[Overtaxed]

I forgot to add that after Gil-Galad's death, the Exiles were pardoned and most went home.

So everything's just hunky-dory, I suppose. :D

But then again, the Elves shouldn't have been in Middle Earth to begin with, shouldn't they.

[JenB]

Should the Elves have been in Middle-Earth? Yes and no... it's pretty clear that the Valar should not have summonsed the Elves to Valinor, but once there, it wasn't that they were forbidden to leave. They just sort of left in a hurry, without asking permission. And then they wouldn't come back... saying they shouldn't have been there is silly, because there were always Elves in Middle-Earth. For a while there were no High Elves, because they were all in Valinor, but there were Moriquendi, and Thingol's Elves. And if they hadn't come back we'd have none of these pretty stories and songs, including LotR. Well, we might have Beren and Luthien, but it would be missing a couple bits.