A franchise like The Lord of the Rings has such rich and multifaceted lore behind it that figuring it out could honestly be somebody's full-time job (and frankly, it probably is). But when it comes to lore, such a complicated combination of history and culture can easily draw attention away from more simple aspects that are just as important, if not exactly overly intricate. On that note, just how tall are some of the main characters seen in The Lord of the Rings?
Well, for anybody with a burning desire to finally have that question answered, first of all, congratulations on the ability to enjoy the little things in life. Treasure that gift. Second, here's a bit of luck thanks to an apparently like-minded Lord of the Rings fan with an enviable amount of time on their hands. The Lord of the Rings devotee decided to create a little graphic detailing some of the height differences between their favorite elves, humans, wizards, and everything in between (except dwarves, who have apparently done something to anger the god of fictional character heights).
The image came from Reddit user OlorinOfNienna, whose username possibly refers to Gandalf's "original" name (it's a whole thing). Measured in centimeters, appropriately for the story's English origins, the graphic lists characters like Gandalf himself, Legolas, and Aragorn. But it also delves into slightly less mainstream territory with picks like Sauron (pre-big gross eye phase), Elwë Elu Thingol (great uncle of Celeborn and Galadriel), and Elendil, first King of the Men of Middle-Earth, or something like that (look, it's a lot of words).
Going down the line, they're all given approximate measurements. Gandalf is listed as roughly 168 cm, Legolas at 183 cm, the morally murky Boromir and his brother Faramir are 193 cm (considered average for a Man of Middle-Earth), Sauron is anyone's best guess (the dude liked mystery), Aragorn comes in at 198 cm (as the tallest Man of his time), then Elendil blows him out of the water at 241 cm (such an overachiever), the elves Celeborn and Galadriel match Boromir and Faramir at 193 cm, Elwë Elu Thingol boasts over 250 cm, and finally Bilbo Baggins clocks in at 107 cm. However, his great-great-grand uncle Bandobras Took towered over all other hobbits at 1.346 meters (at least until Merry and Pippin grew from drinking Ent water).
For those confused about the metric system measurements (don't worry, Americans have other things to be proud of), fear not. A helpful Reddit commenter decided to convert all the measurements to Imperial units, and the masses rejoiced. Gandalf is 5'6", Legolas is 6', Boromir and Faramir are 6'4", Aragorn is 6'6", Elendil is 7'11" (even the NBA would call him a cheater), Celeborn and Galadriel are 6'4", Thingol is 8'2" (take THAT, Elendil, you little pipsqueak), and Bilbo is 3'6".
What does this knowledge accomplish? Well, it reveals that Gandalf is kind of a shorty, which might explain why he hung around with Hobbits so much. It also draws attention to how little the movies seemed to care about these measurements since Elendil would have been towering over everybody in that opening battle scene. Perhaps the upcoming Lord of the Rings Amazon series will be more accurate about such things. How fun would it be to see dozens of 7-foot-tall juggernaut folks barreling down a hill brandishing claymores like daggers? Hey, there's nothing wrong with dreaming.
The Lord of the Rings films are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: OlorinOfNienna/Reddit