: :
: : Your points one by one:

: : There was ALOT more than eight.

: Indeed, although only 8 members of the Noldor swore the Oath of Feanor - Feanor and his sons, noone else did, they just followed Feanor into exile.
: : The exiles comprised Feanor and his seven(7)sons and their kin as well as his brother Fingolfin. Feanor and his sons were cursed since they alone took the oath to recover the Silmarils. The other son's of Finwe: Fingolfin and Finarfin (and their people by extension) did not. This is made clear implicitly in the Valenquenta.

: Agreed

: : The other 'High' elves Olwe (of Aqualonde) and Elwe (Thingol)
: : were not exiles, however, the daughter of Olwe(Earwen)was wife to Finarfin and mother of Galadriel. Finarfin, alone of the sons
: : of Finwe, forsook the march to Middle-earth and was pardoned by the Valar. His sons, however did not turn back because of their friendship with the sons of Fongolfin.
: : The exiles included:

: : Finarfin (who turned back and was pardoned. We can't count him)
: : and his children: Finrod (Felagund) Orodreth, Aegnor, Angrod and Galadriel and all their people.

: : and

: : Fingolfin and his children:Fingon,Turgon and Aredhel
: : and all their people.

: : They chose to follow Feanor into Middle-Earth so they came under the Ban of the Valar. Feanor and his sons were EXILED by the Valar because of the oath ( I refer you to page 85 of the Valenquenta.

: Agreed

: : as far as Galadriel not taking the oath,

: : I refer you to pages 83-85 of The Valenqueneta, Chapter9,
: : 'Of the Flight of the Noldor'

: : Bottom of page 83. "...Finrod was with Turgon, his friend:
: : but Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day
: : tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone. NO OATHS SHE SWORE, but the words of Feanor concerning
: : Middle-Earth had knindled in her heart, for she yearned to see the wide unguarded lands and to rule there a realm AT HER OWN WILL" (empshasis mine)

: Agreed but Tolkein drafted many versions of Galadriels history, this is only one of them.

::SNIP

Point taken. However, that Galadriel swore no oath is what Christoper ended up putting in the Allen & Ullwin First Ed. (1977) of 'The Silmarillion', I mean hey it's in there and you can't deny that! Many things about the text were (as he admitted) editorial in nature. I agree that JRR was working on many variations of the development of Galadriel right up to his death, however, her character was one of the very few
that was changing (dramaticaly) right up to the end. Christopher
discourses on this at length in 'The Unfinished Tales'.
: :
: : Your statement/point about 'There was no one ring in the first age" I don't understand. Perhaps I was unclear and didn't finish my sentence.

: : What I am saying is that Galadriel rejected the pardon of the Valar at then end of the first age for two reasons:

: : (1)She still whished to rule a kingdom there.
: : In Tolkien's notes (The Unfished Tales. by Christopher Tolkien
: : 'Concerning Galadriel and Celeborn'

: : (2)It was not her duty (nor her fate) to depart Middle-Earth
: : until Sauron was defeated and all that she desired was within her grasp.

: Untrue, she COULD NOT depart Middle-Earth at any time until she rejected the ring, she was banned from returning. She believed that her sojourn in M-E was perennial - she was according to Tolkein the last one left (at end T.A) to whom a ban on returning to Valinor remained.

:SNIP

Point Not Taken. It is implicit in both the Valenquenta and the
notes (And in the "Unfinished Tales', among others) that her PRIMARY motivation for breaking the ban of the Valar
and leaving for Middle-earth was her own hubris or pride.
(This was her sin, if you want to think of it that way!)
She as the most powerful(banned/soon to be exiled) Noldo other than Feanor wished to rule on her own. The Speach of Feanor inflamed this desired, as well as the fact that Morgoth and Ungolinat had killed 'LIGHT' and Aman was not as cozy a place as it had been.

Yet, she swore no oath to recover the Silmarills. According to JRR's notes another one of her motivations was pride and revenge.. "...though she fought fiercely aganst Feanor in defence of her mothers kin, she did not turn back, Her pride was unwilling to return, a defeated suppliant for pardon, but now she burned with a desire to follow Feanor with her anger to whatever lands he might come, and to thwart him in all ways that she could" (P 240 'The Unfinished Tales)

AS for her secondary motivation, the destruction of Sauron or more accurately, The One Ring, you indicate constraint (SHE COULD NOT LEAVE). However this is stated nowhere in the extant Silamrillion text ( nor implicitly in the JRR's final notes) The problem here arises from the fact that alot of the notes and appendices in TLOR don't agree with details that the author was developing in his notes vis. the Silmarillion and Galadriel and her part in the rebellion in particular. (See The Silmarillion
P.254 and the 'Unfinished Tales pp-246-247).

This was compounded by the fact that when Christopher put the
original published Silmarillion together he hadn't found all his fathers notes, or was unsure of what versions/material to add/omit. So he kind of cobbled it together (that's my opinion and his admission)

In the 'Unfinshed Tales' a JRR leter declares:

"The Exiles were allowed to return-save for a few cheif actors in the rebellion, of whom a the time of TLOR only Galadriel remained. At the time of her lament (to Frodo and Sam) she beleived this to be perennial (as you correctly point out)
.....Her prayer was granted, but also her personal ban was lifted
in reward for her services against Sauron, AND ABOVE ALL FOR HER REJECTION OF THE TEMPTATION TO TAKE THE RING WHEN OFFERED TO HER.
(EMPHASIS MINE)

The pratical upshot of all this and the point I'm trying to make is that in the Notes, which were continually developing with respect to Galadriel and her part in the entire Mythos, her redemtion hinged not so much on the destruction of Sauron
(although I do agree with you that it was a very large part of it
and it also made for an intresting stor) but primarily on her rejection of the Ring when freely offered.

Christpher Tolkien points out that "Galadriel did not appear in inital drafts of the rebellion and the fight of the Noldor,
which exsisted long before she did....her actions could still be transformed radically, since 'The silmarillion' had not yet been published. The book as published was however formed from completed narratives, and I could not take into account merely
projected revisions." Christoper also indicates thae his father
INTENDED to make changes but didn't live to complete them ( A great loss to al of us.)

: : If I may paraphrase from 'The Unfinshed Tales' from JJR Tolkiens
: : letters:

: : " Pride still moved her when, at the end of the Elder Days after
: : the final overthrow of Morgoth, she refused the pardon of the Valar for all who had fought against him, and remained in Middle-
: : Earth. It was not until two long ages more had passed, when at last all that she had desired in her youth came to her hand,
: : The Ring of Power and the dominion of Middle-Earth of which she had dreamed, that her wisdom was full grown and she rejected it, and passing the last test departed from Middle-earth for ever.

: : Note by Christoper Tolkien:

: : this last sentence (above) relates closely to the scene in Lothlorien when Frodo offered the One Ring to Galadriel(The Fellowship of the Ring II 7)

: : "And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen"

: : There is no trace of these features (concerning Galdriel's motivations) in The Silmarillion, however Tolkiens notes make it clear that this was how he wanted to develop the character of Galadriel.

: : I reiterate that it is nowhere explicit that Celeborn,or Glorfindel for that matter, left with the three ring keepers
: : (Elron, Gandalf and Galadriel) and Bilbo and Frodo. Cirdan remained behind since many of the Woodland elves as well as remaining Telerian elves (such as Celeborn) still lingered in Middle-earth after the fall of Sauron. The only indirect
: : reference to Celeborn after the departure of the three is in the
: : appendices of The Return Of The King. Apendix A. 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen'. There is reference to Arwen returning to Cerin Amroth,

: : "and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and
: : passed away to the land of Lorien, and dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel HAD PASSED AWAY
: : (emphasis mine) and Celebornm also was gone (where to?), and the land was silent."
: :
: I agree ref Celeborn although my original question was to do with Noldor Elves, not Teleri/Nandor (depending on which history you believe) - Celeborn remains for some consoderable time in Middle-Earth, and the lack of a defined date of his departure is interesting too. Where too? Well he ruled East Lorien for a while so its quite possible he was there or at Imladris when Arwen died...

SNIP

I disagree. 'The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"
TROK Apendix A pp 381-390 explicitly states that Celeborn was
NOT there1

: Cirdan, No I disagree strongly here, Cirdan is clearly fated to return with the ringbearers (as a ringbearer himself) There is no purpose in his remaining in Middle-Earth, and we see in HoME pt 12 he had a burning desire to see Valinor, what better time to deaprt than end T.A? I refer you to Silmarillion - 'As for me my heart is with the sea, and I will dwell by the Grey Shores until the last ship sails - there I shall await thee' to Gandalf upon his bestowl of Narya. Then... 'White was that ship and long was it a-building, and long it awaited the end of which Cirdan had spoken' That ship IS the ringbearers ship, the last of the Elder days, NOT the last ever ship...
: Cirdan would have had Falathrim successors at the Havens.

::SNIP

I agree about Cirdan and I agree that there must of been other
Teleri that remained, as notes indicate that Sam (as a momentary
ring-bearer) and Legolas and Gimli leave on ship for Tol Eressea
at the end of the Appendices in TROTK. So some had to be there to build the ships.

I would think (again this is my opnion) that Glorifdel would have left. He was a reborn High elf of Turgons people.
After the fall of Sauron he would have no reson to remain.
All of the High Elves would have left at the end of the third
age. That was their fate.

It is my opinion that there must have been remaining Teleri to build the ships for the departing Teleri and Silvan elves.
I believe that Celeborn and other Teleri would perhaps have stayed. They were historically AVARI, or unwilling
to leave Middle-earth for the light of the trees. I think
that there is no reference to any of the Noldor (other than Galadriel) remaining in Middle-Earth after the departure of the three.

I therefore take issue with the notion that any of the son's of Feanor remained in Middle-Earth after the end of the first age. The only reference to kin of Feanor surviving(or
remaining in Middle-earth after the first age is Celebrimbor
(Initialy indicated as one of Tugons people and then changed to the son of Curufin). I also take issue with the notion that
the Noldo looked upon the Valar as 'the enemy'. Part of the purpose of the Ban and all of their subsequent suffering was
to 'unlearn' the notion that the Valar were anything other
than the friends of the Elves. It was Morgoth who sowed the
notion that Elves were captives in Aman. Mandos' statement
'so it is doomed' is simply and indication of his position as an oracle. He could forsee the suffering and the loss
(as well as the Joy and the Glory) that would come from bringing
the elves to Aman.

: I return therefore to my earlier point - I think it is not unreasonable to suppose a small number of Noldor remained with Glorfindel at Rivendell, and a small number remained in Forlindon as the ruling class there - the descendants (I believe) of Maglor, Caranthir and Curufuin who all had wives (according to HoME pt 12) and therefore probably had children - these Noldor are the least likely to leave Middle-Earth because of the curse laid on their forefathers - why would they ever want to go to Valinor to meet their 'enemy'??
: Don Quixote