Luthien: Maia or Elf.

[Formendacil]

Excellent points all, Heren_Istarion, but I feel it necessary to point out that I wasn't necessarily comparing Galadriel and, or saying that Elrond was the greater. Galadriel is, after all, accorded near-Feanor status near the end of Tolkien's life, and is certainly Elrond' peer. On the flip side, Elrond has his own areas of talent that seem to eclipse Galadriel: healing and lore in particular (as well as Maiar blood).

What I was arguing was not so much that Elrond was the equal of Galadriel, but that the later Elves were the equals of the earlier Elves (in middle-earth. Valinor fits only unfairly into the equation). As I was saying, there were exceptions to this rule (Gondolin is quite clearly the greatest Elven kingdom ever in middle-earth, and Doriath's possession of a Maia queen is unfair for defensive comparisoms), but in general, I think that the average 2nd/3rd Age Elf was pretty much the equal of the 1st Age Elf, that the inherent power in each Elf was NOT diminished over the generations, although perhaps the amount of progeny did.