Durin’s Bane vs Gandalf: the size gap, measured
Durin’s Bane measures 6.1 m (20 ft) from the ground up, and Gandalf measures 1.8 m (5.91 ft) from the ground up. Durin’s Bane comes to 3.39 times the height of Gandalf, a difference of 4.3 m (14.1 ft). Take 3 Gandalfs stacked up and you reach 5.4 m (17.7 ft), still 69.6 cm (27.4 in) short of Durin’s Bane; one more would overshoot by 1.1 m (3.62 ft). Durin’s Bane and Gandalf are both written in single metres, so the 3.39-to-one gap has to be read off the digits rather than off the unit.
| Object | Real size | Axis measured | What the figure covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durin’s Bane | 6.1 m 20 ft |
Height | LOTR Films, Balrog of Moria |
| Gandalf | 1.8 m 5.91 ft |
Height | LOTR |
Both figures, Durin’s Bane and Gandalf, come from the Size It Up measurement set, one real-world size and one measured axis per object, last checked in September 2026; outline provenance is listed on the sources page.
Why this one is hard to judge by eye
Durin’s Bane is drawn about 7.08 times as wide as Gandalf as well as 3.39 times its height, so the area it takes in the frame grows faster than the figure anyone quotes. Durin’s Bane sits in the range with no handy yardstick: too big to hold against anything you have carried, too small to need a horizon, so it and Gandalf end up filed under the same vague heading of very large. On the drawing above Durin’s Bane is about 1.09 times as tall as it is wide and Gandalf about 2.27 times as tall as it is wide, so the two outlines fill the frame in ways that have nothing to do with the one axis being compared.
What each figure covers
Durin’s Bane. The height comes from the film design rather than the book, which describes the creature only as a great shadow. Two sources, two very different answers.
Gandalf. The height is the figure used for the character as he appears in the films, staff excluded. The staff would add roughly another half metre above the head.
Durin’s Bane and Gandalf are both quoted as a height, which is what makes the ratio above a like-for-like figure.
What else is about that size?
Measured the same way, Durin’s Bane at 6.1 m sits within a quarter of Dialga at 5.4 m, Giraffe at 5.3 m and Bumblebee at 4.9 m. Gandalf at 1.8 m has C-3PO at 1.77 m, American Bison at 1.75 m and Human at 1.71 m for company, within a tenth. Swapping any of those in for Durin’s Bane would move its ratio to Gandalf by less than 25%.