Heighty is mighty?

[Thinlómien]

We have Faramir, who is said to be taller than his companions.

We have Éomer, who is the tallest of his éored.

We have Thingol, a mighty king and the husband of a maia, who is the tallest of the Children of Ilúvatar.

We have Maedhros the Tall who is the most powerful of the sons of Feanor and their leader.

We have Galadriel, the most powerful elf in Middle-Earth, who is very tall for a woman.

And there's surely a lot more examples...

Why? Why is Tolkien over-using this trick? Why are these persons tall? How does it affect them/the story?

And two bonus questions: is the fact that Aragorn is taller than Boromir important? Why? And consider Merry and Pippin. They became leaders after growing not only mentally, but also physically...

My only theory is that the height is there to emphasise the person's importance and high rank, and to sort him out of the rest.

[Farael]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

My only theory is that the height is there to emphasise the person's importance and high rank, and to sort him out of the rest.

That's a good point, and most likely Tolkien's intention, but there is one other thing to consider (at least from my perspective).

Being "tall" is a rather subjective meassure. "Taller than the rest" is not much better. Suppose that a person is tall but not exessively so yet this person has a very dominant character, strong demeanor and good leadership skills. It is likely that the "primitive" part of our brains will tell us "this person is mighty, thus he must be more intimidating than us... he's tall, probably taller than us"

On the other hand, we have someone just as tall but this person is very shy and introverted. Always hunching over, sitting on the dark corner and trying to avoid others. The caveman inside us will say "this person is not scary, as a matter of fact I'm probably more intimidating... I must be taller"

Of course this is rather subjective and you are free to disagree, but it's a likely scenario. Either that or being tall is needed to be a good leader =P Perhaps people won't follow short leaders (except Napoleon)

[narfforc]

There is a view amongst some societies that taller is somehow better, try saying: Ohhh are'nt you tall, in a negative way and then say: Ohhh are'nt you small, in a positive way, it does'nt go together. There is in some way a feeling that the taller you are, then you are better. Well give me a sniper rifle on a battlefield, and anyone over six foot would be dead first, where is the advantage of being big there, ask Mike tyson how many people he flattened that were smaller than him, some were seven inches bigger, no advantage there then. I served in The First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards, the ones with the scarlet jkts and bearskins outside Buckingham Palace, I am average of height, and was always glad to be on active service with the taller ones, I knew I was a lesser target. This brings me to Tolkien the soldier. In the history of the British Army, the Guards have always had a reputation as some of the finest fighting soldiers, this was certainly true during The First World War. Tolkien would, like all soldiers of his day have great respect for The Guards (usually Guardsmen are taller then other soldiers). It is not immpossible that there may be a little of that in his thinking when describing The Tower Guard of Minas Tirith. Soldiers have got taller over the years, I believe that the Romans were about 5' 3'' on average, and the average height of the British Army that fought at Waterloo against Napoleon was 5' 7''.

Remember height has nothing to do with power or being scary, look at Napoleon and Hitler, both jumped up little twerps.

[ninja91]

Wow. I never thought about that before. I guess Tolkien just wanted to show that the tallest ones were normally the most powerful or most mysterious of the rest of the smaller ones. Tolkien certainly does, though, make a point in taller being better for some reason.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

How tall was Tolkien, and how tall was his wife? Perhaps great height is meant to be linked with an ideal of beauty?

Maybe it's just an appeal for good posture. The unlovely Orcs are described as somewhat stooping and small. Stand up straight, boy!

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Eomer of the Rohirrim

Maybe it's just an appeal for good posture. The unlovely Orcs are described as somewhat stooping and small. Stand up straight, boy!

But hobbits are short too...

[Holbytlass]

Originally Posted by Eomer

How tall was Tolkien, and how tall was his wife? Perhaps great height is meant to be linked with an ideal of beauty?

It is, how often has it been written (or said) that a woman was "tall and slender" also all the examples been set about tall men and great strength, even if a woman is slender but short she is described as pretty or cute.

One thing that has to be considered along with the 'caveman' and the natural world of bigger is better-meaning tougher is that height has come around because of good nutrition and easier access to it.

Now that the world has better and faster means of transportation, variety of foods are available to people (or at least industrialized societies). Even in Tolkien's time and today there is a difference of nutrition and heights. The healthier we are the bigger we get (and I'm not getting into fatter as in too much food-that's another topic).

Originally Posted by Thinlomien

And consider Merry and Pippin. They became leaders after growing not only mentally, but also physically...

After drinking nutritious entdraft.

Another misconception is that the bigger the body, the bigger the brain therefore they are smarter. It's basically psychological-how often is a shorter person not taken seriously or a shorter man seems to be more defensive cause they have to proof themselves more often. Mind you, this is general terms and doesn't apply to everyone.

EDIT: (I forgot to tye this back into LOTR)
In medieval-ish and historical times, the best of what was available was reserved for the leaders and elite. So it makes sense that these men of position (mostly being born to it) had better nutrition, therefore better health.

And because of the psychological thoughts behind it, Tolkien purposefully had Aragorn be taller than Boromir.

[Kuruharan]

While I agree with much that has been said, I think that appealing to cultural traditions also played a large role in why Tolkien made so many of his prominant characters tall (or taller than their peers). Not only do the characters literally stand head and shoulders above everybody, it fits cultural perceptions that we understand (on some level) about height.

Re. Napoleon: I hate to burst everybody's bubble, but Napoleon was not unduly short for his day. He was (according to his autopsy) 1.686 meters tall, which made him a little bit taller than the average Frenchman of his time. The impression of his shortness probably stems from his continually being surrounded by the Guard (who were all over six feet tall) and their enormous bearskin shakos (which a certain regiment of somebody's acquaintance...ummm...borrowed after a certain event. ).

Clicky here.

[mormegil]

I am a tall man, much taller than the average man so I have some insight from my perspective. First I am 6'5" or about 1.95 meters. I am not giant but significantly taller than average here in the U.S., where not all of us dislike George W. Bush! Anyway getting back to my point, I feel that my height gives me a certain distinction in people's mind. I honestly feel that I generally am ganted an initial higher level of respect due to my height than a shorter man. This is not pompous but my general feeling.

It really is an initial impression though and after that I need to show the personality to match the initial impression. Now from a tall man's perspective when I do chance upon somebody who is taller than I, it is a rare occurance but does happen, I feel a sort of Alpha/Beta struggle where I find myself giving that man instant respect due to his height.

It is my postulation that Tolkien uses height in this way.

Oh and not all tall man are blundering brutes who cannot think logical thoughts I cannot of course, but I know other tall guys who can.

[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?

[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...