[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Ok, some more on the issue of the rings (letter #181):

"The 'Three Rings' were 'unsullied', because this object was in a limited way good, it included the healing of the real damages of malice, as well as the mere arrest of change; and the Elves did not desire to dominate other wills, nor to usurp all the world to their particular pleasure.But with the downfall of 'Power' their little efforts at preserving the past fell to bits. There was nothing more in Middle-earth for them, but weariness. So Elrond and Galadriel depart."
I would agree with the first tradition; concerning the second one, Men could only truly advance in matters of wisdom, since their hroar are continuously erroded - unless there is a special divine intervention to help them.
Tolkien does reffer to Numenoreans as "Man rehabilitated", although that was true only for a short while.

Well, that is a bit of a strawman, since I wasn't reffering to the One ring, but to the elven use of magic, concerning which (letter #155):

"Magia could be, was, held good (per se), and goeteia bad. Neither is, in this tale, good or bad (per se), but only by motive or purpose or use. Both sides use both, but with different motives"

Fair enough.

From the letter #131:

"The doom of the Elves is to be immortal, to love the beauty of the world, to bring it to full flower with their gifts of delicacy and perfection, to last while it lasts, never leaving it even when 'slain', but returning - and yet, when the Followers come, to teach them, and make way for them, to 'fade' as the Followers grow and absorb the life from which both proceed"

If Tolkien considered his Elves' primary purpose to be the elevation of Man, then he did not write what he intended. All the reading I've done reveals that the Elves' primary purpose was subcreation; teaching Men was a by-product.