Derivation of the "Ranga"

CAB · 06-04-2006, 08:20 AM

I think it is very plausible Valandil. It seems to me that he probably placed the priority on the “roundness” of the numbers (5000 paces) and the nearness of the two different leagues, while compromising a bit with the size of the “yard”. The impression I get is that he would have made the Numenorean ranga larger if the math had worked out that way. For instance he said that two rangar could only be considered “man-high” after the Numenoreans had diminished in stature and that one ranga was actually less than a full-stride. For me, this also suggests that the position of the ranga between the yard and meter wasn’t really a consideration.

I wonder if Tolkien did any work on the smaller measurements. For instance, if fathoms and feet were also based on Numenorean bodies (it makes sense that they would be) then some of the structures described in Middle Earth would actually be much larger than they at first seem.

06-04-2006, 08:20 AM	#1
CAB Elven Warrior Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 306	I think it is very plausible Valandil. It seems to me that he probably placed the priority on the “roundness” of the numbers (5000 paces) and the nearness of the two different leagues, while compromising a bit with the size of the “yard”. The impression I get is that he would have made the Numenorean ranga larger if the math had worked out that way. For instance he said that two rangar could only be considered “man-high” after the Numenoreans had diminished in stature and that one ranga was actually less than a full-stride. For me, this also suggests that the position of the ranga between the yard and meter wasn’t really a consideration. I wonder if Tolkien did any work on the smaller measurements. For instance, if fathoms and feet were also based on Numenorean bodies (it makes sense that they would be) then some of the structures described in Middle Earth would actually be much larger than they at first seem.