[amyrlis]

Also remember that the Elves only had alliances with the first 3 ruling houses of the Edain - Beor, Hador and Haleth. Almost all other men of the First Age aligned themselves with the Dark Lord out of fear, i.e. the Easterlings, or had not come over the mountains yet. The only descendants of these three houses which remained in the 3rd Age were those of Elrond and the line of Elros. The Elves were indeed friendly to Aragorn, the descendant of Elros. Now, the line of Elros was that of the Kings of Numenor, and you could say that the Elves were friendly with Numenoreans, which later became Gondorians. But, the Elves did not live among the Men in Numenor, and through generation after generation, something of the bond between Elves & Men could have been lost. The Fall of Numenor pushed the bond even farther assunder. The Faithful who returned to Middle Earth and built Gondor were Elf-friends, but after the Last Alliance, there were not many Elves left in Middle Earth. Their appearance in the cities of Men probably became less and less frequent. Especially with the ruling house absent from the throne. With the short lifespan of men, generations passed and those who really knew Elves were gone. So, the Elves in Middle Earth became more of a legend than a reality to Men. Just as Eomer thinks that The Lady of the Golden Wood is a sort of witch. The mistrust grew more out of lack of knowledge and estrangement than out of resentment, I think. I really don't imagine that the Elves, as a whole, are capable of resenting Men for their inevitable dominion of Middle Earth. It was part of the song (of the Ainur), and the Elves, in their forsight and wisdom, knew that it was coming. They knew they would have to return to Valinor. Also, I think they avoided the struggles with Sauron, leaving them to the Men, not because they felt they had suffered enough and didn't want anymore losses, but because that was part of their fading. They were supposed to, in a way, let go of Middle Earth. Perhaps their "business & labors" were of gathering those who were lost and saying good-bye to the forests and streams of Middle Earth. Anyway, just my thoughts.