Elrond ruled over the last highly populated realm west of the Misty Mountains. With their population significantly lessened and their lack of stemming the slow decay of their influence following the death of Gil Galad would have given most Elves reason to leave.Įregion, the country where the Noldor (Galadriel's people) had concentrated in the Second Age, had by the time of LOTR fallen into decay and been abandoned.
The prosperity of the men in the following years, while there was still a High King of those realms, signified to most of the Eldar that their time in Middle Earth would soon be at an end, especially as much of their own realms had been lost even before Sauron came to power, such as Gondolin. At the time of the Lord of the Rings, more and more of the Elven population of Middle Earth have decided to return to the Undying Lands, due in part to the original rise of Sauron from which they endured heavy casualties but could not quite recover as the men of Gondor and Arnor did.
