# Height. . .Tall or short, any meaning?



## HLGStrider

If you've read the Carpenter Biography of Tolkien, you know that he opens with a meeting with the man himself. He recalls being surprised that Tolkien was under average height because heighth seemed to feature so prominently in his books.

I thought about this for a moment. Yes, Aragorn and Elendil were tall and all the fair Elven lords were considered tall . . .but most of the main characters were short. Hobbits and dwarves take up the whole of the Hobbit. In the Fellowship itself, we have a dwarf and four Hobbits. . .which means over half of the Fellowship was under five foot tall. I'd personally have been surprised if I'd met a six foot six Tolkien. I'd have expected a Hobbit.

Does height bear any special significance in these books? Why is it given to figures of great reverence but kept from the leads, the greatest of all? Are Hobbits only short because they were originally invented for children's stories and children like short characters for identifying purposes?

I'll expand more on my thoughts later. I'm tired now. Any ideas?


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## Starflower

hmm... random thoughts : 
I associate being tall also with being noble, or good or somehow better than average. But maybe being short as a hobbit has its advantages. short is unconspicous short is unassuming and not noticeable at first glance. When you are short you get recognition for your deeds, not for your appearance...


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## Niniel

Maybe it's to show that even short people can do important things. Maybe Tolkien himself was somehow frustrated about being short and wanted to tell everybody else who was short that it should not hinder them in achieving their goals.


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## 33Peregrin

I've read that bigraphy too, and wondered about that some as well. I think that height does signify importance in Tolkien's eyes, but I also think that by making the hobbits short, Tolkien is trying to show that even seemingly unimportant people are capable of great things as well.


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## HLGStrider

And characters such as Aragorn are tall because Tolkien always looked up to tall people. . .


Ok, ok, ok, bad bad pun. . .sorry. . .

But seriously, Elendil was a TALL TALL TALL. No one specifies Aragorn's height, but Elendil had one (In Elvish measurement though and I don't remember the height, just that I thought, "Gosh, that's ridiculously tall.).

Of course, my idea of tall tall tall is shorter than say a basketball player's idea of tall tall tall. I'm five foot four.


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## Mrs. Maggott

Aragorn is spoken of as "tall" in several places. Most interestingly, he is compared to Boromir when the Company is trapped by the Snow on Caradhras. In the scenario, it is said that while Aragorn is _taller_ than Boromir, he is not as _broad_. I would suppose that it means that Aragorn's body musculature is not as bulky. He would be considered tall and slender (wirey) while Boromir was broader in the chest and shoulders albeit shorter. Of course, Aragorn would carry no added weight given his lifestyle, so he was probably very long and lean but strong for all of that.


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## HLGStrider

ooooooooooooooh, wirey. . .


I remember that description. I based my ideal man on Aragorn and have always had a dislike for the barrel chested type or those with too visible muscles because of that. Give me long and lean and. ..oh gosh.. . 

That part of Aragorn was probably made to fit his life style. But it doesn't really explain the height.


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## Mrs. Maggott

HLGStrider said:


> ooooooooooooooh, wirey. . .
> 
> 
> I remember that description. I based my ideal man on Aragorn and have always had a dislike for the barrel chested type or those with too visible muscles because of that. Give me long and lean and. ..oh gosh.. .
> 
> That part of Aragorn was probably made to fit his life style. But it doesn't really explain the height.


Lots of comments were made about Elendil and his "tall" sons - assuming therefore that Elendil was also tall. Aragorn, we are told, is the image of Elendil. He is said to be "taller than" Boromir who was no shrimp himself. Ergo, in that the Numenoreans were tall as a race anyhow, one must assume that Aragorn was also tall since he was of the blood of Numenor "unmingled". We know that Gandalf, on the other hand, was not too tall as is detailed in the chapter mentioning the banquet in Rivendell. 

I think that it is safe to conclude that Aragorn was tall as were most if not all of the Elves as he had Elvish blood in him as well. Certainly, most of the artistic renderings of the man show him to be tall if not the tallest one of any group in which he is shown.


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