It's also worth remembering that the world of LotR has people in it who were there for the advanced civilization. It's not beyond living memory. A number of tho

It's also worth remembering that the world of LotR has people in it who were there for the advanced civilization. It's not beyond living memory. A number of those people are important minor characters, and the sense of loss helps form the backdrop for the ever-present grief of much of elven culture. The past cataclysm was very much a part of the current world in LotR in many ways.