Heighty is mighty?

[Farael]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

While reading LotR it caught my eye that the Men of Dol Amroth were described "tall as lords". The heighty-mighty -phenomenon again.

Is there any historical evidence (from real world), that lords would have been taller than the non-lords? Or is everything just made up by the historians?

I'm no historian, although my friend wants to be... I remember he once told me that it was true, people of the nobility tended to be taller and bigger than poor peasants... most importantly because they were much better nurtured (did I spell that correctly? as in they had better food and they were in a better situation when they were growing up). So it'd be somewhat of a viscious cycle I guess.

A person of the nobility has more opportunities to do great deeds as he does not need to worry about working on a farm or such minor things. That person is better fed and better learned, so when an opportunity to do something great appears, they can take advantage of it. The people look up at them for their actions, thus confirming their status as noblemen. Then we start again =P

[Raynor]

It appears that Numenoreans themselves were high and mighty :

Originally Posted by The Atani and their languages, Late Writings, HoME XII

Hobbits on the other hand were in nearly all respects normal Men, but of very short stature. They were called 'halflings'; but this refers to the normal height of men of Numenorean descent and of the Eldar (especially those of Noldorin descent), which appears to have been about seven of our feet.

[MatthewM]

Almost everything has been said in this thread, but I'll add some thoughts. From what I read, Treebeard and the Ents were not mentioned. Now, think of how they destroyed Isengard, and broke Saruman's hopes. Saruman obviously had little physical strength, but much mental strength and magic. The physical strength of the Ents broke down his hopes, but they were not able to destroy Orthanc itself. Merry and Pippin sat like Kings and watched it all while feasting, smoking, and drinking. Their "guards" did all the work!

Now, this was after the entdraught, so physically they were taller than before Fangorn. This growth, as we know is also associated with mental strength, although that comes fully later. Perhaps Merry and Pippin feasting like Hobbit Kings is a celebration of their growth---jewels amongst Hobbits!

I would like to add that I think Tolkien meant little by making Aragorn just a little taller than Boromir. You can read through the words Tolkien uses that Boromir is not that far off in height than Aragorn. I believe Aragorn was 6'4", so I would say Boromir was no shorter than 6'1"-6'2". Also, Aragorn was most likely a little taller because of his certain Elven heritage (remember that it is speculated that Boromir and Faramir also have a trace of Elvish blood in them, as their mother Findulias was decended from Dol Amroth, in which there is again speculated to be Elvish blood).

[Thinlómien]

Maybe the "tall as lords" also refers to the Dol Amrothians' Númenórean heritage; the Númenóreans (and the high Men of the first age) were tall. But then we can always ask why one people is genetically than another...

[alatar]

Excellent thread, Thinlómien!

To me, Tolkien associates leadership, generally, with height. Many of the leaders are tall. This makes some sense, as you can see them on the battlefield, and so get directions thus. Also, to further increase the height of the leaders, aren't the helms constructed to add a few inches? Why else the wings and plumes and horsehair things? And just what other purpose do standards serve?

Now, not to get political, but when we elect leaders, do *we* associate height with leadership ability? In local politics, you might actually see a live candidate and so are able to judge his/her respective height. TV changes this, as one is not sure how tall the candidate is, and only during debates can one see the relative size of the candidates. What, I guess, is surprising is that in Middle Earth, heighty is mighty, but in our world - around the world - that's not always the case. Was Tolkien stating a personal, cultural or species ideal? This local mayor, note, is more of the Tolkien ideal.

Methinks that the instinct is to defer to the larger person. Not only, generally speaking, will this person be able to 'mighty' you into comformity, but also might be able to see danger from further away (i.e. wargs in the distance), standing taller than the rest, and so it's in your best interest to select these persons.

Me - I'm not exactly of mormegilian stature, though almost (and, due to the kids, getting shorter by the day ) - and I do find that strangers will pick me out of a crowd for directions, for passing through a queue, for reaching items on high shelves and for other wonderful leadership responsibilities.