Dobby

[grey_wolf_c]

No: HPFGUIDX 36742

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "betsyfallon" <betsyfallon at h...> wrote:
> Hi everyone. I have been having computer problems and haven't been 
> able to read all the back posts so I don't know if this question has 
> been asked before. I am utterly wild about the characters of Dobby 
> and Winky. I have read GoF and CoS each about three times and nowhere 
> can I find out how tall they are. In GoF, Winky comes into Moody's 
> office behind Snape and she is standing behind him and I think she is 
> up to his knees (?) Which makes me think that Dobby and Winky are 
> about three feet tall, but does anyone else know.  Thanks
> 
> Betsy

The Lexicon doesn't mention any particular height, so I assume that 
none is given in the books (only that they are "short"). However, there 
are a few second-hand references. Dobby is dressed in a pillow case, 
which can go from 50-90 cm. Other elves dress in "tea-cozies" (put in 
measures yourself. I am unsure of what that may be, and haven't my 
translated book handy) and towels (30-60 cm, assuming they wrap 
themselves). This would give us elves between 40 and 70 cm, which more 
or less agrees with my own theory (see below). 

That's about the only canon we have at the moment. I imagine that Dobby 
will keep popping up in further books, and maybe JKR will continue to 
give details. However, there is another way to go at it, quite a bit 
more questionable, which is to base ourselves in other elves of 
mythology. Doing this, we have to step back to pre-Tolkien times, or to 
some of the independent stories of some modern authors (for example, 
Salvatore's Corona world). Anyway, before Tolkien transformed elves 
into the celestial creatures of Middle Earth, elves were just another 
type of Goblin, albeit generally more peaceful and undamaging to humans 
than the run-of-the-mill, everyday goblin. On these mythologies, elves 
were 30-60 cm (1-2 ft), although normally (at least in my country) 
closer to 50 cm. Some of them had butterfly wings in their backs 
(although very few were functional). Since I'm fan of these tales, I 
normally picture elves in HPverse 50cm in height, but (as I've already 
said), there's very little canon (and none of it "hard") to back-up 
this number.

Hope that helps

Grey Wolf