Elves

Who or what exactly were Elfs? They have several names,Elfs,The Eldar,the Firstborn. They were the first and most favorite of Erus children.They were immortal beings,though not eternal.When Arda(the world)perished so would they. They did not suffer from old age or disease but could perish from mortal wounds and could also die from apathy(they grew weary of life).After death there sould would travel to the Halls of Mandos a God who lived in the blessed realm where after a period of time they could be reborn if they so chose,how long that took to happen and how I do not know,Professor Tolkien was rather vague on this subject.There were different sets and subsets of Elfs.When the Valar(Gods) asked them to journey to live with them in the Blessed Realms some did some didn't.Of those that did a reat many left and were made exiles after Feanor, the greatest Elf, convinced them to leave what was supposed to be a gift of living with the Gods and instead was portrayed to them,by Feanor, as a captivity.Along the way these Elfs slew many of their own kindman in order to gain their boats.The most famous of Elfs were the Elfs mentioned in the LOTR,Galadriel,Legolas,Elrond.Of these Elrond was a Half-Elf, born to parents of which one was mortal anfd the other immortal(Human/Elf).Eru allowed the Half-Elfen upon obtaining a certain age to choose wether to live as Elf or Man.Elrond chose to live as an Elf and his brother Elros chose to live as a man.Were Elfs greater than man? I would have to surmise the answere is Yes.They have century upon century to live and during this time they acquired great knowledge and created many wonderful things.Eventuall Man who was much more reproductive than the Elfs grew mightier in numbers though and by the end of the Third Age,Elfs were returning to live with the Gods in the Blessed Realm and so their time had passed.Even though they lived untold centuries there were still some who were prideful,petty,vainful and at times downright stupid,Sauron played them for fools when he tricked them and made the one ring to control theirs,there lust for knowledge was their undoing..Below is  a list of the many and varied Elf types in Middle Earth. Concerned that Melkor would harm the newly awakened elves known as Quendi,, the Valar called them to come to Valinor from Middle-earth. Three elves, Ingwë, Finwe, and Elwë, came with the Vala Orome to scout Valinor and, pleased with what they saw, returned to lead their people back there. This journey with the dropping off along the way is the major cause for the different types of elves; it is referred to in the Silmarillion as the Sundering of the Elves                                                                                            Quendi
Moriquendi / Dark Elves
 Avari /Refusers
    Úmanyar
        Nandor
           Silvans / Woodland Elves / Wood-elves
           Laiquendi / Green Elves
        Falathrim
        Sindar / Edhel / Elves of the Twilight / Grey Elves. The Teleri who missed the boat.
Calaquendi / Eldar / Light Elves
    Teleri / Lindar
    Noldor
       Noldorin Exiles
    Vanyar