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"The third cycle of life," aging, and facial hair

Despite Tolkien's statements in The Hobbit that Elves (and Hobbits) have no beards, Círdan in fact has a beard, which appears to be an anomaly and a simple oversight. However, Tolkien later devised at least three "cycles of life" for Elves around 1960; Círdan had a beard because he was in his third cycle of life. (Mahtan, Nerdanel's father, had a beard in his second cycle of life, a rare phenomenon.) It is unclear what these cycles exactly are, since Tolkien left no notes further explaining this. Apparently, beards were the only sign of further natural physical aging beyond maturity.

Círdan is described briefly in The Lord of the Rings as appearing very old save for his eyes, with a consistent long silver beard. The beard, which originally was a subject of controversy among Tolkien fans as Elves allegedly did not have beards, was rationalized in the History of Middle-earth when it came out, where it is said that elves could grow beards in the "third cycle" of their lives (although what a cycle is remains uncertain). Other beard-growing elves included Mahtan and Tinfang Gelion (uncanonical). His apparent age may come from the many pains and troubles he has seen on Middle-earth (though Galadriel and Celeborn saw comparatively few less), though the terminology might also be a way to emphasize his ancientness.