[Mithalwen]

Farael, I think you are being a little harsh of the Elves, the Last Alliance really was their last hurrah. I think that the number of elves remaining in Middle Earth at the time of LOTR was really very small. There are four settlements of elves remaining and only two if them are "realms". I imagine the communities of Mithlond and Imladris were very small, albeit as home to all that remained of the Noldor save Galadriel, made up of relatively powerful individuals. Mithlond reamined to facilitate the departure of the elves and Imladris was a last ditch refuge for the free peoples and a base for Elrond to use his power to hold off the enemy as long as possible. Elrond isn't staying for his "kingdom". He never took the title of king he was surely entitled to after Gil-galad died. His personal interests would surely have been better served to have left years before. Despite his advice being ignored by Isildur, he stays the course charted by the ring being allowed to survive and his personal loss is all the greater. Imagine the course of events had Elrond reamained to provide a refuge for Bilbo and healing for Frodo.

Galadriel has other issues but she too remains and plays a vital if relatively passive part. Her silvan folk and Thranduil's were much more reclusive. Nevertheless Thranduil led home barely a third of the army that had departed for the last alliance. Those numbers are extremely unlikely to have been replenished.

I expect that the elves had lost their taste for war (and who could blame them - think of Elrond's word at the council- they had seen many defeats and fruitless victories) but they were not cowards and did not fear death. It was no longer their role to be agressors