Elendil the Tall

[Anárion]

Maybe I should put this in UT, but oh well, no one ever looks there.
Ive just bought Unfinished Tales (I know I know...I should be reading the Silmarillion...I havent checked it out yet though) and in Disaster of Gladden Fields, Tolkien says that Numenoreans are normally 6'4, but thats after their power has dwindled a bit.

Well, I figured out that Elendil is half a ranga above the Numenoreans, who are 2 rangas, and one ranga is 3'2
So, if my math skills are correct that means, 2 rangas (6'4) plus 1/2 ranga (1'2) is 2.5 rangas (8 feet)

So, am I like, totally confused or is Elendil the Tall really 8 feet tall plus whatever the Numenoreans dwindled? Lets see...Elendil would be around 8 and a half feet tall?

 

[BlackCaptain]

He is 7'11'' I believe Great math work there!

 

[Anárion]

Interesting...where did you get your information? I poured minutes into this thing and I still came up wrong

 

[BlackCaptain]

Eh only by two inches... It's good enough.

Actualy I remember hearing it from Ithrynluin, gate7ole, Inderjit S, or Nom. I can't remember which one of those scholar's it was... It was a while back so I'm not sure if Seven foot Eleven is right... But I think that rings a bell.

 

[Lantarion]

Well, it's well he was called "the Tall" then! Maybe "Elendil the Cripes It's the Giraffe-Man" would have been more accurate though..

 

[Inderjit S]

It is in Numenorean Linean Measurements the appendix to the Disaster of the Gladden Fields which documents Isildur's slaying and the loss of the ring, and is found in the 'Third Age' section of Unfinished Tales.

Yes, he was abotu 7 foot 11, which is well giant. They werent kidding when they named him the tall, but there were several people taller then him. In fact he is said to be the tallest of the exiles not the tallest Numenorean ever, so there may have been taller Numenoreans, as well as some Men and Elves of the First Age, who were, Tuor, Huor, Turgon, Penlod, Argon and Elwe.

 

[Anárion]

Intriguing....no...thats not how you spell it...

Interesting shall we say

Yes, quite interesting, thats very tall, so I would think they would make good marching time...

 

[HLGStrider]

Yes, that is how you spell it. . .at least according to Random House. I looked it up because it looked right to me and it is right. INTRIGUING

Very good word. . .

It is. Especially considering that Tolkien was slightly under average height. There has to be a mental reason why heigth was so important to him. . .

Personally, I'm five four, a nice in between number. . .for a girl. It's not tall for a guy, but it isn't short for a girl. . .not too short. . .

 

[Ithrynluin]

If I'm not mistaken, I think that extremely tall people don't live very long - I remember reading about the tallest person in the world, who was about 9 feet tall, and he did not have a long life. Now that does not apply to Elves who are immortal but what about humans like Elendil? Apparently his height caused him no problems whatsoever.

I dread to think how tall Thingol was, since he is called the tallest of all the Children of Ilúvatar. 9 feet?

 

[Anárion]

Well, I believe (cursed spelling! the rule is I before E except after C but that doesnt look right! oh well)
Anyway, I believe (grrrr) that the tallest person in the world WAS Andre the Giant, you may have seen him in movies such as The Princess Bride and, WWF, now WWE, Wrestling. But, I was mistaken because when I looked it up he was only 7'4''.
He was huge so I cower in fear of incurring the wrath of someone whos 9'.

Anyway, Elendil was no ordinary human. He was a Númenórean. And those Númenóreans were tough! Not just the average everyday "tough" but tough as in tough.
Well, Im rambling now, and Ive proved my point a few times over, so Ill just end my post now.
Accautly before I hit Submit Reply Ill just--NO! I must hit it! Before...taking up too much...space...
Gahh! Must tell...them...useless...information...loosing...battle with hand...cant control...much...lon--

 

[Ithrynluin]

The tallest man, according to www.guinnessworldrecords.com:

The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow. He was born at Alton, Illinois, USA, on February 22, 1918, and when he was last measured on June 27, 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.

Wadlow died at 1:30 a.m. on July 15, 1940, in a hotel in Manistee, Michigan, as a result of a septic blister on his right ankle caused by a brace, which had been poorly fitted only a week earlier. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Alton, in a coffin measuring 3.28 m (10 ft 9 in) long, 81 cm (32 in) wide and 76 cm (30 in) deep.

Wadlow's greatest recorded weight was 222.71 kg (35 st 1 lb) on his 21st birthday and he weighed 199 kg (31 st 5 lb) at the time of his death. His shoe size was 37AA (47 cm, 18½ in long) and his hands measured 32.4 cm (12¾ in) from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger. He wore a size 25 ring. His arm span was 2.88 m (9 ft 5¾ in) and his peak daily food consumption was 8000 calories.

At the age of nine, he was able to carry his father Harold F. Wadlow, later Mayor of Alton, who stood 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) and weighed 77 kg (170 lb), up the stairs of the family home.

Having died at the age of 22 (uh oh, that's my age! Lucky I'm a meagre 6 feet tall! )... that's why I was wondering.

I think that you are quite right that the Numenoreans were just simply tough and that we shouldn't apply and question every weakness (or lack thereof) of today to them.

 

[Bucky]

Weren't Turgon & Thingol supossed to be the tallest elves?
Anyone know how tall they were?

 

[Inderjit S]

Argon, brother of Turgon is reported to be taller then his brother. In the 'Fall of Gondolin' (BoLT 2) we hear that Penlod is the 'tallest of the Gnomes' though whether this statement remained or was kept my Tolkien is dubious. We never hear about the height of Thingol etc, though the Noldor are said to average 7 foot.

 

[Angelimir]

Maybe I should put this in UT, but oh well, no one ever looks there.
Ive just bought Unfinished Tales (I know I know...I should be reading the Silmarillion...I havent checked it out yet though) and in Disaster of Gladden Fields, Tolkien says that Numenoreans are normally 6'4, but thats after their power has dwindled a bit.

Well, I figured out that Elendil is half a ranga above the Numenoreans, who are 2 rangas, and one ranga is 3'2
So, if my math skills are correct that means, 2 rangas (6'4) plus 1/2 ranga (1'2) is 2.5 rangas (8 feet)

So, am I like, totally confused or is Elendil the Tall really 8 feet tall plus whatever the Numenoreans dwindled? Lets see...Elendil would be around 8 and a half feet tall?

Isildur’s height is given as 7 feet, and it is my guess that before the downfall, the average Numenorean male was around 7 feet tall. Aragorn himself was 6’6” and this is after thousands of years.

Even though Numenoreans were 7’0 tall on average before the downfall they were strong and healthy. Not like the 7’7 and above people that walk the regular earth. Imagine a 500 thousand strong Army, all in Armor, with long swords, throwing spears and gigantic shields marching down on you. And they’re all 6’8 to 8’0 feet tall. This is why Sauron’s Army deserted him when Tar-Calion invaded. And part of the reason why the War of the Last Alliance of Men and Elves was successful.

Average height: Tall, typically 7 feet.

Source: http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Númenóreans