Heighty is mighty?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by narfforc

The British Royal Family has never been blessed with great height, with the exceptions of Edward I (Longshanks) and Henry VIII, that I know of, certainly for the last couple of centuries, the average has been low, with Victoria being positively tiny,

I thought 'enery the heighth ended up being wider than he was tall?

I seem to recall a gossip rag reporting that Prince Phillip was initially pleased to have Diana Spencer brought into the gene pool. I believe he was quoted as saying something to the effect as, "she will breed some height into us."

But as for Tolkien's high ground: Now, the dwarves we know are shorter than the elves, but probably taller than the hobbits. Is this middle ground--neither at sixes nor at sevens--why they don't get much (comparatively) respect? What is said about their kings? Are dwarven kings taller than the average dwarf? To be consistent, wouldn't Tolkien want to make his dwarven kings taller than their subjects?

Was Lear's Fool shorter than Lear or taller?

And who was taller, Gandalf or Saruman?

[Lush]

Well, certain studies (not sure how scientific said studies actually are) do say that taller people get more promotions...

Having said that, it's interesting to think of the Hobbits in this context. Certainly, looks can be deceiving.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by Lush

Having said that, it's interesting to think of the Hobbits in this context. Certainly, looks can be deceiving.

Thought that that was the whole point. "Hey, the small guys saved the day. Were they wearing stilts or something?"

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

And who was taller, Gandalf or Saruman?

Without one doubt: Gandalf. Evil makes you stoop, slouch, and overall lower your stature - why else are they called the Fallen? Hell, Angband, Melkor and Moria are in the ground, whereas heaven, Manwe and Elbereth reside in more elevated locations. Gandalf, staying true to the dictates of Eru, therefore would be taller.

What this says about Dwarves and Hobbits...

And methinks that the reason elves do not sink in snow is due to their need to appear taller - 'in control,' important, leading the way.

[davem]

Of course

Húrin was by three years the elder, but he was shorter in stature than other men of his kin

Shorter than Turin, btw....

But who was the greater hero?

[The Might]

In my opinion, it's also a great advantage in some cases.
Take Bandobras Took for example, he was the tallest Hobbit (until Merry and Pippin decided to take a detour through Fangorn), and he was able to ride. I'm sure that fact that he was capable of riding helped a lot in the Battle of Greenfields.

And actually, I'm the one that's mighty.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

The bearskins referenced above, introduced IIRC by Napoleon for the Imperial Guard and since borrowed by Guards regiments of many European nations, were adopted in part precisely because they made the wearers look taller and more intimidating (also, Grenadiers traditionally were bigger than the average soldier). And guardsmen were usually recruited for height. The Prussian Guard of WWI, some of whom faced Tolkien's division on the Somme, were all 185 cm or taller.

As to Presidents: Shrub may be an exception, but the trend post-WWII has been for the taller candidate to win the election- Reagan, Bush Sr, and Clinton were all well over six feet.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Oh-as to Boney's height.

The source of the confusion lies in the fact that early reports that didn't use the metric system (official but not necessarily widespread at the time) used the old royal French foot- which was slightly longer than the English foot. English translations tended not notice this or make the conversion, giving an erroneously small figure. Boney was in fact 1.7 meters tall, or 5'6."