Henneth Annûn Story Archive

What unit of measure would be used for weight in Middle Earth? I could find nothing on this, so I resorted to using "stone," since I am describing the weight of a person (a large, muscular person -- Boromir, to be exact). Thanks for any help with this matter. Branwyn

 

Hi Branwyn Hobbits apparently used "imperial" measures (Edit: sorry, proper name is "avoirdupois weight" - I had to look it up!) , since "the next year [Frodo] gave a party in honour of Bilbo's hundred-and-twelfth birthday, which he called Hundred-weight Feast" (The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 2, The Shadow of the Past). That's the only reference I can think of off the top of my head, but it seems perfectly consistent with stones, pounds and ounces! Hope that helps Cheers, Liz

 

I love living in southern Wisconsin... I just went to Marquette U over in Milwaukee a couple weeks ago. One of the pieces of paper they had on display was, of all things, a menu from a faculty dinner that Tolkien went to. On its back, a bunch of Hobbit measurements were scrawled. Guess the dinner was rather boring, ne? ^_~ If I recall correctly, lengths were of a same sort as the English system (ie. it was something like fourteen toes making a foot). One could probably extrapolate out that weights are of an English-like system, too, at least for Hobbits. Valar only know what the Elves and the Dúnedain are up to. Wish I had thought to bring a notebook with me... but no... I was too busy geekin' out... Bado na sídh. Berz.

 

If I recall correctly, lengths were of a same sort as the English system (ie. it was something like fourteen toes making a foot). One could probably extrapolate out that weights are of an English-like system, too, at least for Hobbits. Valar only know what the Elves and the Dúnedain are up to. Thanks to you and to Tanaqui for the information! Sounds like it is reasonable to use "stone" for my measure of weight. Branwyn

 

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