How long is an ELL?

[Ravyn]

Hey all, I need to know what the actual measurement (in inches) an ELL is. I have seen someplaces that said it was 45" and then another that said 1/2 a yard (18")..if anyone has a good site that would explain it to me..it would be really appreciated. In case you didn't know this is a Viking thing.
Thanks
Ravyn

[Quizmonster]

It varies according to country. The English ell was 45 inches, the Scottish one 37.2 inches and the Flemish one 27 inches.

[Rumford]

That's an 'ell of a difference!

[Quizmonster]

The old Teutonic word from which 'ell' is derived meant the arm or forearm and is related to the Latin word 'ulna', which we nowadays use as a name for a bone in the forearm.
The measurement idea was apparently an indication of the distance between the shoulder or elbow to the wrist or fingertips. Purely in the interests of science, I - a Scotsman - just measured my shoulder to fingertips and found that to be about 27 inches! Perhaps I am really a Fleming! Whoever decided the original English length must have used a gorilla or orang-utan to get 45 inches.

[ugly_bob]

I thought the cubit was the forearm measurement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit

[heathfield]

In another land, Bob.

[Old_Thul]

An Ell is a unit of measure used by early Scandinavians and was concidered an ancient measure in the Viking Age (800-1200 CE). Ell translates as 'arm' and so thus was the length of your arm. This is in no way related to the Latin Ulna, elbogi (elbow) simply means the bow or bend (bogi) in your arm (ell) and is derived from Old Norse, not Latin.

So an arm's length could be measured in a few different ways. The standard, in the Viking age, was from the tip of your finger to your shoulder or armpit. Just for references, a personal ell for me is 30 and 1/4 inches. As I am a bit taller then the average man in the viking age, my ell is longer then average.

This difference between the measure of men was known and so led to the custom of "giving an inch". This practice gave leeway of an inch (the width of a thumb in Viking Age) either way for purposes of trade. This lead to the creation of the yard as the Scandinavians of that time were noticeably bigger then the British and continental Europeans that they ere trading with. Some report the yard as a measure the length of a mans belt. The yard measures the fingertip to the middle of the chest, so as to match more closely with the Norse ell. This is sometimes also called a Scottish ell (1 yard).

At this time the English began to measure from the fingertip to the opposite shoulder, Thus increasing the English ell to be longer even then the yard. Not to be outdone the French began to use a measure from fingertip to fingertip of outstretched arms, minus a cubit. So a French ell was from one fingertip to the opposite elbow. These were used primarily for the cloth trade.

All measures were usually standardized by the local ruler or chieftain, later by kings and after the conversion of most of Europe to Christianity, the measures were based, in 1354, on those of Pope Innocent the VI of the Avignon Papacy.

The following website offers a great graphic right at the top that illustrates some of these.

http://eia.egreen.wed...s_of_measurements.htm