Light Elves & Dark Elves

[JeffF.]

This concerns the children of the Noldor exiles who returned to Middle Earth. By definition the children of the Noldor who returned to Middle Earth should be considered Dark Elves since they never saw the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor. This Light is stated by Tolkien to confer great power on those who have seen it (from the description of Glorfindel in Fellowship of the ring).

Would any of that power have been inherited by their children? Gil-Galad was born in Middle Earth and so was a Dark Elf and apparently his power was much less than his ancestor's. In his grandfather Fingolfin's duel with Morgoth Fingolfin inflicted seven terrible wounds on Morgoth but nothing is said of Gil-Galad wounding Sauron in his famous duel on the slopes of Mount Doom alongside Elendil, only that he succumbed to the heat of Sauron. only the wound inflicted by Isildur with the shard of Narsil is mentioned.

Sauron is described in the Silmarillion as being less evil than Morgoth only because he served another which may indicate that his power was comparable to Morgoth's. Certainly Morgoth was not less powerful than Sauron.

In Gandalph's description of Glorfindel he states that those like him (with that power) are few in number implying that not many of the surviving/remaining Noldor had it.