This was a shocking revelation, for he discovered that the Lore was not developing, as everyone had assumed, but was rather a vast accumulation of various knowledges that were never meant to be lumped together in such a way that collectively consolidated their power. Power too vast for anyone to wield or control, and that could therefore serve no sane purpose.
Knowing the deadly consequences, the old Loremaster had not finished the final illustration, and spent the remainder of his life in a vain attempt to convince his colleagues to abandon the Elf Lore.
They failed to heed his words, deciding to maintain what had been accomplished. But in the same breath, all progress ceased. Generations of work had come to an end, and the Elven Book of Runes soon became an aging and dangerous anachronism.
It would perhaps have been fitting if the book of Elf Lore, which in many ways began as a history of the Elves themselves, and which strayed so far from its path, had contained the last words spoken by the Loremaster who created the final illustration. He had said these words:
Our mistake was in trying only to improve the world we live in, without first trying to improve ourselves.