I get knocked down but I get up again - you're never going to keep me down.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Rhod the Red

"the Elves have cut themselves off for so long that they've lost touch with what's really going on in the world."

Huh? So they didn't know what was happening outside their own borders? No offence, but that view is very disproven by the content of The Lord of the Rings . The leading Elves are very informed, by magical and general scouting sources of the events of late, in Middle-earth and play their part(defensive) against the Dark Power of the East.

I was referring to their psychological state, not their level of intelligence. Tolkien is clear on this in a number of letters & comments, where he describes them as 'embalmers' & speaks of them as being essentially backward looking, & being 'pushed backwards' into the future. See my post here