(The Sun was around from the beginning and so no longer made sense as a starting point.) At this point Tolkien had decided that the First Age would start counting from the awakening of the elves.

In a footnote on the above text, Christopher Tolkien says that he has 'not found any statement of the nature of the kinship', so it's probably not a lot to go on, but lacking anything else it is what we will go on.ДЄs it happens, we do have exact dates of birth for both OlwГ« and ElwГ«, given around the same time as when Tolkien first said CГrdan and ElwГ« were kin. The War of the Jewels - 'Quendi and Eldar' This is similar to something Tolkien said previously in 1959-60:Д®lwe himself had indeed long and beautiful hair of silver hue, but this does not seem to have been a common feature of the Sindar, though it was found among them occasionally, especially in the nearer or remoter kin of Elwe (as in the case of CГrdan). The Peoples of Middle-earth - 'Last Writings: CГrdan' He was thus also akin to ElwГ«, OlwГ«'s elder brother, acknowledged as high-king of all the Teleri in Beleriand, even after he withdrew to the guarded realm of Doriath.

The closest I can find to a statement about CГrdan's birth is this statement from c.1972-3 that he was 'akin' to OlwГ« and ElwГ«.Д¬Гrdan was a Telerin Elf, one of the highest of those who were not transported to Valinor but became known as the Sindar, the Grey-elves he was akin to OlwГ«, one of the two kings of the Teleri, and lord of those who departed over the Great Sea.

To answer according to Tolkien's later expanded chronology of the first age: Probably around 8,300 years old, but definitely between 7,700 and 10,500

The end of the third age