Tail on upside down!
To reply to simply the beast...
I have a memory of the time when the designs for the aircraft were being distributed around. There was a very similar design to this one, which had the elevators in-line with the wings. This aircraft had prop engines.
An alternative version had jet engines and, consequently, the elevators were lifted above the wing line. Of course, because a committee decided on which design was better they decided that they liked the present aircraft but wanted prop engines!
I seem to remember it was the Germans who insisted that their design was used ( ie a high tail) but ( stupidly, I think) not with jet engines. In the Herc, one had greatly increased elevator authority at slow speeds because of the prop wash over them. This was particularly handy during para drops or tactical landings.
Not sure why they have dispensed with this; maybe because modern fly-by-wire systems can cope much better?