Who do you reckon is the braver race in general, men or elves?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Well (unfortunately I'll be a little brief here), I think it's a good point you raise, but I think it's not that inappropriate to find some common "racial traits" (and by the way, as for species or race or whatever word you use, I don't see difference here... it will be playing with words, what we simply mean by it here is Elves, Dwarves, Men... everyone knows what it means). Of course you can't apply some trait on every single individual, but in Middle-Earth, in some things, on the contrary to our world, there really are differences between the races. The Dwarves have something specific about them, as do the Elves, as do the Orcs and even Hobbits compared to the Men - and ALL Dwarves, ALL Elves... etc. seem to have it. Or are supposed to have it, the way the books portray it. Of course, it will be a matter of interesting "post-modern" (in the best sense) interpretation to try to say that in fact, there was nothing like specific racial traits and that the only thing all the Dwarves, all the Elves etc. have in common is that they have some common ancestry, culture etc.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

I suspect the answer would depend on whom you asked. An Elf (aside from a really empathetic one like Finrod) would argue 'what difference does a paltry few years make, anyway?' Certainly I can see Thingol saying something like that. Whereas a Man of course would say quite the opposite, along Andreth's lines.

[Lush]

This is a tough, and interesting sort of question.

I'd look at it purely from the perspective of personal sacrifice, and say that it was braver for humans to give up their lives. I don't think the book gives us specific clues as to whether or not one race was braver than the other. I'd say that the act of willingly giving one's life is a bigger deal for a human, from what I understand.