Nice kingdom; I'll take it.

I found myself reading a badly-worded lament somewhere out on the grand and stupid internet, regarding elves and how some people don't like what they have "become", because elves should be peaceful, tree-hugging, mellow and dispassionate beings.

Setting aside the fact that 1) similar beings existed in folklore for *quite* some time before Tolkien cooked up his version, and 2) even his elves clearly undertook military training... do you know what happens to societies that are peaceful, mellow, and make a point of avoiding technological progress?

They get mowed down and enslaved by the first expansion-happy, warlike civilization that finds them, that's what--and it's a dull, dull fantasy setting that lacks one of those.