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Thanks for your replies! They had answered much of my curiosity about the livelihood of these races, but some of my questions persisted.
1. So, orcs breed after the fashion of the elves? That is a big shock to me, considering that there were close to no sources about orcish females. I suppose one might presume that orcish females are as revolting as the males and are just as expendable as every other breed of orcs... Then again, how the dark powers such as Morgoth and Sauron, and even Saruman, could rise and equip hordes upon hordes of orcs in such short time have always astonished me. (Yes, astonished. If one does not count the Balrog which also commanded the orcs in Moria) Those armies were not ragtag: they had equipments and leadership.
One more thing that occured to me: Aragorn said that orcs would sometimes venture outside in the sun if they had a dead captain to avenge. Sounds really quaint that orcs are 'endeared' to their captains. (Contrast with the 'spirit of Mordor' that Sam rationalised while in Mordor)
2. I think I read in the Hobbit that ravens could communicate with dwarves. That did not sound all that surprising considering the fact that Bard the Archer heard of Smaug's weakness from an old thrush. Yes, the livelihood of Dwarves seemed pretty much straightened out. Except for the fact that Dwarves seemed to degenerate in toughness as the ages go by. Behold! The Dwarves in the First Age bested the Father of Dragons! (Arguably, Glaurang is not a winged dragon) The Dwarves of Erebor were surprise attacked, of course, but I should have supposed that they would fight all the more stubbornly to defend one of their last cities. Thorin and his companions had to make do with stealth, and it was a Man that finally slayed Smaug.
3. You know, when I come to think of it, the rise of the Shire and fury of the Ents seemed really similar. The only difference that I could think of is that Merry and Pippin did not participate actively in the Ents' uprising. The scouring of the Shire was about their own homes, so it is very understandable that they should rise up so ferociously. In this, however, I found Frodo extremely lacklustre. Perhaps he was too tired to care? Compare his behaviour at the end with the one he used to have. I belief he mentioned that sometimes he wished there would be an invasion of dragons so as to wake up those sleepy hobbit-folks, but he would rather the Shire be safe while he is gone.
4. The Ents had a really structured livelihood, in fact, much more so than the Elves. They had mates, they could construct dams, they drink, they had a language, they garden, they could even muster an army. Treebeard seemed almost human, with his talk with Pippin and Merry... I could picture an old grandfather rambling on with his grandchildren. I should have thought that a creature that is almost as old and the earth itself would be as obscure as the elves...
5. As I said, Elven-lore is very obscure indeed. Excelling in virtually everything, they really seemed too outworldly to exist in Middle-Earth. In fact, I could grow to like Hobbits and Dwarves better than any elves. In all the books except for the Hobbit, Elves seemed very high-browed and wise, and that made them horrible people to live with. In fact, to be termed elf-friend sounds a lot like a title bestowed upon a lowly crawling creature that somehow gained favour among their race.
The point that I am trying to drive is that why should they remain on Middle-Earth when they could have an even more blissed life in Aman? I don't think I could imagine the Elves would be missing their life in Middle-Earth. After the breaking of Beleriand, much of their glorious heritage would have disappeared. The rise of Sauron made their lives even more precarious. When I come to think of it, I almost felt as if Prof T is trying to make a Paradise Lost linger just to make sure that nobody forgets. But since all mortals die, people will still forget anyway.
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