Glorfindel reincarnated

[Nerwen]

I believe the Galadriel/Feanor quotation referred to several times, but never posted, is one of these two:

Galadriel was the greatest of the Noldor, except Fëanor maybe, though she was wiser than he, and her wisdom increased with the long years.

These two kinsfolk, the greatest of the Eldar of Valinor, were unfriends for ever.

(Both from UT, The History of Galadriel and Celeborn.)

And now, a general comment: it’s best not to get too combative over Tolkien’s use of superlatives. Yes, at some points he'll describe a given character as “the wisest”, or “the fairest” or “the greatest”– but at other times he describes other characters the same way. No doubt– writing as he did over a period of decades– he sometimes forgot what he’d said previously– or else he just didn't mean these statements in the spirit of utter literalism in which people often appear to take them.

I know some see ways out of these apparent contradictions, but those seem to me to rely on hair-splitting and not-very-well-founded assumptions. For example, where is the evidence that Tolkien always meant completely different things by “might” and “greatness”? I just feel there’s quite a bit of circular reasoning going on here.