Elven Characteristics

[cellurdur]

Originally Posted by Galin

I might agree except that the second statement adds that 'some' of the great kings and leaders were taller... taller than what? The only reference number here is 6 foot 6, and as one could reasonably expect some Elves to be taller than 6 foot 6, that leads me to think that Tolkien means 'some' of the great kings and leaders were notably taller than 6 foot 6...

'Some' of the great kings were taller than the average, which is not noted here. In other passages we learn that the average height was 7ft.

The passage in my opinion could be read like this.

'The minimum height for elvish males was 6'6. The minimum height for elvish women was 6'0. Some of the nobility were even taller than the normal height though'

In other passages we learn that the normal height was close to 7ft.

... but to me that doesn't seem to mesh well with the other statement, in which it is generally noted that the Eldar and especially the Noldor were normally about 7 feet tall...

... as that's notably taller than the reference number in the other quote [a half a foot taller], and there it's not 'some' great kings and leaders, it's the normal height of the Eldar in general, a rather sweeping reference, even if we have more Noldor with 'especially'.

That's why I tend to think Tolkien may be working with different ideas in the two, noting also that in a text likewise written in reaction to artwork by Pauline Baynes [which thus can be paired with the 6 foot 6 quote], Elendil appears reduced [if compared to the 'rangar' description in Unfinished Tales anyway] from being nearly 8 feet tall to a 'mere' 7 feet tall.

Tolkien might have 'realized' for Thingol [and possibly other great Elves] to have been taller than Elendil he might have to shorten the conceptions up just a bit.

I think you are making too much of an effort to make the statements contradict each other. As things stand the later works are all in agreement.

Elendil's height is not reduced in anyway. In the Unfinished Tales he gave us an accurate exact height for Elendil being around 7'10. In notes elsewhere he generalised that Isildur and Elendil had been 7ft. The statements once more are not contradictory unless you want them to be.

When I say a rugby team was full of 6 footers, I don't mean that everyone in the team was exactly 6 ft. I mean that everyone was at least 6ft.

Unless the information contradicts itself I see no reason to not accept the harmonious version.

Minimum height for most Noldor 6'6.
Average height for most Noldor under 7ft
Great Lords like Turgon 7ft+.