[narfforc]

There is a view amongst some societies that taller is somehow better, try saying: Ohhh are'nt you tall, in a negative way and then say: Ohhh are'nt you small, in a positive way, it does'nt go together. There is in some way a feeling that the taller you are, then you are better. Well give me a sniper rifle on a battlefield, and anyone over six foot would be dead first, where is the advantage of being big there, ask Mike tyson how many people he flattened that were smaller than him, some were seven inches bigger, no advantage there then. I served in The First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards, the ones with the scarlet jkts and bearskins outside Buckingham Palace, I am average of height, and was always glad to be on active service with the taller ones, I knew I was a lesser target. This brings me to Tolkien the soldier. In the history of the British Army, the Guards have always had a reputation as some of the finest fighting soldiers, this was certainly true during The First World War. Tolkien would, like all soldiers of his day have great respect for The Guards (usually Guardsmen are taller then other soldiers). It is not immpossible that there may be a little of that in his thinking when describing The Tower Guard of Minas Tirith. Soldiers have got taller over the years, I believe that the Romans were about 5' 3'' on average, and the average height of the British Army that fought at Waterloo against Napoleon was 5' 7''.

Remember height has nothing to do with power or being scary, look at Napoleon and Hitler, both jumped up little twerps.