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There's supposed to be no evil in Valinor (at least, not since Melkor left it).

Given that, there's presumably no need for elves to learn to fight. They can spend all their time on the poetry, music, and dance that they so enjoy. But if this were the case, then the Battle under the Stars would never have happened, since Melkor would've wiped the defenseless Noldor out.

How did the elves learn to fight in Valinor? Only thing I can think of is that they learned from the Valar (e.g. Tulkas, who was after all fond of 'contests of strength') - but such contests are presumably still not lethal arts.

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    People who have never needed to fight in their lives still enjoy and benefit from martial arts.
    – Judith Jones
    Commented Apr 5 at 3:32
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    Presumably, some Noldor knew magic that could be used in battle - they were "still empowered by the lights of Valinor". In addition, the march from Valinor may have been a lengthy affair with many stops, giving the Noldor time and opportunity to make and train with weapons and armor.
    – Klaus Æ. Mogensen
    Commented Apr 5 at 9:45
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    @KlausÆ.Mogensen It's in fact mentioned in Nature of Middle-earth, that the Elves hoarded weapons (hunting and defense) and cultural tools before the march. And I guess the knowledge of making and using them passed on even in Valinor.
    – Eugene
    Commented Apr 7 at 7:47
  • @Eugene I'd definitely suggest writing that into an answer.
    – Allure
    Commented Apr 7 at 9:19
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    What makes you think they learned in Valinor? They lived in Cuiviénen for decades before Oromë discovered them, decades more until Melkor was captured, several more decades before the March to Aman even began, and a couple of centuries before they even reached Beleriand, yet alone departed over the Sea to Aman. Plenty of time to learn to fight out of necessity.
    – chepner
    Commented Apr 9 at 18:52

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We have Melkor to thank for that.

I'm not sure why you think Melkor left Valinor before the Elves learned to fight.

First of all, Melkor was brought to Valinor in chains. But after Melkor was released from his three ages of imprisonment in Mandos, Manwë patted him on the head and let him roam around Valinor freely.

This is when he began to whisper in the Noldor's ears -especially Fëanor - about how the Valar were keeping them from greatness or whatever. At this point, the Noldor began to develop and start making weapons and armor. That development would necessarily involve practice and testing.

This culminated in the episode where Fëanor drew his sword on Fingolfin, after which the Valar realized what Melkor had been doing and the latter fled. And we know what happened after that.

Getting more speculative, there's no evidence the Elves were ignorant of weapons and fighting before they got to Valinor. At Cuiviénen they had to deal with the servants of Melkor carrying them off to Utumno. They also presumably hunted for their food (They were discovered after all by Oromë, who treated Middle-Earth as a personal hunting preserve).

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    Note also that Valinor was not unmarred, either. Morgoth's Ring included Valinor, though doubtless the Valar tried as best they could to counteract its effects. Evil could and did happen there.
    – Mark Olson
    Commented Apr 5 at 12:00

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