Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I would like to start this with that I am a major Dwarf fan, and that while my very first army may have been High Elves, the FIRST army I collected that didn't end up a mess of useless plastic, was a Dwarf one (While also being a Space wolf Fanatic on top of this).

For a while now ive been trying to figure out the actual height of a Warhammer Dwarf, because its rather puzzling..... Most Dwarves in films, and otherwise, aren't terribly shorter then the average man, a foot or so, which would make them 5ft if you work by averages of 6ft - 5'10''.

I would love some help with this, because it's baffled me for a while now, and any information or sources would also be appreciated.

Dakkawolf, 07

Man has actually evolved to be taller over the past few centuries (evidenced by the fact that many colonial and historical houses were built smaller and shorter), but this could be refuted as i dont know the actual proof of it. It's just one of the things I remember hearing over and over again as I toured through a lot of colonial houses throughout the years (I remember hearing that George Washington was considered tall in his era but was only 5'4 or something).

If I had to guess in my mind I picture the average man in fantasy times to be about 5'. This would put the average dwarf at about 4'.

3.5-4' by my estimation.

Aerethan wrote:3.5-4' by my estimation.

This me thinks is correct, althou there are several instances in WHFB books where Dwarfs are mentioned as being about as high as the wasteline of a man

Thanks for the Replies guys.

According to a quick search, George Washington was 6ft in Height.

As for Fantasy Height of a man... You cant really base the average mans height on historical source, because in the Warhammer world things differ slightly... aka... Blame GW for not making things clearer....

But i do agree with 4ft-3 1/2ft in Height, not including unique cases of taller / shorter dwarves.

You need to keep in mind that the cgi/camera angles in films is somewhat limiting when in comes to scale. Having just watched Lord of the Rings - again - there are some shots when the Hobbits and the Dwarfs do look rather silly.

I agree that the dwarves are @ 4' tall.

As for the 'historical' height thing - ignoring the 19th century pseudo science on which it is based - a visit to the viking museum in York is rather enlightening. The waxworks are reconstructions of actual skeletons and they are not dissimilar to the general populace in the surrounding streets.

Also it is dodgy to base anything on the size of buildings, because there are various social reasons - war, taxation, fashion, the price of materials etc - for the design of buildings.

If it did then we can only assume the clerics at Cathedrals were all twenty feet tall - in the past.

dakkawolf wrote:Thanks for the Replies guys.

According to a quick search, George Washington was 6ft in Height.

As for Fantasy Height of a man... You cant really base the average mans height on historical source, because in the Warhammer world things differ slightly... aka... Blame GW for not making things clearer....

But i do agree with 4ft-3 1/2ft in Height, not including unique cases of taller / shorter dwarves.

Interesting. This begs the question how the hell did him and his wife sleep in such a small bed? Lol. I remember his bed being like barely 5' long. Not to mention, I was banging my head everywhere and I'm barely 5'10.

marielle wrote:
As for the 'historical' height thing - ignoring the 19th century pseudo science on which it is based - a visit to the viking museum in York is rather enlightening. The waxworks are reconstructions of actual skeletons and they are not dissimilar to the general populace in the surrounding streets.

Also it is dodgy to base anything on the size of buildings, because there are various social reasons - war, taxation, fashion, the price of materials etc - for the design of buildings.

If it did then we can only assume the clerics at Cathedrals were all twenty feet tall - in the past.

True and I understand your point. It just made sense when the tour guides (which are a barely reliable source) would answer the question that way (considering how often it was said by different sources). I never claimed to be 100% true, in fact I think I admitted its probably not.

Stoupe wrote:True and I understand your point. It just made sense when the tour guides (which are a barely reliable source) would answer the question that way (considering how often it was said by different sources). I never claimed to be 100% true, in fact I think I admitted its probably not.

Indeed, it is a commonly held mistake.

The Vikings were exceptionally tall for people in Europe at that time. They were one people group that ate more dairy and meat products then the average european(because the Vikings hunted and fished for a living and also raised cattle, peasents largely ate grain based diets with meat and dairy being a rare luxury)

Grey Templar wrote:The Vikings were exceptionally tall for people in Europe at that time. They were one people group that ate more dairy and meat products then the average european(because the Vikings hunted and fished for a living and also raised cattle, peasents largely ate grain based diets with meat and dairy being a rare luxury)

Add to the survival of the fittest or a type of eugenics and we can see why modern people are taller, it may be as simple as woman like taller men, so that gene gets past down... well not in norfolk... im 6'2" and everyone here seems to be about 5'8" on average, I'm not tall... there short lol

Grey Templar wrote:The Vikings were exceptionally tall for people in Europe at that time. They were one people group that ate more dairy and meat products then the average european(because the Vikings hunted and fished for a living and also raised cattle, peasents largely ate grain based diets with meat and dairy being a rare luxury)

Indeed but that assumes that all of the skeletons found were in fact Vikings, or of Viking stock.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Formosa wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:The Vikings were exceptionally tall for people in Europe at that time. They were one people group that ate more dairy and meat products then the average european(because the Vikings hunted and fished for a living and also raised cattle, peasents largely ate grain based diets with meat and dairy being a rare luxury)

Add to the survival of the fittest or a type of eugenics and we can see why modern people are taller, it may be as simple as woman like taller men, so that gene gets past down... well not in norfolk... im 6'2" and everyone here seems to be about 5'8" on average, I'm not tall... there short lol

Or the rich men in Norfolk were shorter.

One could assume Dwarves height could be due to them not requiring to be tall, a shorter and broader being works better in tunnels and the like. In fact I believe its actually implied.

During character generation for WFRP 2nd., ed, Dwarfs can vary in height between 4'5" and 5'2" (average 2 inches shorter for females). The average dwarf then would be somewhere around 4'9"

Halflings end up around a foot shorter on average than Dwarfs, and Humans average a foot taller. Poor Empire quality of life sees to that

WFRP being an official GW product I'd say thats the closest thing we're going to get to an 'official' height for Dwarfs. Hope that helps!

grantosjones wrote:During character generation for WFRP 2nd., ed, Dwarfs can vary in height between 4'5" and 5'2" (average 2 inches shorter for females). The average dwarf then would be somewhere around 4'9"

Halflings end up around a foot shorter on average than Dwarfs, and Humans average a foot taller. Poor Empire quality of life sees to that

WFRP being an official GW product I'd say thats the closest thing we're going to get to an 'official' height for Dwarfs. Hope that helps!

There's always a rules lawyer around to stop the fun of discussing how tall George Washington would be if he lived in 9th century castle in Norfolk...

hahaha! I'm not rules lawyering!

Too many years running WFRP just takes over sometimes!

Thats still pretty short.

Of course its also combined with Dwarf body proportions too. Broader body, thicker limbs, etc...

I think its due to the Average dwarves living conditions, and the necessity of height vs strength.

Stoupe wrote:Man has actually evolved to be taller over the past few centuries (evidenced by the fact that many colonial and historical houses were built smaller and shorter), but this could be refuted as i dont know the actual proof of it. It's just one of the things I remember hearing over and over again as I toured through a lot of colonial houses throughout the years (I remember hearing that George Washington was considered tall in his era but was only 5'4 or something).

If I had to guess in my mind I picture the average man in fantasy times to be about 5'. This would put the average dwarf at about 4'.

'S'not evolution, that's just healthier living allowing us to grow higher :p

From Gotrek and Felix (First Omnibus) it was said that either Snorri or Gotrek (Can't remember who) were up to his chest IICRC but I maybe wrong. But I do remember they couldn't keep up with him in battle and their legs were like a muttons.

Tall enough to savage the feth out of your knees with there teeth.