an Elf either. From Book 1 chapter 11:
Tinúviel the elven-fair,
Immortal maiden elven-wise,
About him cast her shadowy hair
And arms like silver glimmering.
emphasis added
Also Elrond, from Book 2 chapter 1:
And here in Rivendell there live still some of his chief foes: the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas.
so she seems to be in good Elven company. If Luthien is an Elf and can be described this way, so too can the Sons of Elrond and Celebrían be Elves.

Elven-fair and Elven-wise seem to be translations of single Westron words to English compound words to properly convey the meaning. That is the working theory of the class and there haven't been any examples so far that seem to refute it.

E. The composition of the company that goes to the Black Gate could be as simple as Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Peregrin if it was composed purely by racial representation. No need for the Sons of Elrond to be included on either side of the racial divide.
It appears to me that it is instead composed by realm:
Gandalf - chief herald and Istar (no fixed realm; representing the others who couldn't be here?)
Aragorn - Chieftan of the Dunedain (remnant of the North Kingdom)
Sons of Elrond - (Imladris and the remnant of the Noldor)
King Éomer - (Kingdom of Rohan)
Prince Imrahil - (South Kingdom in place of the Steward)
Prince Legolas - (Kingdom of Mirkwood)
Gimli - Son of Ambassador Glóin (Kingdom of Erebor and the Iron Hills)
Peregrin - Son of the Thain (The Shire)

Lothlórien isn't represented, but they are busy with Dol Goldur around this time so we can forgive them.
The Havens aren't represented, but they didn't really get an invitation, or at least didn't accept one.
Who else of the Free Peoples are missing?

F. Finally, the absolute clincher for me is the fact that they are almost 2900 years old. No member of the Race of Man has lived even half that long without the direct intervention of Eru (I'm looking at you Ar-Pharazôn). All of this also applies to Arwen (an Elf-maid) who become mortal at around 2700 years old after making the choice of Luthien. Note that the choice of Luthien was made before Elrond and Elros were born, so the choice of the Half-Elven isn't relevant to her choice.
 
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@Anthony Lawther It was just a back-nitpick. But as this old Reddit post observes, the twins are not treated by the text as e.g. Legolas is.

@Flammifer The thing Oropher did after the summons after the War of Wrath borders on clearly defying it. So I do not knows how far Mirkwood is in rebellion against it. Legolas can accept the call for himself without aby problem, so it seems not to be a permanent alienation.
 
@Anthony Lawther It was just a back-nitpick. But as this old Reddit post observes, the twins are not treated by the text as e.g. Legolas is.

@Flammifer The thing Oropher did after the summons after the War of Wrath borders on clearly defying it. So I do not knows how far Mirkwood is in rebellion against it. Legolas can accept the call for himself without aby problem, so it seems not to be a permanent alienation.
I disagree (yes, even with reddit) that the text treats them as Men rather than Elves. They are indeed treated differently to Legolas, a Sinda of Mirkwood who is introduced as a strange Elf, but also to many other characters.
Here's the full quote of what Gimli and Legolas say about the Grey Company shortly after their arrival in ROTK:
‘They are a strange company, these newcomers,’ said Gimli. ‘Stout men and lordly they are, and the Riders of Rohan look almost as boys beside them; for they are grim men of face, worn like weathered rocks for the most part, even as Aragorn himself; and they are silent.’

‘But even as Aragorn they are courteous, if they break their silence.’ said Legolas. ‘And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the others’, and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell.’
Legolas is the first of this pair to draw attention to the twins, but given the description Gimli gives it seems less that the twins blend in with the Men, and more that Gimli either didn't notice them or paid no attention to them.

Also, when they arrive at the Battle of the Pelennor the twins are once again marked out from the Dunedain, arguably their closest kindred if they are Men.

An important nuance that just struck me:
Legolas describes them "and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords" NOT "and they are as fair and gallant as Elven-Lords". Is Legolas actually comparing them to Elven-Lords, or is he simply marking their fairness and gallantry, which are attributes of Elven-Lords? It may be that I spoke wrongly, and that Elladan and Elrohir are included in the ranks of Elven-Lords, rather than being more regular Elven folk.
 
I don't understand - the sons of Elrond, as well as his daughter, are treated as elves all the way through the book. In that long passage, the word men is used the way it is used in ordinary English. Nowhere are they called men unless as part of a group that includes mostly men. If there were any present, that word would also encompass women.

Besides, anybody who looks that good at 2900 is definitely not a Man.
 
An important nuance that just struck me:
Legolas describes them "and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords" NOT "and they are as fair and gallant as Elven-Lords". Is Legolas actually comparing them to Elven-Lords, or is he simply marking their fairness and gallantry, which are attributes of Elven-Lords? It may be that I spoke wrongly, and that Elladan and Elrohir are included in the ranks of Elven-Lords, rather than being more regular Elven folk.

They are a much Elven-Lords as Eomer is a Man-Lord imho. (And they are the decendants of Thingol, which should mean something to Legolas.)

As far as I do disagree with the dismissal of Dior not being called Beren's son but Thingol's Heir in the text below (I do think this a BIG deal), I do agree with the assumption of of Elrond being by birth a mortal (due to patrilinear descent).


(And I do actually believe Tuor being counted among the Eldar. His mother has given him up at birth completetly to be raised by Annael. This was her conscient choice. This is as close as an adoption goes by human customs. So I would count him as an Half-elf by adoption. The fact that elves do not have adoption in their customs is counterbalanced by the fact that humans do.)
 
They are a much Elven-Lords as Eomer is a Man-Lord imho. (And they are the decendants of Thingol, which should mean something to Legolas.)

As far as I do disagree with the dismissal of Dior not being called Beren's son but Thingol's Heir in the text below (I do think this a BIG deal), I do agree with the assumption of of Elrond being by birth a mortal (due to patrilinear descent).


(And I do actually believe Tuor being counted among the Eldar. His mother has given him up at birth completetly to be raised by Annael. This was her conscient choice. This is as close as an adoption goes by human customs. So I would count him as an Half-elf by adoption. The fact that elves do not have adoption in their customs is counterbalanced by the fact that humans do.)
I think you make far too much of the patrilineal descent aspect, and too little of the ‘genetic’ for want of a better word.
While Humans and Elves being able to reproduce together suggests genetic compatibility, it happens so infrequently that our dataset is too small to make definitive statements. We don’t see a male Elf father a child by a female Human, so we can’t be certain of the outcome.

Despite Dior’s Human father, he certainly plays upon his Elvish heritage and even chooses names for his children that suggest an expectation of Elven fate.
 
We don’t see a male Elf father a child by a female Human, so we can’t be certain of the outcome.

Yes exactly. Which would be very interesting theologically (as in Catholic theology the promise of redemption is given to "the Woman" and even in Tolkien's works it are wise Women who preserve the memory of it. This would be give rise to a bloodline of elves whose daughters would be the carriers of the Promise of Redemption given to the humans - would be very interesting indeed. Morgoth would have had a fit, if he actually would take care to pay some attention to his badly neglected theology for once... )

Despite Dior’s Human father, he certainly plays upon his Elvish heritage and even chooses names for his children that suggest an expectation of Elven fate.

I agree 100%. I myself do think Dior IS the precedence why all the other Half-Elves were allowed to make a choice in the first place - because his choice to be counted as an Elf has been accepted (maybe as a retribution for Thingol's loss of Luthien he was allowed to keep her son).

Edit: Maybe, if the term "choice of Luthien" is used for an half-elf choosing mortality, so the term "choice of Dior" would be fitting for the choice of one choosing an elvish fate.
 
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I think Elrond chose to continue his service to Gil-Galad, explaining his choice of Elven fate, but remaining in Middle-Earth.

Given the unfinished (by JRRT) condition of The Silmarillion I find it relatively simple to set aside questions of apostacy. This is especially so, as we seem to be invited to consider many of the actions of the Valar as being ill-advised (at least in retrospect).

Apostacy is not an absolute condition, but a label applied by others. Martin Luther would be considered an Apostate by the Roman Catholic church, but not by himself or the Lutheran church. Jesus Christ would be considered an Apostate by many Jews, but not by many Christians.

The difference in perspective seems to be determined by what is considered refusal to 'continue to follow, obey, or recognize a religious faith.' In the case of Martin Luther his faith in God was never shaken, only his faith in the infallibility of the mortals in charge of the church.
For the Elves, they can have doubts about the infallibility of the Valar (with good reason) while still holding reverence for their position as the Stewards of Eru Iluvatar. Worshipping Morgoth is the true apostacy, and the Elves are not reported to be guilty of that.

Hi Anthony,

I agree with you that Apostacy is a label applied to others. I suggest that if we use 'The Silmarillion' to shape our reading of TLOTR, then we can perceive that Galdor would label Elrond and the Elves of Rivendell as Apostates. This invites us to consider whether we too should view them as such? Even if we don't want to go that far, once we know of the Summons of Manwe, we should, at least consider whether Elrond does not seem somewhat of an ingrate, and disloyal to the Valar.

If we are only close-reading TLOTR, then we don't know why some Elves chose to return to the Blessed Realms, while others remained in Middle-earth. We are free to speculate as much as we want. Once we start using 'The Silmarillion' as an authoritative source, we lose this freedom. We know about the Summons of Manwe. We must now consider that all the Elves who remain in Middle-earth (except, probably, Cirdan's Crew) do so in defiance and disobedience. Indeed, and disturbingly, they make the same choice as Sauron. "(Eonwe) commanded Sauron to return to Aman and there receive the judgement of Manwe. Then Sauron was ashamed, and he was unwilling to return in humiliation and to receive from the Valar a sentence." ('The Silmarillion', in the first paragraph of 'Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age') This is a large change in interpretation.

Our perception, I think, of Elrond, and of Galdor, should be quite different depending on whether we are only close-reading TLOTR, or are including evidence from 'The Silmarillion'. So, I think we should be aware of which perspective we, as readers, are adopting. Or we should look at both perspectives, but be aware that they are different. Muddling up the perspectives; flip-flopping from one to the other, is confusing, and not a very rigorous method of analysis?
 
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If we are only close-reading TLOTR, then we don't know why some Elves chose to return to the Blessed Realms, while others remained in Middle-earth. We are free to speculate as much as we want. Once we start using 'The Silmarillion' as an authoritative source, we lose this freedom. We know about the Summons of Manwe. We must now consider that all the Elves who remain in Middle-earth (except, probably, Cirdan's Crew) do so in defiance and disobedience. This is a large change in interpretation.
We see the whole from the perspective of hobbits - both in LOTR and in Silmarillion. I do doubt that elves have them involved into their own deeply personal spriritual matters. They have taught them some history, for sure, but I highly doubt that very personal elven spiritual choices is something that is shared with the hobbits. The nearest we come to see this any of this is to see Legolas receving and aswering the Call of the Sea. And he seems fine with postponing following it out of his loyalty to Aragorn.
 
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Hi Odola,

I disagree that we see 'The Silmarillion' from the perspective of the Hobbits. 'The Silmarillion' is not a Hobbit story. In frame, it is the lore of Rivendell, as translated by Bilbo. So, we may conjecture occasional Hobbit influences in the translation, or editing choices, but it is Elvish lore, not Hobbit lore. (I think we should be much more concerned about Christopher Tolkien's editing choices than Bilbo's!)
 
Hi Odola,

I disagree that we see 'The Silmarillion' from the perspective of the Hobbits. 'The Silmarillion' is not a Hobbit story. In frame, it is the lore of Rivendell, as translated by Bilbo. So, we may conjecture occasional Hobbit influences in the translation, or editing choices, but it is Elvish lore, not Hobbit lore. (I think we should be much more concerned about Christopher Tolkien's editing choices than Bilbo's!)

Hi Flammifer,
the data is Elvish, but Elves write no books, they tell stories or sing songs.
The form and redaction is Bilbo's.
He might have used some Numenorian records of some of those stories form Elrond's library, but those still would be human interpetations.
We have just seen how he adapts the Earendil story in his poem.
 
I am more concerned with what is out of frame about 'The Silmarillion' than what is in frame.

When 'The Silmarillion' was published in 1977, Tolkien fans generally assumed that Christopher had taken a work that was mostly completed by his father, edited it, polished it, and published it. This impression might well have been enhanced by Christopher's comment in the introduction, "In this work the concluding chapters (from the death of Turin Turambar) introduced peculiar difficulties, in that they had remained unchanged for many years, and were in some respects in serious disharmony with more developed conceptions in other parts of the book."

This sounded like JRRT had pretty much updated and finished most of 'The Silmarillion', and Christopher's input was mostly confined to the concluding chapters. As 'The History of Middle-earth' rolled out over time, it became more and more clear that JRRT had never arrived at a 'final' version which he was happy with, that he continued to revise and revise, and that Christopher had not simply picked up a mostly finished work and completed it, but had made major editorial choices, omitting many of JRRT's later writings and conceptions.

More attention, perhaps, should have been given to another Christopher comment in the introduction, "A complete consistency (either within the compass of 'The Silmarillion' itself or between 'The Silmarillion' and other published writings of my father's) is not to be looked for, and could only be achieved, if at all, at heavy and needless cost".

I think we should pay heed to Christopher's warning, and be very cautious about applying any of the Legendarium materials to a close reading of TLOTR.

What if JRRT, in the course of one of his many revisions, noticed that having Eonwe 'Summons' the Elves of Beleriand to depart from Middle-earth, cast Elrond and the Elves of Rivendell as disobedient, or apostate, and decided he didn't like it? All he would have to do is change that sentence to something like, "Then Eonwe as herald of the Elder King offered the Elves of Beleriand the gift to return to the Blessed Realms, and depart from Middle-earth"? None of his drafts was set in stone. They would not be set in stone until published. But, he never published. When Christopher did, we cannot be certain that what Christopher published is what JRRT would have eventually finalized?
 
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What if JRRT, in the course of one of his many revisions, noticed that having Eonwe 'Summons' the Elves of Beleriand to depart from Middle-earth, cast Elrond and the Elves of Rivendell as disobedient, or apostate, and decided he didn't like it? All he would have to do is change that sentence to something like, "Then Eonwe as herald of the Elder King offered the Elves of Beleriand the gift to return to the Blessed Realms, and depart from Middle-earth"? None of his drafts was set in stone. They would not be set in stone until published. But, he never published. When Christopher did, we cannot be certain that what Christopher published is what JRRT would have eventually finalized?
Then Galdor of the Havens could be Galdor of the Tree again - and not a sissy - hurray!
 
I see a couple relevant passages here. The first is from the end of chapter 24 "Of the Voyage of Earendil and the War of Wrath":

In those days there was a great building of ships upon the shores of the Western Sea; and thence in many a fleet the Eldar set sail into the West, and came never back to the lands of weeping and of war. And the Vanyar returned beneath their white banners, and were borne in triumph to Valinor; but their joy in victory was diminished, for they returned without the Silmarils from Morgoth’s crown, and they knew that those jewels could not be found or brought together again unless the world be broken and remade.
And when they came into the West the Elves of Beleriand dwelt upon Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, that looks both west and east; whence they might come even to Valinor. They were admitted again to the love of Manwë and the pardon of the Valar; and the Teleri forgave their ancient grief, and the curse was laid to rest.
Yet not all the Eldalië were willing to forsake the Hither Lands where they had long suffered and long dwelt; and some lingered many an age in Middle-earth. Among those were Círdan the Shipwright, and Celeborn of Doriath, with Galadriel his wife, who alone remained of those who led the Noldor to exile in Beleriand. In Middle-earth dwelt also Gil-galad the High King, and with him was Elrond Half-elven, who chose, as was granted to him, to be numbered among the Eldar; but Elros his brother chose to abide with Men. And from these brethren alone has come among Men the blood of the Firstborn and a strain of the spirits divine that were before Arda; for they were the sons of Elwing, Dior’s daughter, Lúthien’s son, child of Thingol and Melian; and Eärendil their father was the son of Idril Celebrindal, Turgon’s daughter of Gondolin.


Note that Cirdan is clearly grouped with the likes of Celeborn and Galadriel. The second passage is from the Akallabeth, and I assume it's the main passage in question here:

The Eldar they summoned to return into the West, and those that hearkened to the summons dwelt in the Isle of Eressëa; and there is in that land a haven that is named Avallónë, for it is of all cities the nearest to Valinor, and the tower of Avallónë is the first sight that the mariner beholds when at last he draws nigh to the Undying Lands over the leagues of the Sea.

If we subscribe to the apostacy theory, we are left with a major problem: neither Cirdan nor Galdor himself dwell upon Tol Eressea, despite our being told that those who hearkened dwelt there. I see three potential solutions to this problem.

First, there is the possibility that Cirdan and Galdor are themselves "apostate". I reject this reading because, even if we accept the idea of Elven apostasy, Cirdan's assigned job would seem to be at odds with such a title.

Speaking of assigned jobs, the next possibility is that Cirdan and the Elves of the Havens have some sort of special permission to stay which the others don't. I reject this reading as well, because we have Cirdan listed right alongside the supposedly apostate Elves. If Cirdan was given special permission, why shouldn't we think the others were given it as well? Even if the text did not explicitly call out Cirdan's position in contrast to the others, I would at least expect him to be named separately, rather than lumped in with those who lingered.

And it is upon that word that I think the most likely answer lies. Some Elves lingered; not rejected/refused/etc. The Elves who stayed did not utterly oppose the idea of returning West; they simply took a bit longer to get there. I feel that the lack of Valarian judgement regarding their decision, as well as the fact that all of them did ultimately make it to the West, makes this the most likely reading.

So ultimately, I don't believe that Galdor actually views the other Elves as apostates, or else he's an even bigger fool than the class has given him credit for being.
 
Hi JJ48,

Good post. I have the vague feeling that I have encountered somewhere in the legendarium a passage about Cirdan which either states or implies that he had dispensation to remain in Middle-earth, to provide the ferry service. But I can't remember where it might be. If you have (or anyone has) a digital and searchable legendarium, maybe you can find references to Cirdan which might shed more light on this?
 
Yet not all the Eldalië were willing to forsake the Hither Lands where they had long suffered and long dwelt; and some lingered many an age in Middle-earth. Among those were Círdan the Shipwright, and Celeborn of Doriath, with Galadriel his wife, who alone remained of those who led the Noldor to exile in Beleriand.

This is like the discussion in this class of the meeting with Gildor, where Corey said Gildor's word "tarrying" might involve tarrying for several thousand years. Tarrying and lingering would seem to be the same thing. Gildor also says that the Elves have their own concerns and business that has nothing to do with other creatures of Middle-earth. Yet at the Council, the Elves are part of the greater history of Middle-earth and of the great task of deciding the fate of the Ring and the fate of the world. Or maybe that is still part of where their paths cross and it becomes merely a part of the long story of the Elves in Middle-earth?
 
Hi JJ48,

Good post. I have the vague feeling that I have encountered somewhere in the legendarium a passage about Cirdan which either states or implies that he had dispensation to remain in Middle-earth, to provide the ferry service. But I can't remember where it might be. If you have (or anyone has) a digital and searchable legendarium, maybe you can find references to Cirdan which might shed more light on this?

If so, I don't find it in the trilogy or with The Silmarillion. Plenty of mention that he plans to stay until the last ship sails, but I see no indication that he has or needs special permission to do so.
 
Thanks JJ48,

I am thinking that I remember some sort of special relationship between Cirdan and Ulmo, but I can't remember where from. I wouldn't be surprised if Cirdan had turned to Ulmo to see if it was OK to remain in Middle-earth to provide the ferry service?.

I certainly think that the Valar approved of the ferry service. This is indicated by the fact that they left the Old Straight Path in place once the world was made round, and the Blessed Realms removed from the circles of the world.
 
There is a passage where Ulmo gives a command to Cirdan, but I don't think it's related to the ferry service.

Now it came to pass, when four hundred and ninety-five years had passed since the rising of the Moon, in the spring of the year, there came to Nargothrond two Elves, named Gelmir and Arminas; they were of Angrod’s people, but since the Dagor Bragollach they dwelt in the south with Círdan the Shipwright. From their far journeys they brought tidings of a great mustering of Orcs and evil creatures under the eaves of Ered Wethrin and in the Pass of Sirion; and they told also that Ulmo had come to Círdan, giving warning that great peril drew nigh to Nargothrond.
‘Hear the words of the Lord of Waters!’ said they to the King. ‘Thus he spoke to Círdan the Shipwright: “The Evil of the North has defiled the springs of Sirion, and my power withdraws from the fingers of the flowing waters. But a worse thing is yet to come forth. Say therefore to the Lord of Nargothrond: Shut the doors of the fortress and go not abroad. Cast the stones of your pride into the loud river, that the creeping evil may not find the gate.”’


I'm certain that the Valar approve of Cirdan's service; I'm just not convinced that it sets him apart in an, "everyone who stayed is wrong except him," kind of way.
 
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