Editing Ell (section)

==In literature==
In the epic poem ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'', the Green Knight's axe-head was an ell (45 inches) wide.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Burrow |editor-first=J. A. |date=1972 |title=Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |location=Harmondsworth, England |publisher=Penguin |pages=22 |isbn=0140806679 |oclc=1136028 |quote=The lenkthe of an elnyerde the large hed had}}</ref>

Ells were also used in the medieval French play [[La Farce de maître Pathelin|''The Farce of Master Pathelin'']] to measure the size of the clothing Pierre Pathelin bought.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/pdf/ebh410b2451866.pdf |title=The farce of Master Pierre Patelin|website=sas.ac.uk|access-date=11 April 2024}}</ref>  

Ells are used for measuring the length of rope in [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.<ref name="TLotR">{{cite book |last=Tolkien |first=J. R. R. |author-link=Tolkien |title=The Lord of the Rings |title-link=The Lord of the Rings |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-261-10368-7 |pages=595–6 |quote=Sam paid it out slowly, measuring it with his arms: 'Five, ten, twenty, thirty ells, more or less, ... Thirty ells, or say, about eighteen [[fathom]]{{'-}}}}</ref> Since Sam declares that 30 elles are "about" 18 fathoms (108 feet), he seems to be using the 45-inch English ell, which would work out to 112 feet.

[[Halldór Laxness]] described [[Örvar-Oddr]] as twelve [[Danish units of measure|Danish ells]] tall in ''[[Independent People]]'', Part II, "Of the World".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laxness |first=Halldór |author-link=Halldór Laxness |title=Sjálfstætt fólk |publisher=[[Vintage Books|Vintage]] |others=Introduction by [[Brad Leithauser]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-679-76792-4 |location=New York |page=201 |translator-last=Thompson |translator-first=J. A. (James Anderson) |trans-title=Independent People <!--|chapter=Part II, Of the World--> |orig-date=1946 |translator-link=J. A. Thompson}}</ref>