Noldor or Numenoreans

[Galin]

Originally Posted by cellurdur

I don't doubt that they come from the book, but wondering where did Tolkien write this. Is there any note in the book from where they got the reference.

Tolkien wrote these descriptions in reaction to an illustration by Pauline Baynes. The full contents haven't been published yet, but some of it appears in Unfinished Tales and The History Of The Hobbit, along with Hammond and Scull's book.

This source was not much described in Unfinished Tales for example, because until relatively recently Pauline Baynes was still alive, and Tolkien's comments were inspired by his seeming dislike of part of her illustration.

However, we do know Celeborn was tall for a Teleri elf. His name seems to have meant 'silver-tall'. Since he is 6'4 can assume the majority of the Sindar/Teleri were around 6ft. This fits in as I said with Legolas being shorter than Boromir.

I don't think we have to drop all the way down to 6 feet. Another late note (published in Unfinished Tales), states that the 'Teleri were in general somewhat less in build and stature than the Noldor.'

I have seen the second quote and it comes from Dwarves and Men, but it cannot be made to work with the text.

If Celeborn a tall and royal Sindar was around 6'4 then how could the average height for the Eldar be 7ft? The same applies for Legolas, who was of high Sindarin origin, but is shorter than Boromir.

I would say that if Tolkien desired the Eldar to be normally around seven feet tall (if this was the later text compared to the 'PB description' that is), he probably would have written more specific descriptions of characters to fall in line with that.

Yes, but Boromir is around 6'4 and taller than Legolas too. Boromir is also around the same height as Celeborn, who was tall for the Sindar. So again this indicates they must have been shorter than 7ft and closer to maybe 6ft.

Tolkien was not bound to make Galadriel 6 foot 4 for example, and I agree, if Celeborn was of like height with her he would be too short if ODAM was in play. Technically Tolkien had only published that the Lady was no less tall than the Lord. But somewhat less [for the Teleri] could be 6 foot 2 or 3 compared to 6 foot 6 and taller, with Celeborn still taller than the average Teler but shorter than the average Noldo.

And JRRT published that Aragorn was the tallest of the Fellowship, as already noted (and something later about the Sea-kings of old as well). The description of Boromir might arguably imply that he was taller than all others in the Company excepting Aragorn, but I'm not sure this is necessarily certain...

... if I recall correctly the context is about ploughing through snow, which is why Boromir's broader build is noted too, but Legolas is not concerned here in any case, as he can run on top of the snow.

Tolkien noted that Legolas was as tall as a young tree