Gimli (Middle-earth)
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Gimli is a Dwarf of Durin's Folk who is chosen to accompany Frodo Baggins as a member of the Fellowship of the Ring on the quest to destroy the One Ring. An honourable, wise, and stalwart warrior favouring the axe as his weapon with the occasional flair for poetics, he has become an archetype for Dwarves in contemporary fantasy settings.
Gimli became deeply enamoured upon meeting the Lorien elf Galadriel, and the memory of this aids in the rehabilitation of the once-strong relationship between Elves and Dwarves.
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[edit] Biography
Gimli is the son of Glóin, one of the former companions of Bilbo Baggins. He is a remote descendant of Durin the Deathless, father of the Dwarven people Gimli belongs to. Third cousin once removed to Dáin II 'Ironfoot' (king of Durin's Folk), Gimli is of the royal line, but not close to the succession. (Gimli is also the first cousin once removed of Balin, also one of Bilbo's former companions, and later Lord of Moria.) Gimli is introduced at the council of Elrond, which he attends together with his father to bring news of his home, Erebor. Gimli is chosen by Elrond as one of Frodo's companions.
Within the Fellowship, Gimli initially clashes with the Elf Legolas, for various reasons: Elves and Dwarves are still feuding over the ancient destruction of Doriath, and more recently Thranduil, Legolas' father, once imprisoned Gimli's father Glóin (as described in The Hobbit). Despite this, Gimli and Legolas slowly become friends, as they find mutual respect for each other.
As the Fellowship is forced to enter the desolate mines of Moria Gimli is at first enthusiastic, hoping to find a colony of his people there, led by Balin. This hope turns to naught however, as Moria is found to be infested with Orcs, and the Fellowship has to fight its way out after discovering the tomb of his cousin. After Gandalf the Wizard falls into darkness struggling with a Balrog, the Fellowship finally escapes the mines. It is then that Gimli must enter the forest of Lothlórien, populated by Elves which are not friendly to Dwarves. Gimli is told he alone must be blindfolded if he is to enter the forest, and his refusal nearly leads to a violent situation, which is only defused when Aragorn proposes that the entire Fellowship be blindfolded.
Gimli's opinion of Elves drastically changes when he meets Galadriel, Lady of Lothlórien: her beauty, kindness, and understanding impresses Gimli so much that, when given the opportunity to ask for whatever he wishes, asks not treasures or magical items, but rather one of Galadriel's silver-gold hairs (he is actually given three), which he will treasure forever. Gimli gains the nickname Lockbearer as a result. An interesting historical note is that, according to "The History of Galadriel and Celeborn" in Unfinished Tales, this same request was made, thousands of years previously, by Fëanor, greatest of the Noldorin Elves (whose creation of the Silmarils may have been inspired by that same silver-gold hair). Galadriel refused Fëanor's request, but she grants Gimli's, perhaps because of his humility.
Gimli's love and respect for Galadriel is further demonstrated at his first encounter with Éomer of Rohan. Éomer speaks ill of the name Galadriel, having been told false rumours about her. Gimli responds to this with overtly harsh words, leading to a hostile situation that again had to be defused by Aragorn.
By the end of the first volume, he strikes an unlikely friendship with Legolas. In the second (The Two Towers), Gimli proves his valour in combat in the Battle of the Hornburg, though he is wounded. In that battle, he and Legolas engage in an Orc-slaying contest which results in a stronger bond between the two (Gimli wins by one; he kills 42 to Legolas' 41). Later, Gimli's vivid description of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond moves the Elf to promise to come back and visit when the War is over. (They eventually do fulfil this promise, with Gimli also consenting to visit Fangorn Forest.) Their friendship is a model for overcoming prejudice; they even ride together on the same horse.
After the War, Gimli would lead a large number of Durin's folk south to establish a new Dwarf-realm at Aglarond, and he became the first Lord of the Glittering Caves. The Dwarves of the Glittering Caves, led by their lord, would repair much of the physical damage incurred during the War of the Ring. Most notably, they rebuilt the Great Gate of Minas Tirith with a new one made of mithril and steel, as well as improving upon the existing layout of the entire city.
Gimli was 139 years old (born in 2879 of the Third Age) when the Fellowship of the Ring set out from Rivendell, making him 52 years older than Aragorn. His date of death is not known, and according to the Red Book of Westmarch, some say that after Aragorn died in Fourth Age 120, he travelled with Legolas into the West (perhaps granted permission at the request of Galadriel), the first Dwarf to visit the Undying Lands.
[edit] Portrayals in adaptations
[edit] Film
Gimli was voiced by David Buck in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. Here he is drawn as being almost as tall as the rest of the non-hobbit members of the Fellowship.
Gimli does not appear in the the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King.
In Peter Jackson's movie trilogy (2001–2003) Gimli is played by John Rhys-Davies, who happened to be taller than the actors playing the Hobbits, who were only 5'6" and 5'7" respectively while Rhys-Davies is 6'1". Thus in scenes where Gimli and the Hobbits appear together, their respective sizes remain in proportion, whereas in scenes where they have to interact with human-sized characters, tricks of scale had to be employed, especially since John Rhys-Davies is also taller than Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom (who played Aragorn and Legolas respectively), both of whom are only 5'11".
Also, Gimli is given a heavy helmet and many axes of different shapes and uses. In the book, he bears only one axe and "short corslet of steel rings" of superior quality, being made by Dwarves. Gimli of the book also wears a hood, following the custom of his folk; he only replaces his hood with a helm (and a green shield) from the armoury of Meduseld before setting off to the Hornburg. This helm is later lost during the battle, where he is wounded in the head; the green shield is not mentioned again.
In these movies, Gimli's rougher personality compared to Aragorn and Legolas is somewhat exaggerated, and he sometimes provides the defusing comic relief, which many readers found distasteful due to it being untrue to the source material and unfair to the character. It is also blatantly inconsistent with the nature of the Dwarvish race, described in just about every print source as "grim and plain-speaking", or variations thereof. A cinematic defense to this is that Merry and Pippin provide the comic relief initially, but as the saga unfolds the War forces them to mature, so Gimli becomes the sole source of comic relief in order to pace dramatic tension.
[edit] Stage
In Canada, Gimli was portrayed by Ross Williams in the 3-hour Toronto stage production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in 2006.
In the United States, Gimli was portrayed by Elizabeth Harris in the Cincinnati stage productions of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. At Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, Gimli was played on-stage by Brooks Darrah in The Two Towers (1999).
[edit] Radio
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Gimli was voiced by Douglas Livingstone in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation.
[edit] Quotations
[edit] From Tolkien's novel
- (As the Fellowship leaves Rivendell)
- "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens," said Gimli.
- "Maybe," said Elrond, “but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall."
- "Yet sworn word may strengthen quaking heart," said Gimli.
- "Or break it," said Elrond.
- (In Hollin)
- "Dark is the water of Kheled-zâram," said Gimli, "and cold are the springs of Kibil-nâla. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon."
- (In Moria)
- "These are not holes. This is the great realm and city of the Dwarrowdelf. And of old it was not darksome, but full of light and splendour, as is still remembered in our songs."
- (At the Hornburg)
- "Ever my heart rises as we draw near the mountains. There is good rock here. This country has tough bones. I felt them in my feet as we came up from the dike. Give me a year and a hundred of my kin and I would make this a place that armies would break upon like water. ...Sleep! I feel the need of it. Yet my axe is restless in my hand. Give me a row of orc-necks and room to swing and all weariness will fall from me!"
- (During the Battle of the Hornburg)
- "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!" (Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!) — Dwarvish battlecry, the only recorded examples of spoken Khuzdul phrase (some Khuzdul phrases occur on Balin's tomb).
- (Speaking of the Glittering Caves)
- "Strange are the ways of Men, Legolas! Here they have one of the marvels of the Northern World, and what do they say of it? Caves, they say! Caves! Holes to fly to in time of war, to store fodder in! My good Legolas, do you know that the caverns of Helm's Deep are vast and beautiful? There would be an endless pilgrimage of Dwarves, merely to gaze at them, if such things were known to be. Aye indeed, they would pay pure gold for a brief glance!"
- "And I would give gold to be excused," said Legolas, "and double to be let out, if I strayed in!"
- "You have not seen, so I forgive your jest." ... "But you speak like a fool.... when the torches are kindled and men walk on the sandy floors under the echoing domes, ah! then, Legolas, gems and crystals and veins of precious ore glint in the polished walls; and the light glows through folded marbles, shell-like, translucent as the living hands of Queen Galadriel. There are columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose, Legolas, fluted and twisted into dreamlike forms; they spring up from many-coloured floors to meet the glistening pendants of the roof: wings, ropes, curtains fine as frozen clouds; spears, banners, pinnacles of suspended palaces!… Do you cut down groves of blossoming trees in the springtime for firewood? We would tend these glades of flowering stone, not quarry them…"
[edit] From Bakshi's film
- (Pursuing Merry and Pippin's captors)
- "I cannot run all the way to Isengard!"
[edit] From Jackson's films
- (At the Council of Elrond, lines directed to Legolas)
- "I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf! Never trust an Elf!"
- (In Moria as Legolas and Aragorn are assisting the Hobbits over a broken bridge)
- "Nobody tosses a dwarf!"
- (At Helm's Deep)
- Gimli: "Oh come on, we can take them!"
- Aragorn: "It's a long way"
- Gimli: "Toss me."
- Aragorn: "What?"
- Gimli: "I cannot jump the distance, you'll have to toss me! Oh — don't tell the elf."
- Aragorn: "Not a word."
- (Pursuing Merry and Pippin's captors)
- "I'm wasted on cross-country! We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!"
- (At Helm's Deep)
- Gimli: (To Legolas, In response to not being able to see over the wall) "Ugh, you could've picked a better spot."
- (To Aragorn) "Well, lad, whatever luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night."
- Legolas: "Your friends are with you, Aragorn."
- Gimli: "... Let's hope they last the night..."
- (After Legolas shoots an orc claiming that it was still moving, so he can tie Gimli's kill count; when Gimli wiggles his axe, the body twitches).
- "He was twitching... because he's got my axe embedded in his nervous system!"
- (Referring to the Army of the Dead, when Aragorn asks them for aid in battle)
- "You're wasting your time, Aragorn. They had no honor in life and they have none now in death."
- (At the Pelennor Fields, talking to Legolas)
- "There's plenty for the both of us — may the best dwarf win."
- "That still only counts as one!" (in reference to their "kill count" contest)
- (Evaluating the plan to march to the Black Gate of Mordor)
- "Certainty of death, small chance of success... What are we waiting for?"
- (At the Black Gate)
- Gimli: "I never thought I'd die fighting side-by-side with an Elf"
Legolas: "What about side-by-side with a friend?"
Gimli: "Aye...I could do that".
[edit] Trivia
- The name Gimli first appeared in Tolkien's works in The Tale of Tinúviel, the earliest version of the story of Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, found in the second volume of The Book of Lost Tales. Here, the name belongs to an aged Elf, a fellow prisoner of Beren in the kitchens of Tevildo, Prince of Cats (forerunner of Sauron).
- During the writing of The Lord of the Rings, as told in The Return of the Shadow, Gimli's character was first named Frar, then Burin, and he was the son of Balin. Later, Tolkien apparently considered having Gimli die in Moria, but changed his mind.
[edit] External links
- Gimli at The Thain's Book
| Dwarves from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium | |
|
Azaghâl | Balin | Bifur | Bofur | Bombur | Borin | Dáin I | Dáin II Ironfoot | Dís | Dori | Durin(s) | Dwalin | Fíli | Flói | Frerin | Frár | Frór | Fundin | Gamil Zirak | Gimli | Glóin | Gróin | Grór | Ibûn | Khîm | Kíli | Lóni | Mîm | Náin I | Náin II | Náin son of Grór | Náli | Nár | Narvi | Nori | Óin | Ori | Telchar | Thorin I | Thorin II Oakenshield | Thorin III | Thráin I | Thráin II | Thrór |
|
| Kingdoms of the Dwarves | |
| Belegost | Iron Hills | Khazad-dûm | Lonely Mountain | Nogrod | |
| The Fellowship of the Ring |
| Frodo · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Gandalf · Aragorn · Legolas · Gimli · Boromir |
