Thread:Count of Howard/@comment-28083312-20170429182047/@comment-29826282-20170429190625

Ye, any elf. Straight out of Valinor the high elves were practically godlike Eh, not sure I buy this. Yeah, they were powerful, having seen the Trees and lived among the Valar, but Tolkien makes a point to emphasize during the Doom of Mandos scene that they were still physical beings capable of dying by the sword, even if they didn't fall prey to disease and could survive injuries men could not. A number of them died while crossing the Grinding Ice, remember. They weren't immortal (well, their spirits were, but you know what I mean).

Sure, Fëanor was awesome for an elf, able to take on multiple balrogs, but he still fell for their obvious trap & then tipped like a cow. Yeah, that's Tolkien's point tho. His hubris is what caused his downfall, just as his earlier hubris in leading the Noldor from Valinor resulted in the destruction of his house and the deaths of many of the Eldar. He wasn't a chump, he just arrogant beyond belief.

the elves became exponentially weaker after they left Eh. Men had only just arisen at that point and were still in their infancy. If anything, it was the noontime of the Eldar, and after Fëanor, Fingolfin was arguably the best. Besides, that doesn't explain the boss Sindarin elves who never saw Valinor or only saw it briefly (a la Thingol, Beleg, Mablung, etc) and who still kick ass in Middle-earth.