The Phantom, post #33:
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Their height is variable, ranging between two and four feet of our measure. They seldom now reach three feet; but they have dwindled, they say, and in ancient days they were taller.
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I agree, two feet is quite small and I have often wondered at that. I think I read somewhere that the average height of a hobbit in the Third Age is three and a half feet tall. The conclusion that I have come to is that at this time most hobbits were between three and four feet, but as time wore on they got shorter, so that now they would be between two and three feet. This would get the 2-4 foot range, but it wouldn't necessarily be all at once, because I agree that it would be strange for a two foot hobbit to be walking around with a hobbit four feet tall. It wouldn't seem natural.
Edit: cross-posting with Fordim. An interesting point, but one that I don't entirely agree with. Because hobbits are smaller, I would expect them to have a smaller range of height because proportions are smaller.