We know that Sam sailed west in F.O. 61. Cirdan sailed west in the last ship he had made at the Grey Havens. Celeborn sailed west sometime after Cirdan, but it is undocumented whether Elladan and Elrohir accompanied him (I assume they did). Legolas and Gimli took their own ship after Aragorn's death in F.O. 120.

So, any thoughts on the Timeline? All we know is that Sam went west before Legolas and Gimli, and Cirdan went west before Celeborn (with the twins or not).

I'm not sure what the question is. As you say, we have dates for Sam and Legolas/Gimli, though the sailings of both Sam and Gimli both have weasel words -- "it is said" for Gimli, and family tradition only for Sam (good enough for me, though).

At Aragorn's death he gave Arwen the option to repent and go west, but she said "there is now no ship that would bear me hence." This is undoubtedly due to her choice rather than an absence of shipping, even if the Havens were no more (unlikely, since Aragorn mentioned them) Legolas didn't build his ship until after Aragorn's death and surely would have not refused Arwen on his own account.

Arwen went to Lorien in 120 instead, but Celeborn was already gone and "the land was silent." We know from the prologue and appendix he left Lorien "after a few years" to go to Rivendell and hang out with his grandtwins. But eventually he went to the Havens -- "but there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens, and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth."

Elladan/Elrohir would not have memory of the Elder Days, if we define that as first age (should we?). However, Cirdan also dates back to the first age and told Gandalf that he would take the *last* ship West, so unless he broke that intention I don't see how he could have gone West before Celeborn (or for that matter, before Elladan/Elrohir). To reconcile the two statements you'd need them to take ship together along with all other remaining Noldor, which is certainly possible.

My question was where the Sam and Legolas/Gimli departures fell in or around the Cirdan and Celeborn departures.

On Tolkien Gateway's Celeborn page, it says " After Círdan's departure Celeborn was the last of the Wise in Middle-earth, they that had seen the struggles of Elvenkind. It is not recorded when he sought the Grey Havens and sailed west, but when he did so he took with him the last memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth⁷." Emphasis mine. The source note was to the Unfinished Tales. I do not count the twins as having seen the Elder Days (which can refer to the Ages of Lamps and Trees, or include the First Age). Also,

16 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-earth

But Cirdan was around back in the Elder Days. Cirdan's taking of the Last Ship, even though Celeborn went west after him confused me as well.

16 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

Legolas didn't build his ship until after Aragorn's death and surely would have not refused Arwen on his own account.

Arwen went to Lorien in 120 instead, but Celeborn was already gone and "the land was silent.

Given this, it seems the order would be: the Ringbearers, Sam, Cirdan ("last ship"), Celeborn (twins or no), Legolas/Gimli.

Oops, just realized the double thread. Is there a way to delete one? If not, mods, please lock the other thread.

It has begun to sink anyway ;).

If Cirdan indeed go west on the "last ship" from the Grey Havens, it's difficult to see how Celeborn could take his departure from the Grey Havens *after* the last ship. I can't rule out the possibility that they left together, though.

The "last memory of Elder Days" would seem to preclude Cirdan being around any longer, since he dates back to the first age. The second sentence is essentially taken from the prologue to the Lord of the Rings -- but I think it may be misinterpreted. Let me give the relevant portion:

"It was probably at Great Smials that The Tale of Years [footnote -- Represented in much reduced form in Appendix B as far as the end of the Third Age] was put together, with the assistance of material collected by Meriodoc. Though the dates given are often conjectural, especially for the Second Age, they deserve attention. It is probable that Meriadoc obtained assistance and information from Rivendell, which he visited more than once. There, though Elrond had departed, his sons long remained, together with some of the High-elven folk. It is said that Celeborn went to dwell there after the departure of Galadriel; but there is no record of the day when at last he sought the Grey Havens, and with him went the last living memory of the Elder Days in Middle-Earth."

Within the context of the paragraph, I think the "last living memory" really means the last living memory of "Elder Days in Middle Earth" at Rivendell, where Meriodoc was collecting the information that went into Peregrin's Tale of Years. Merry did talk to twins and Noldor there, but Celeborn was already gone and there was no one remaining who could give him dates from the First Age. If this interpretation is correct, then we have a better idea of the time line. Merry and Pippin left the shire for good in S.R. 1484 (year 63 in the 4th age), so well before the departure of Legolas/Gimli after Aragorn's death. As I showed, Aragorn at least believed the Grey Havens were active in 120, so Cirdan was still there and the last ship had not sailed. Meanwhile, Celeborn had already left, without the twins, sometime prior to 63. Sam sailed in S.R. 1482, only two years earlier, so it is highly likely that Celeborn's sailing preceded Sam's.

The prologue does not, of course, mention Cirdan's departure. The footnote after the second sentence you gave references not the prologue (unusual, since the second sentence is clearly derived from it), but"History of Galadriel and Celeborn" in the Unfinished Tales. This doesn't mention sailing, but it *does* mention Tolkien's conception of Celeborn as a Telerin prince, rather than Sindarin -- this puts an entirely different spin on his "memory of Elder Days" in that he was an exile who had been to the Blessed Land, unlike Cirdan. But given the information in the appendices I think we should assume that when the prologue was written Tolkien believed Celeborn to be Sindarin -- and experience beyond the sea isn't memory of Elder Days "in Middle Earth" anyways.

So I would take the ordering as follows:

Celeborn [?]

Sam [61]

Gimli/Legolas [120]

Cirdan [?]

The twins would have left sometime between Sam and Cirdan. I don't accept the Tolkien Gateway's "After Cirdan" as authoritative, given that it is not referenced and I think the prologue sentence in context doesn't exclude Cirdan. As he said, "I will dwell by the grey shores until the last ship sails." If you look at the competing One Wiki To Rule Them All (lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Cirdan) it accepts that and calls him "last of all the elves to leave Middle Earth." That wiki is no more authoritative than the other, of course -- and references to Tolkien's own writings show inconsistencies because the story was changing in his mind until the day he died. But in this case I think Celeborn leaving before Cirdan is more consistent with the information published by Tolkien within his lifetime.

Ah, that's an interesting idea! It's stretching the words a bit too much for me, though. I think I'm going to go with Cirdan and Celeborn leaving together. Good discussion.