The Complete Size Guide of the Creatures of Middle-Earth | Middle Earth Lore

Today we look at the complete size comparison guide of the major races and creatures from Tolkien's Middle-earth!
In this video I have attempted to get all my information from the books, not the Peter Jackson adaptation movies!
I hope you enjoy the video :)
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We do not claim to own the rights to any of the art work used throughout this video. All credit must go to the talented artists. If we have not credited an artist, it is because we could not find an owner of the art. Please message us if we have not credited you!
If any artists would like us to remove their artwork, or add anything additional to credit you, please contact us and we will sort it straight away! Thank you!
CK Goksoy - www.artstation...
Ivan Cavini - www.ivancavini...
Ted Nasmith - www.tednasmith...
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Adam Middleton - www.artstation...
Magali Villeneuve - www.magali-vill...
Thumbnail Art:
"Ancalagon vs Earendil" - danpilla
"Balrog vs Gandalf" - Omer Tunc
"Hurin" - Alan Lee
"Hobbit" - Jon Hodgson
Art in order of First Appearance:
The Witchking - Shockbolt
Trolls in Mirkwood - Shockbolt
Battle of Osgiliath - Shockbolt
Evil by the Stones - Shockbolt
The Dragon Awakens - Shockbolt
Surprises in the Moonlit Night - Shockbolt
Bard and the Thrush - Norloth
Hobbit - Jon Hodgson
Guardian of Gundabad - AlMaNeGrA
The seven houses of the Khazad - Artigas
Warg - carolinalang
Uruk-Hai Champion - Taurus-ChaosLord
Barrow Wight - Lordstevie
Nazgul - JonHodgson
Rohan Sword Thegns - RobbieMcSweeney
Turin - Alan Lee
Early Numenorean Armour - TurnerMohan
Shadowfax - Smirtouille
Beorn - Lelia
Olog-hai - BrokenMachine86
Balrog vs Gandalf - Omer Tunc
Gothmog - pieter01
Shelob - fanficgirl155
Mountain Troll - Sascha Kozacenko
Treebeard - JonathanGebel
Rescued from the Black tower - Shockbolt
Fellbeast and Rider - HaplessCat
Oliphant - Wolfie180g
Watcher in the Water - Falconer
Smaug - Daniel Reeve
Ungoliant (Front View) - KarlLevy
Glaurung the Father of Dragons - WretchedSpawn2012
Ancalagon vs arendil - danpilla
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All content falls under fair use: any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner.
In the event I use art of yours or you have any questions, please contact me and we'll get it sorted straight away! :)
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#LordoftheRingsLore #MiddleEarthCreatureSizes #DragonSizeComparison

[@TheBrokenSword]

Hi everyone! There have already been a couple of comments asking for metric units as well as imperial that are mentioned in the video so here is a breakdown of the sizes I have used! 1. Thrush - 1ft / 0.3m 2. Hobbits - 3ft 6 / 1.07m 3. Goblins/Orcs - 4-5ft / 1.2-1.5m 4. Dwarves - 4ft 6 / 1.35m 5. Wargs - 5ft / 1.5m (8ft / 2.4m long) 6. Uruk-hai - 5-6ft / 1.5-1.8m 7. Barrow Wights - 6ft / 1.8m 8. Nazgul - 6ft / 1.8m 9. Men - 6ft / 1.8m 10. Elves - 6ft 2 / 1.85m 11. Numenoreans - 6ft 6 / 1.95m 12. Horses - 6ft 6 / 1.95m 13. Beorn (Human) - 8ft / 2.4m 14. Olog-hai - 9ft / 2.7m 15. Beorn (Bear) - 12ft / 3.6m 16. Balrogs - 12ft / 3.6m 17. Shelob - 13ft / 4m 18. Trolls - 13ft / 4m 19. Ents - 14ft / 4.25m 20. Great Eagles - 30ft / 9m (Thorondor - 180ft wingspan / 54m) 21. Fellbeasts - 30ft / 9m 22. Mumakil - 35-45ft / 10.5-13.7m 23. Watcher in the Water - 60ft / 18m 24. Smaug - 66ft / 20m 25. Ungoliant - 100ft / 30m 26. Glaurung - 250ft / 76m 27. Ancalagon the Black - 1000ft / 300m I hope that helps :D

[@rangerofthenorth1970]

Guys, pls one q....what will happen to History of the Ages channel, are you going to delete it or what....?

[@Ptaaruonn]

Thank you for the conversions.

[@shadowcloudspher5149]

The complete size guide to weapons of middle earth would be a good video.

[@Enerdhil]

How about giving Tolkien measurements in rangas, ells, fathoms and furlongs? lol

[@bgonzales817]

Forgot to turn on notifications!

[@ancalagontheblack4930]

Thanks for not forgetting me

[@GlorfindelofGondolin]

Go get em, big guy!

[@annakuch9108]

Cool name 😏

[@GlorfindelofGondolin]

@@annakuch9108 Thank you. 😊

[@robertandrewbaptie3006]

Your profile picture isn't a Dragon, thats a Wyvern

[@Cloudrunner62]

@@robertandrewbaptie3006 Hush. Go watch the hobbit and tell Smaug he’s a wyvern. I dare ya.

[@mewtationnation3554]

I’ve always felt that the balrogs varied greatly in size, with the the majority being 12-14 feet, and with greater balrogs like Gothmog and Durins Bane being closer to 20ft.

[@codelicious6590]

It makes sense that the Balrogs' size wouldve reflected their malice and amount of time they had been in the service of Melkor, perhaps even been larger and more powerful due to their close proximity to the Dark Lord.

[@Hundredyacrewoods]

I don't understand where people get this "greater" and "lesser" Balrogs idea from as if Tolkien didn't say "I don't suppose there were ever more than 3 of at most 7" at *most* 7. If it comes from Tolkien's earlier draft for The Fall of Gondolin then they should know that that was abandoned and replaced (several times over) and is no longer in *Any* way Canonical.

[@ryanol]

I really like the addition of art credits in video as opposed to just being in the description. Great new start.

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thank you! Cheers! :)

[@jonathonfrazier6622]

Beorn has to be over 9 feet tall. His loin cloth hung to his knees and Bilbo, who I think was 3 foot 6 inches, could walk between his knees knees and not have to duck. This means Beorn's knees stood over 3 and a half feet tall.

[@themydnighthour]

Imagine how far his junk hung down? I wonder if Bilbo had to dodge.

[@derrickstorm6976]

@@themydnighthour your "logic" eats itself...

[@themydnighthour]

@@derrickstorm6976 maybe he had a huge hog. Who knows.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

I was looking for this comment. It indicates that Beorn has the height of a troll, what an image 😅

[@pacrat6271]

@@themydnighthour considering that in the book he didn’t have to duck we can assume he didn’t have to “dodge”

[@codelicious6590]

The Watcher in the Water from Durin's door scene in the movie was hideous enough to give me nightmares! So, if Ungoliant was around 100' wide normally, then she most definitely wouldve given Melkor a bit of trouble after having gorged herself on the two Trees and several of Feanor's gems of light- she did grow in malice as well as size at that time I believe so Yeesh, truly gargantuan -I picture her upper portions actually reaching the clouds when I envision her demanding of Melkor he fulfill his promise to give "with both hands" but then again, Melkor was most likely much larger than a typical humanoid figure at that time as well.

[@WarriorBane]

One of the only accurate size comparisons for lotr on youtube with excellent pictures nicely done

[@GM_LEONG]

Have you considered an intro that says, "build me a channel worthy of mordor?" I kinda miss the old intro, but I'm keen to see all your brilliant ideas come to life in your new videos. Keep up the great work!

[@jamesaron1967]

The old intro was the best on ANY channel!

[@TabiOya]

I’m sorry I forgot what was the old one 😅

[@natenichols9569]

The only one I really imagined larger was ungoliant. In my mind she was absolutely massive, not physically, but in her aura, which could literally drink in light enough to cover both her and melkors approach to the two trees. Her actual physical size I never gave much thought to.

[@rangerofthenorth1970]

Guys, thank you for this, this tophic always confused me, Im so glad this channel has back, amazing video and just go step by step and this channel will be ONE TO RULE THEM ALL!!!!!!!

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thanks so much for the continued support! :)

[@h3nrg]

I've always loved the idea that Ancalagon was truly massive, to the extent that he could block out the sun and crush Thangorodrim when he fell on it. It may not be all that realistic but I read the Silmarillion as poetry more than a literal history so I was swept up and excited imagining him at this colossal size. It also helped me feel that he really did push back all the forces of Good for a good while until he was killed.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

You know, it's a shame that we don't know the dimensions of the rooms inside Angband. He must have fitted through its gate anyway...

[@christiansenator]

Totally agree, it reads as exaggerated legend, not necessarily precise boxes of measurement

[@Paulafan5]

A 500 foot long dragon could cast a massive shadow over a battlefield and if it fell from a great enough height it would do massive damage to Thangorodrim when it fell. 500-1000 feet long seems to be big enough to fit the description and do the damage.

[@sawyeratkinson]

I mean he died to a dude on a boat that was also a spaceship so...I say you can take the size literally

[@snowman9631]

i could have sworn he was described to be as big as mountain

[@jannestiemes4328]

The idea of trolls being larger than balrogs just doesn’t sit right with me, great video though!

[@cleanerben9636]

I think given their power they could probably appear almost an size they wished. The fear is probably what made them feel huge and made other seem small and helpless.

[@corgi42069]

Size isn't everything. Fingolfin wounded Morgoth himself, and was much smaller. He was also an elf against a Valar, and the Valar was hesitant to even fight. Puts it into perspective

[@karerabbe7829]

They arent at all tho, this is very wrong:) Shelob isnt bigger than Balrogs either most likely:)

[@corgi42069]

@@karerabbe7829 she may be, she's a child of Ungoliant after all.

[@andrewverrett568]

Small but they are far greater beings, they are miair

[@GiantsBeauceronsRugby]

Would’ve been good to have tried to workout the size of Huan and the Werewolves and compare them to the Wargs

[@leonardofaber5823]

Huan was big enough for Lúthien to mount him. Wild guess? The size of a normal horse.

[@GiantsBeauceronsRugby]

@@leonardofaber5823 but the wargs were also ridden

[@leonardofaber5823]

@@GiantsBeauceronsRugby Wargs were big enough for regular orcs to mount, not all kinds. And regular orcs were almost of hobbit-size, so wargs should not be that big.

[@pacrat6271]

@@GiantsBeauceronsRugby well they’re around 5 for tall even if they were ridden they’re not that tall, just the size of a pony or short bear I myself am 5,1 so to me they’d be tall but I’ve met real life dogs almost as tall as me

[@Nat1videos]

Awesome, been waiting for this :)

[@TheBrokenSword]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@Nat1videos]

@@TheBrokenSword Very much !

[@loraelstad8941]

@@TheBrokenSword This man right here: Michael of Nat 1 Videos, is the man who brought me to your channel. Loving it, so far, in this first video I have seen. Heard a wee bit about the previous channel and how you are starting again here. You’ll definitely be seeing me as a regular from now on. Definitely a big Tolkien fan. Even my & my hubby’s wedding bands are One Ring replicas. If we’d had a more elaborate wedding than just being in a courthouse, we might’ve even cosplayed for it. 😄 Thank you for the content you bring. Also, there are more than 1 of you, aren’t there? How shall I address each of you or should I lump you 2gether as Broken Sword 🗡? 😁

[@thomashylemon9975]

@@TheBrokenSword how big was sauron I don't know if you mentioned it or not it seems like he was gigantic in the movie

[@trenthardcastle]

The quality of these new videos are getting more and more impressive. Keep up the great work lads!

[@abbyyates9533]

I’ve always been a little confused by this stuff, so having it all in one video is fantastic! Loving the new logo and intro guys

[@ellanenish5999]

I think this is one of the best if not the most reliable comparison of Tolkien's species shown on YT. It's awesome that you really focused on the book source on this new channel. Keep your work guys, this new channel maybe isn't so popular yet, but it is much, much better than HotA.

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thank you! :D

[@Aelrandir]

Very interesting video. I kind of don't mind how PJ increased the size for Durin's Bane and Smaug. In Smaug's case especially because seeing him be that big on screen really made it more believable that he would stop the dwarves from being able to recover the Lonely Mountain. Not sure if it would have had the same believability if he was a lot smaller. Also I hate to be that guy, but the picture you guy used for elves is not an elf, but Turin :P Note the dragon helm and black sword.

[@portnet31]

i was shouting that in my head, (about turin)

[@alanboulter7319]

Nice Turin catch.

[@David-fh6rr]

Well, Turin Thurambar, when in Nargothrond was described as being no less in stature and looks than the noble of the Noldoli

[@JohnSmith-bt3xh]

It was an interesting video👌 This made things quite clear🌟

[@TheBrokenSword]

Glad it was helpful! :D

[@mattbryant4910]

brilliant glad you liked the suggestion

[@TheBrokenSword]

Great suggestion Matt!

[@ninjabanana]

love the video guys, however there’s a pretty glaring omission: wheres bill the pony???

[@TransRoofKorean]

-Honestly, for Ungoliant, I think your size you show is closer to the starting size... but I think the size Ungoliant ends up being is more like to being the largest creature that could ever exist. It's clear that the myth Tolkien was going for representing is the creature that would never stop eating until, in the end, it essentially eats the planet, eats the stars, eats existence. "Impossibly large" is where I would have put him. On the other hand, considering Shelob, while obviously less-impossibly sized, I'd remind you to remember many creatures' abilities to crawl through spaces obviously smaller than them... not just invertebrates like spiders and cockroaches, but consider mice: any space that is wide enough to fit the skull of something in the animal kingdom is wide enough to fit the animal that is adapted for squeezing into holes. So, Shelob *_could_* be much larger, surely. After all, I think there's reason to believe Shelob is the largest remaining of the descendants of Ungoliant. -Smaug... gosh the Hobbit movies were horrible. I remember when I got around to watching them during early covid lockdown days, I saw Smaug, and immediately the thought... "what is that, 200ft long? 300? longer?" -- "they won't ever be able to make any other Tolkien adaptations with the older, greater dragons, because they already made so stupidly, impossibly big" -- and then when Smaug is slain, he crashes into the water, I pause the movie and I'm stunned (and pissed): "what the hell, now Smaug is only like 60ft long? did they really forget what size they had made the dragon, and now he's 1/5 the size? *_what the hell are they doing?!?!_* -I think a theme in general in Tolkien's work is that the earlier the creature was created, the larger they are compared to their descendants. The eldest elves, the ones who knew Valinor, I'd expect to be easily a foot taller than later ones; same goes with men that have Maiar and Elvish blood, like Numenoreans, and often I'd predict a lot of kings both of men and elves to be taller, so I'd expect the Nazgul to probably be more on the 6'6 end than 6'. -Balrogs ofc being corrupted Maiar, and Maiar being something like minor gods, they have quite a few abilities, some of which we know, as with Sauron, to be that of shape-shifting. Quite a large range of balrog sizes I imagine are possible because of this... 12-20ft probably was in Tolkien's mind, but I never forget early in life seeing that great Ted Nasmith painting, which was probably PJ's main inspiration... in Nasmith's picture the Balrog is clearly well over a hundred feet tall, and y'know what, I'm glad PJ went with that, because it *_looks perfect to me._* I don't think it's unbelievable, either, in that world: "what's that, an ancient being of extreme magical power decides to appear as something of a far greater size? well, alright!" -Glaurung, you correctly point out creatures of the First Age are "generally" bigger [nah, I'd say "essentially always"] -- consider Tolkien's picture, although I don't think it's _meant_ to show scale, does clearly show the dragon spanning the great river _easily_ between its front and back legs, with a tail that stretches more than twice the length behind. Who knows how long. 200-250ft? I'd say 10x that length isn't unreasonable. After all, as you point out, long and narrow, more snakelike with legs. Essentially: I'd go with _much larger_ for most of your beasts that are legendary and legendarily ancient even within the knowledge of the legendary world of Middle-Earth.

[@warfare1101]

I think you forget that the cinematography makes Smaug seem bigger than he is, not to mention the dwarves and Bilbo are only 3-4 feet tall

[@TransRoofKorean]

@@warfare1101 I'm not forgetting anything, it's about pausing the movie, considering perspective, and comparing it to objects that would be of a known height Pause it when Bilbo first sees him and again when he crashes into the water, put the two side by side -- I'm sure you can find stills of it I'm not wrong, he loses over half his length, maybe even three quarters

[@warfare1101]

@@TransRoofKorean You literally just rephrased everything I just said

[@TransRoofKorean]

@@warfare1101 not really at all

[@warfare1101]

@@TransRoofKorean The reason Smaug looks smaller is because in the mountain, you are looking through the perspective of a dwarf/Hobbit. That's why the camera almost always points upwards at Smaug whenever he's on screen. But once he's in Lake-Town, you are looking at him through the perspective of Elves/Men, hence why he appears to be smaller since the camera is almost either at his height or just below him. There also isn't really anyone standing next to him to show a good height perspective. It's all about the camera work

[@sdev2749]

Awesome video, your estimations are perfect. If you look at the RPG: Chivalry & Sorcery 2nd Edition your estimates align PERFECTLY with this game written way back in 1977-1983

[@beneisen6982]

Excellent video. I like the translucent scrolling comparison on the bottom to keep track of the past and future creatures.

[@atilax6452]

Balrogs are Maiar. Like Sauron, Gandalf, Saruman, etc. They can shape change. Sauron, when he took the field during the War of the Last Alliance, is his normal height. The Wizards purposely made themselves look smaller, weaker, older and more frail, for their mission to the East. It would be hard to nail down an exact height for Balrogs, but they were at least Sauron's height. Then, take into consideration that Balrogs are actually Maiar, "suped-up" by Melkor.

[@FantasySci5]

Very interesting! Since the orcs were made from elves, I would think they would have been closer in height, but maybe as they bred they got smaller and smaller.

[@loraelstad8941]

Hi. Brand new here today. I always figured the corruption process shriveled them some. 👍🏻

[@oh8658]

Love the vid and so glad u guys r back, can’t wait for more awesome content like this

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thank you! :)

[@lukamijic4335]

Almost 10k subs already. Quality content as always. We wish you guys all the best in restoring your former glory! 👌 May the Valar bless your journey!

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thank you so much! :)

[@Glory_inthe_3rd77]

I am so glad you corrected that average height thing I hate when people exaggerate or lessen actual truth I just have a thing about it I cannot stand but at the same time I would think that most people wouldn't like lies anyway but then again some of the people I've met there are people that absolutely adore lies

[@opalglass8101]

Ancalagon would still have been able to "destroy" Thangorodrim if he was "only" 1000 feet long. Because when you think about it, Thangorodrim are volcanoes. And when a volcano "destroys" itself during an explosive eruption (think Mt. Saint Helens), they tend to blow at least 1000 m off their summits. Morgoth made Thangorodrim from the slag and debris he dug out of Angband, but it doesn't mention if their integrity is sturdy like an average mountain or flimsy like a cinder cone (cinder cones are volcanoes like the SP Crater in Arizona or the Lava Butte in Oregon). The more I think about it, the more I like to think that Thangorodrim was comprised of three very tall cinder cones. I've never been to a cinder cone in person, but pictures of them show that they are comprised of loose rocks. If something as large as a dragon of Ancalagon's size were to hit them, it would probably be something akin to someone running and jumping into one of those sand sculptures at those contests at beaches. So they would be destroyed without needing a dragon bigger than a volcano.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

I had similar thoughts before, good that you posted this in such detail 👍🏻

[@Paulafan5]

Dragon hide is tough and a dragon falling from a great height would be like a cannonball. My guess is 500 feet long, which is still massive and could destroy a mountain side if it fell onto it.

[@hugo-pg5tv]

@@Paulafan5 so what about the land that sunk into the ocean when he died?

[@JCFollower1]

I think Beorn's height was greater by the book reference that he wore a tunic that hung to the top of his knee. “As for Bilbo he could easily have trotted through his legs without ducking his head to miss the fringe of the man’s brown tunic.”

[@richardbenge5376]

I am so overjoyed you are making videos again, thank you so much.

[@TheBrokenSword]

Glad you like them! :)

[@skytrailer2563]

I am so happy that y’all are back!!! 🤗

[@gr81allday]

Excellent video as usual guys! Thank you very much! Sizes are logically spot on my friends!

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thanks! :)

[@zarkostojanovic8749]

Good job. Maybe you could do a video about the difference in size between Eldar of Valinor, Sindar, Nandor, and Avari.

[@Ablon94]

These illustrations are really good! good video!

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thank you so much!

[@Jonathan-tg6qv]

Already nearly 10k

[@TheBrokenSword]

🎉

[@c5on]

I love the picture where Ancalagon the Black is tall as mountain. In my mind Silmarillion times where every monster were bigger then normal, because magic and Melkor were running free.

[@susandolan9543]

As to the measurement of horses, they are measured in "hands". The tallest riding horses stand 16 to 17 hands high. The term " hand" refers to the distance of the tip of the thumb spanning across the open hand to the tip of the pinky finger. Later this was uniformly made into 4 inches. So a 17 hand horse, measured from the top, or point of the shoulder (where the neck, shoulder blade and spine meet) down to the ground. So you take 17 multiply it by 4 then divide by 12 and you get 5.6 feet. Shadowfax would have to be 19 or 20 hands high (roughly the size of a typical Draft breed of horse) in order to stand over 6 feet tall at the shoulder and Gandalf would've needed a small ladder to mount him. He, Shadowfax, also wouldn't have been as fast as Tolkien described him to be. Draft horses are, what is described as being cold blooded (not by the temperature if their blood but by their temperament or disposition) they just aren't as fast as Hot Blooded (Oriental or Thoroughbred) or Warm Blooded (crosses of Draft with Oriental/Thoroughbred) horses. Granted if you measure from how high a horse can raise his head, then yes you would get a height of 6 foot. Horses however are measured from the point of the SHOULDER to the ground.

[@codelicious6590]

I wish there were more detailed information about how Morgoth went about creating or corrupting the dragons or wurms and the Orcs as well.

[@FANATIC40k]

" I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin" Gandalf about the Death of the Balrog. And nobody goes crazy saying it must have been gigantic like many many ppl do when talking about Ancalagon. Those sizes in your video are probably among the most accurate you can find :)

[@loganestrada2311]

I kinda figured that the Balrogs were a little bigger than you think. And Ancalagon was about the size you say. Thankyou for your content.

[@MrFarnanonical]

3:18 they are children of Iluvatar, he proclaimed them his adopted children.

[@dylanjordan72]

Hey honestly thanks for being closer to the lore

[@sbentsen2714]

I remember in the Ralph Bakshi LOTR film, the Balrog was not nearly as tall as Jackson's version, much more accurate to the books. I remember thinking that it should be larger, but I'll trust Tolkien's vision 🙏🏼👌🏼

[@KaneAsIAm]

Good stuff! I was looking forward to watching this.

[@TheBrokenSword]

Hope you enjoyed it! :)

[@chrisrivas289]

You forgot about maybe the largest of them all, although mentioned briefly, the stone giants in The Hobbit. I'm assuming they must have been massive. Great first video original to this channel! I cannot wait for more!

[@zionthedragon8866]

Stone weren't the largest, that was a movie thing, and it was a poetic term for trolls. A lot of the book is poetic, but not many know which lead to the confusing things in the movie.

[@TransRoofKorean]

I think it was less that it was "poetic", and more that the Hobbit was released earlier, before Tolkien had refined a lot of his visions of the world. The stone giants _probably_ became the stone trolls in his mind -- maybe he even said so, and that seems entirely right -- but I don't think they were once called "giants" out of poetry, but essentially because it was an earlier version of the world. And frankly, I have a feeling Peter Jackson never even showed up during the movie. I dunno what the hell was going on there... I figure the "confusing things in the movie" was simply because they rushed it because the Hobbit might have come out of copyright, and they didn't really care about the product. Like when Bilbo sees Smaug it's probably 300ft long, then when it crashes into the water more like 60ft... you don't have a discrepancy where something becomes a tiny fraction of its original size because you're representing something in the book... nah it's done because it was rushed, thoughtless, and careless.

[@evancondon1372]

Keep it up guys u will rise again

[@TheBrokenSword]

:D

[@aislinrose1]

Another great video. And thanks for using imperial measurements so it was actually understandable. And even though I don't understand metrical all I also appreciate the fact you put conversions in the pinned comments for those that need them. I think it shows your love for your fan base and your commitment to be as inclusive as possible with the information. Edit:I forgot to mention it but I love the new channel and wish you the best! I look forward to watching it grow again

[@fabianjudex8980]

Thank you for All your Research and heartblood u give into thoose incredible Videos...I am a big Fan since the HotA Was getting Bigger Lord of the Rings Was the Trilogy i "read" when i used to sleep on the streets plus the Films are very well Made I just want to take a minute to imagine ehat These two guys behind TBS are searching for Informationen and get These incredibles Pictures from All over the World to give us Information, fun and love to ur beloved Charakters Thank u Guys and best Greez from Vienna 🤜❤🤛

[@fabianjudex8980]

and please excuse me the grammar, my keyboard is on german and my englisch is not the best...but i think u may understand the message (:

[@SR-di7ox]

In fairness to the "size" of Shelob in the movies, she is being compared to Sam, Frodo and Golem. Compared to them she would seem far larger on screen than a normal human.

[@rollingthunder1043]

I feel like you underestimated the size of Ancalagon the Black. In the Silmarillion it says the Towers of Thangorodrim were broken in his ruin when he died (which you commented on), and if that's to be taken literally it means he was so absolutely titanic that he was able to smash two mountain peaks by falling on them. That speaks to me of a dragon that's several miles long at least.

[@waynepurcell6058]

Well when Gandalf killed the balrog he stated "I threw down my enemy, and he fell from a high place and BROKE THE MOUNTAINSIDE where he smote it in his ruin". A balrog isn't that big, maybe a little more than twice as big as a man and he still "broke the mountainside". I look at it like this, such destruction may be due to the power that is contained within the creature being released upon its death. Think about it like this, the "Little Boy" atomic bomb wasn't big at all but look what it did to Hiroshima when its energy was released.

[@TransRoofKorean]

^I think what's ignored here is how magic is often manifested in Tolkien's world. Beorn's bear shape may be even larger to other bears than his human shape is to humans. Valar and Maiar are often quite capable of changing shape, especially the evil ones... not just into werewolves. When Morgoth emerges to fight Fingolfin he's "like a mountain", leaving craters with each blow and the probably 7ft tall athletic Fingolfin can only stab him in the foot, leading one to assume Morgoth is manifesting himself as *_hundreds_* of feet tall. And then you consider, _that_ is the god that feared Ungoliant would eat him -- clearly Ungoliant is almost certainly the largest of all creatures, they probably underestimated by at least a hundred times here. That's the sort of creature that is getting to be a size that it could start _eating_ mountains, which is clearly what Tolkien was hinting at with his mythology of Ungoliant. And yeah, when you consider a scale like that, the longest and largest dragons smashing mountains, or even a fallen Maiar like a balrog taking a giant shape makes a hell of a lot more sense. Kinda like it's entirely reasonable that Sauron shows up as a fair 6'6 elf to some, then goes into battle as a 15' tall black-clad warrior. It's not something everyone can do, but it's certainly something some of them could do.

[@tregonzo]

The 'Breaking of Thangorodrim' is to say the power of Thangorodrim was broken with the downfall of Angcalagon the Black.

[@davect01]

"Build me an Army, full of Broken Swords" A great video ☺️ I always thought the Fell Beasts were just a variant of Dragon

[@derrickstorm6976]

I'd rather be returned to Minas Tirith, though 😂🥲

[@jamesaron1967]

Great video. Pretty much coincides with my mental depictions for the size of Tolkien's creatures. Hollywood almost always exaggerates reality. Partly because it wants to sell tickets and partly because good visuals onscreen mandate it. If Peter Jackson wanted to adhere to Tolkien for the size of Smaug, as one example, how underwhelming would that dragon be on the big screen at several dozen feet? Would there be as much interest to movie goers and Tolkien fans alike? I somehow doubt it. Tolkien fans would complain Smaug is way too small and in certain aspects they'd be correct. Not for being inaccurate to the lore, but for failing the suspension of disbelief in regards to the character's actions and abilities in the story. You cannot change what is depicted in a movie in the same way you can form an image in your mind whilst reading the source material.

[@annaroselarsen4218]

Awesome!!!

[@TheBrokenSword]

:D :D

[@annaroselarsen4218]

@@TheBrokenSword y'all just made my day so much better today been a mordor day before I saw you video I have missed your weekly and so excited to have you back!

[@HuP1111]

Just read LOTR / The Fellowship... recently & still have the rest to go, including Silmarillion... but, excellent graphics, presentation, & logic (the boom-doom creature from the depths of Moria 'might' be a little bigger / maybe seem bigger due to smoke & flame around it, but definitely smaller than as shown in the movie). :)

[@UnswimmingFishYT]

I would actually put Ungoliant somewhere closer to 40 or 50 feet, as eating a tree would require a massive body to be possible, and being larger afterward would mean over 30 when considering common tree heights. Ungoliant was also large enough that it took a bunch of Balrogs to fight her off, which means she was much larger than them, most likely. However, Shelob being large enough to devour a human must make her bigger than something like a horse, but she was supposed to be smaller than her mother. Considering this, I'd guess Shelob was actually sized rather accurately in the movie version. On the Balrog, I was trying to figure out a height a few months ago, and since Gothmog was supposed to be the strongest one, being the largest doesn't seem unreasonable. Then you have Gandalf and Glorfindel both actually fighting them with their swords, which has to mean, that although large, it would need to be at least close enough to human height for sword dueling to be possible, making me think 10 foot Balrogs would be more realistic. It would still be plenty large enough to scare most men into fleeing, and make fighting one very difficult, even aside from their status as Maiar and accompanying powers, but not so large that Glorfindel, prior to being given unusual levels of strength, could still possibly withstand the force of their attacks without just collapsing. Gothmog being 12 feet still makes complete sense with the information available on him, but I personally just always thought of him as larger than usual, similar to how orc leaders and human kings often are in Tolkien's world.

[@balloonman257]

Did she eat the tree? I thought she drained their life sap from them. Not debating your argument I just had thought she sucked them dry

[@UnswimmingFishYT]

@@balloonman257 It's been a long time since I read it, so it could be either way, but I remembered it as her eating them. Either way, she'd certainly be huge, with it taking 10 Balrogs to drive her off.

[@karenknicely1788]

The watcher in the water, reminds me of the eye of the beholder from D&D.

[@derrickstorm6976]

Those Rohirrim illustrations are superb 🤩

[@ilumi421]

sometimes ignorance is bliss I will never take the uruk hai seriously again

[@michaelmeech9743]

hi i am so happy you have kept going, love the content and the new channel name. Carry on the good work!

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thank you! Will do! :D

[@glenncrawford9606]

You did a great job

[@yasutakaimai157]

Uin the Whale and Turtle Fish are worth mentioning.

[@theLore-Master]

Hey TBS, thought I would weigh in on this one. OK, MERP LOTR is based on research of Tolkien, and they site their sources at the bottom of their character descriptions. I don't know if you have access to these but they are out of print and go for $200 per copy (their are several books). They are Canon and are the greatest aide to Tolkien Lore. Love you guys/gals, but Error 1 is the size of Balrogs. Ecthelion slayed Gothmog, and Echthelion was a Noldo Elf standing at 7'3". Tolkien says that Gothmog stood at least twice his height...this means Gothmog was at least 15 feet and 16' is even possible. Error 2, Sauron. He is described as twice the height of a man (6ft in Tolkiens world which is described many times). This means Sauron is about 12 feet. Error 3; Ancalagon- the towers he crushed under his "ruin" don't require a 1,000 foot dragon (the size of an aircraft carrier). The towers were on mountains, so the ruin often cited gets mixed up with destroying the mountain as well...not accurate. Ancalagon was struck from the air and fell...so even a dragon the size of Glaurung, falling from a few hundred feet or more, would cause great damage to a "dark-ages" built tower in Tolkiens world. Wingspans in these creatures are ofetn twice body length, so was Ancalagon big in wingspan- YES, but remember, he was successfully attacked by eagles as well (and damaged) so 15' eagles with 30' wingspans (canon), could not have harmed a dragon the size of a flying aircraft carrier. If Glaurung is Chinese like (long and snake-like (canon), I agree the 150-200' rang is plausible. He was a least twice that of Smaug at 60' (canon). So, since Ancalagon was the greatest of all dragons, in scale proportion to the eagles (who could wound him) and Glaurung, Ancalagon was around 300' (football field) with a 600' wingspan. Error 4; Beorn, the comment below is correct about Beorns knees and the hobbit. One/third of a humanoid's height is from the ground to the knee. However Tolkien says "between his knees", not under the knees. Still, proportionally speaking, this pits Beorn at 10 feet, and Tolkien says he was greater as a bear (canon), therefore, Grizzlies can be 11-14 feet and that's where I put him. Nothing I've researched indicates or intimates that Beorn would have been bigger than a balrog. Morgoth was 50', several times the height of a man _several is 7,8,9 times so he was bewteen 42 and 54'. You say you like averages, ok- Morgoth was 50'.

[@jonathonfrazier6622]

The Nazgul were probally all over 6 foot.

[@Caffeine_And_Seawater]

Great video. My only critique is that within the elves I’m sure the Noldor were considered the tallest, and I can’t find the quote at the moment, but I’m sure the Numenoreans were considered close in height to them, while the wood elves were considered smaller, about the same height as men on average

[@Crafty_Spirit]

I think the Vanyar were even taller than the Noldor, the latter being close to 2 metres in their prime and not 6 feet (though I'm only like 75% certain). But I really think that some Numenoreans, especially the ones with royal blood, were the tallest children of Ilúvatar

[@alexyates4933]

Thanks for the video! This was a topic that always interested me.

[@cu1tc1assic]

2:52 Must be a level 45 orc, this mans has a daedric shield.

[@dmstantastic3653]

I have always wondered if the Balrog in moria was a rival to Sauron as the balrogs served Morgoth fanatically.

[@jameslyness2019]

Always loved lotr but you guyd make it even better

[@danielchan9556]

I wish they would make a movie about aome of the lore its unbelievably fascinating

[@Kai0nTheMoon]

Short orcs? Tiny Balrog? Talking trees only 14 feet? Damn. Very glad this was all changed for the films.

[@themydnighthour]

Nice work!

[@88badziew88]

I feel like I exceeded my life limits of multiplying by 30 after watching this video

[@ac4th371]

Ancalagon was the size of a mountain according to its description and a Balrog is 3 times the size of man with Gothmog being 4 times. Glaurung was larger in girth and not so long (think more like an iguana than snake) otherwise I'd pretty much agree with the rest.

[@dragonhelmofdor-lomin4017]

Nowhere in the book does it say that Ancalagon was the size of a mountain. We only know that he was the greatest of the winged dragons of Morgoth, mightiest of the dragon-host, killed by Eärendil, and that his death destroyed the peaks of Thangorodrim.

[@JanjayTrollface]

Talks about elves, shows a man. My niggling skepticism wins out and I doubt anything else said.

[@Enerdhil]

Great topic. I understand how you arrived at most of your calculations, but 1000 feet for Ancalagon the Black? That raises too many questions for me. Where the heck was he kept when was not in the air battling Earendil in Vingilot? How many orcs and captured elves did he eat a day? Did he issue from the Gates of Angband? Is there a secret special entrance and "hanger" for something that large behind Thangorodrim? Or did he have an eyrie somewhere deep in the Ered Engrin? Also a 1000-foot dragon could certainly swallow Vingilot and Earendil whole, so how did Earendil kill him with a sword smaller than the size of a toothpick to the dragon? Another thing, would the wingspan also be a bout 1000 feet? Anyway, this is like Peter Jackson's Stone Giants, IMO

[@Mariana---]

AH! How I missed you guys! Excellent video!

[@TheBrokenSword]

Thanks so much! :)

[@smithsanity2727]

I wish you would have added the size of Morgoth and Sauron when they were at their greatest forms. It’s a great video nonetheless!

[@vitalguillin1177]

It's written than Sauron was taller than the biggest numenorians, but not so much, so, we can guess he was maybe just over 2 meters high (2,20-2,30 m) in his "human form", so, Morgoth would be between 3-4 meters only...

[@fAshSon]

Haha. Smaug wasforgotten!

[@JohnDoe-lx3dt]

Aren’t the barrow wights just Dunadain that had died and then been reanimated and cursed by the witch king while he controlled angmar?

[@christiansky942]

Nice topic my dudes

[@tristan9648]

9k already!

[@TheBrokenSword]

:D BROHIRRIM!!!

[@tristan9648]

@@TheBrokenSword the Brohirrim will stand strong with you until the end :)

[@fabiomarangoni2413]

Those still only count as one

[@sara2th]

Usually when measuring horses height it is measured at the shoulder.

[@romansochacki7678]

Honestly thought Orcs were about as tall as men but quite a bit stronger. Also thought that dwarves were around 5 ft tall. I'm 6'1 barefoot and standing military straight. Unless Tolkien wrote otherwise, that's hardly average height. Great video.

[@leestewart72]

Shelob appears much larger in LoTR because you only ever see her next to Frodo and Sam. If put by a human, her scale would be pretty close to yours.

[@jayc5555]

That's what I was going to say. Shelob would looked half the size next to legolas or aragon.

[@Paulafan5]

A massive dragon falling would be like a cannonball and destroy a much larger area than the size of the dragon. I'm guessing that Ancalagon would only have to be a small percentage of the size of the mountain he "ruined". Even 500 feet long, that would severely damage a mountain if it fell from any real height.

[@rick7424]

Amazing list. Very discriptive. However, the dragon of the War of Wrath was not mentioned.

[@zionthedragon8866]

*Dragons and I would say between or around glarung's size as a close estimate.

[@GlorfindelofGondolin]

Once more, another fine video.

[@TheBrokenSword]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@pacrat6271]

I feel Peter makes many things larger just so the height of dwarves and hobbits are just that much more noticeable

[@Morgan12858]

How could you forget the moving mountains :)

[@stephenhill6003]

Well done. Where do we think Sauron would have fit in?

[@dpslfg]

It may not be a creature, but Sam's heart is bigger than any being in Middle-Earth.

[@kawekalee9737]

You forgot Roark. The Raven that spoke to Thorin and Dain Ironfoot II.

[@lossig1634]

No goblins, Tom bombadil, Sauron, Morgoth, the valor, the maiar, or wizards?

[@moremer66]

I know this is just your opinion and I also know i haven't read the books. But I really feel the Ents would but much taller than 14'. if you look at the trees around your house they have to be about 40' on avg, plug he carried 2 hobbits. It would make more sense if they were 20'-25'.

[@youplaywell1165]

Nice video

[@olivertaylor6097]

Would've liked to have seen Sauron and Morgoth in here. Is there a heroes and villains size comparison?

[@dillinger9611]

Hello Broken Sword Team, as always I enjoyed it to dive a little into the fiction and fantasy of Tolien's work with the help of your video. It is very sad that there are still countries / people not using the metric system. I have read your attached comment which makes it a bit easier to understand. So thank you for that : ) Hopefully even the US will stop being obsolete one day and teach their people a good measurement system. On the other hand Tolkien probably also did not use the metric system and thus would have described the sizes imperially. So it may even work that way in his fantasy ; )

[@nicoblac9368]

Loser

[@duravakar2352]

He was British he probably used the metric system