Can anything good come from Men?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Okay, it seems that we've more or less exhausted a discussion of the possible exceptions to the general inference that Men tend to be evil unless they have some kind of experience with the Eldar, direct or indirect.

I'm curious: why is contact with the Eldar so crucial?

Well, once again, I would say that it was not the contact with Eldar per se, it was rather the contact with Valar, or rather "with the Light from the West". The Eldar were the best "medium" through which this light might come (meaning, of course, those who have seen the Light, in some way). I think that is told quite obviously at some moments of the Silmarillion.