Are the Elves Foolish?

[Meriadoc1961]

I don't know if one can say that ALL elves are wise or ALL elves are foolish. Some are wise, and some are not so wise. Should we say the elves who let Bilbo and the Dwarves escape through the trap door acted wisely by getting drunk? Or should we say they acted foolish? Or should we say that in that case they behaved foolishly, just as they behaved foolishly by singing a song that poked fun of Thorin and Co. and mentioned Bilbo and keyholes as Gandalf, Bilbo and the Dwarves descended into the valley of Rivendell?

Did Thranduil behave foolishly or act wisely by imprisoning Thorin and the Dwarves?

Did Thranduil not show wisdom and compassion by helping the people of Lake Town after Smaug's attack?

Since I am sounding like an Elf myself by saying both yea and nay, I will now offer my opinion: As a general rule I believe the Elves are a wise people, and their leaders, at least by the end of the Third Age, are among the wisest of all individuals.

Merry