Was Ser Gregor Clegane even all that tall?

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

OK, so Ser Gregor has a nickname "The Mountain That Rides". He's described as a veritable giant. He's allegedly eight foot tall. But, seriously, who is eight foot tall? Nobody, that's who. He could be of average height, or even shorter. How, you ask? Lord Tywin's pride.

Now, we do know that Lord Tywin felt humiliated by the very existence of his stunted, deformed dwarf of a son. Justly or not, that's how Tywin felt. It was a personal affront to him from the gods. And opinion, of himself, of House Lannister, among people, was arguably the most important thing in Tywin's eyes ever. How one counters an insufficiently tall, insufficiently martial son? By making up a fantastic, unheard of, gigantic, unstoppable warrior, and having people go with it. Why would they? Well, who's going to tell Tywin "Castamere" Lannister "Bullshit!"?

OK, you might recall some quotes from books describing Ser Gregor as a large man. I'd rather you didn't, my theory doesn't do nearly as well when subjected to such an unfair treatment. I want you to think about it, instead of reading the books. But, if you must, let's just handwave all that away.

Here's how we do it: first, we disregard every single witness who isn't a POV character. They're just going with the flow, and succumb to generally accepted wisdom. Some of the POV characters as well. Tyrion, for instance, had spent his whole life cowed by the larger-than-life figure of Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, Shield of Lannisport, titles, titles. And it lasted until the memorable meeting in the crapper. Before - Ser Gregor was tall, Lord Father had said so!

OK, and now only a handful non-Lannister, POV, eye-witness characters remain. Mostly Starks. Some of them little girls. We know how they are. No credibility at all. And, if you still insist, then first, I accuse you of not having an open mind, and then destroy your objections with my trump card: the Sealord's cat. Forgot about that "beast", haven't you? If I may, let me refresh your memory:

“On the day I am speaking of, the first sword was newly dead, and the Sealord sent for me. Many bravos had come to him, and as many had been sent away, none could say why. When I came into his presence, he was seated, and in his lap was a fat yellow cat. He told me that one of his captains had brought the beast to him, from an island beyond the sunrise. ‘Have you ever seen her like?’ he asked of me.

“And to him I said, ‘Each night in the alleys of Braavos I see a thousand like him,’ and the Sealord laughed, and that day I was named the first sword.”

Arya screwed up her face. “I don’t understand.”

Syrio clicked his teeth together. “The cat was an ordinary cat, no more. The others expected a fabulous beast, so that is what they saw. How large it was, they said. It was no larger than any other cat, only fat from indolence, for the Sealord fed it from his own table. What curious small ears, they said. Its ears had been chewed away in kitten fights. And it was plainly a tomcat, yet the Sealord said ‘her,’ and that is what the others saw. Are you hearing?”

Ser Gregor is an average, nondescript man, possibly even on the short side, but people are just conditioned to see the Mountain That Rides. AKA, the Sealord's Cat. And that's all there is to it.

(For the inspiration to make this thread, I owe thanks to the author of the bold and daring "Did Walder Frey even have a choice?" thread).

[Bluetiger]

We really need WOW...

[Lost Umber]

You might be onto something. Along that vein... what if Tyrion is of normal height? Perhaps even above average. Sure he may have been small when he was a child and maybe that's where Tywin got the idea to convince the realm that his hated son was a dwarf. In fact he started off trying to pass Tyrion off as a monster with a tail but that clearly was too outrageous to fly so he went with the dwarf thing instead. 

I can imagine Tywin trotting a 4 yr old Tyrion in front of other lords and saying "Look at him!  Look how short he is....He's an imp. A dwarf". 

Tyrion has been brainwashed into believing it and now everyone just believes for fear of looking stupid by saying otherwise. This is a classic "Emperor has no clothes scenario". 

Proof? How about:

-Tyrion not only fights in several battles but does exceptionally well. Even beating knights who we are led to believe are twice his size. 

- he can easily reach the vials of poison on Pycelle's shelf

- Shae repeatedly refers to him as a giant. 

Wow... it's amazing how GRRM hides things like this in plain sight. And this also also means that Sansa Stark must be a giantess since she towers over Tyrion!

Mind blown....

[WSmith84]

I'm trying to work out which particular thread was the one that broke the camel's back and led to this... Any hints OP?

[cgrav]

I hear tell the Wall is more of a fence. Sad!