Gimli (Middle-earth)
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Gimli is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings.
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[edit] Character overview
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. He is an honourable, wise, and stalwart warrior, favouring the axe as his weapon.
Gimli becomes deeply enamoured upon meeting the Elf-lady Galadriel, and the memory of this aids in the rehabilitation of the once-strong relationship between the Eldar and the Dwarves of western Middle-earth.
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Literature
Gimli was the son of Glóin, one of the former companions of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Tolkien's chief hero in his first fantasy novel, The Hobbit).
He was a remote descendant of Durin the Deathless, chief of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves and ancestor to the Dwarven people Gimli belonged to, the Longbeards. Gimli was of the royal line, but not close to the succession; he was the third cousin once removed of Dáin II Ironfoot, king of Durin's Folk, and the first cousin once removed of Balin, also one of Bilbo's former companions, and later Lord of Moria.
Gimli was introduced in the first volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, at the Council of Elrond Half-elven—which he attended together with his father to bring news of his home, Erebor. There they learned Bilbo's kinsman Frodo now owned the One Ring, a Ring of Power forged and then lost by the Dark Lord Sauron. The Council decided to have it destroyed by casting it into the volcanic Mount Doom in Sauron's domain of Mordor. Frodo volunteered for the task, and Elrond chose eight people of varying races to aid him in his task—including Gimli. Thus, the Fellowship of the Ring was formed.
Within the Fellowship there was initially friction between Gimli and the Elf Legolas, for various reasons: their races bore an old grudge against each other over the ancient matter of the Necklace of the Dwarves and the 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 become friends during their time in Lothlórien, as they find mutual respect for each other.
Though the company was forced to enter an ancient underground Dwarf-realm, the Mines of Moria, Gimli was at first enthusiastic and hoped to find a recently established colony of his people there, led by Balin. However, Moria was still inhabited by Orcs, and Balin and his folk were all dead. They found his tomb in the chamber of Records, together with a chronicle of events, but Orcs had discovered their presence and the Fellowship had to fight its way out.
After their leader Gandalf the Wizard fell into a chasm struggling with a demon called a Balrog, the Fellowship finally escaped the Mines. Aragorn, a Man and a Ranger, then led them to the forest of Lothlórien, populated by Elves which were not friendly to Dwarves. Gimli was told he was to be blindfolded if he was to enter the forest, and his refusal nearly led to a violent situation, which was only defused when Aragorn proposed that the entire Fellowship be blindfolded, and this was done.
Gimli's opinion of Elves drastically changed when he met Galadriel, co-ruler of Lothlórien: her beauty, kindness, and understanding impressed Gimli so much that, when given the opportunity to ask for whatever he wished, he asked not for treasures or magical items, but rather one of Galadriel's silver-gold hairs (and was given three), which he would treasure forever. Gimli was given the nickname Lockbearer as a result.[1] By the end of the sojourn in Lothlórien, he had formed an unlikely friendship with Legolas.
At Amon Hen, the company was sundered, for the Man Boromir, son of the lord of Gondor, tried to take the Ring from Frodo and use it for Gondor and his own gain in their ongoing war against Sauron. Frodo fled at this and went ahead, accompanied only by his servant Sam Gamgee.
In the second volume, The Two Towers, the others scattered while looking for Frodo, and by ill-chance the two other hobbits of the party, Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took were captured by Orcs who were stalking them. Boromir was mortally wounded defending them, and it fell to the three remaining members to set him on a funeral boat. They decided to go after Merry and Pippin, for Frodo was out of their hands.
After running a great distance in a few days and thus entering the land of Rohan, they met the Marshal Éomer and his riders, who had slain the Orc-band. When Éomer spoke ill of the name Galadriel, having been told false rumours about her, Gimli responded to this with overtly harsh words, leading to a hostile situation that again had to be defused by Aragorn. Continuing their search for the hobbits, they came across a resurrected Gandalf in Fangorn Forest, who assured them that the hobbits were now safe. Gandalf led them to Rohan's capital Edoras, where he roused King Théoden, Éomer's uncle, out of inaction and exposed his counsellor Gríma as a spy.
Gimli proved his valour in combat in the ensuing Battle of the Hornburg against the forces of the evil Wizard Saruman, though he was wounded. In that battle, he and Legolas engaged in an Orc-slaying contest (Gimli wins by one; he kills 42 to Legolas' 41), although he recieves a minor head injury, and his axe is notched on the iron collar of the 42 orc or Uruk. Later, Gimli's vivid description of the Glittering Caves of Aglarond in the area moved the Elf to promise to come back and visit when the War was over. (They eventually did fulfill this promise, with Gimli also consenting to visit Fangorn Forest.) Their friendship was a model for overcoming prejudice; they even rode together on the same horse. After their victory, Gimli and the others went to Saruman's stronghold of Isengard, where Gandalf cast Saruman out of their Order and broke his staff.
In the third volume, The Return of the King, Gimli accompanied Aragorn, Legolas, and a company of Rangers of the North and Elrond's sons on the Paths of the Dead, where at the stone of Erech Aragorn summoned the Dead Men of Dunharrow, shades bound to fight for the king of Gondor, which Aragorn rightfully was. Gimli witnessed the Dead Men rout enemy invaders at Pelargir in south Gondor by the power of fear alone. After Aragorn dismissed the shades, the menfolk of south Gondor gathered to his banner, and they all sailed using the enemy's abandoned ships to Gondor's capital Minas Tirith, which was then under siege. Their arrival eventually led to victory in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Gimli alone represented the Dwarves in the final battle against Sauron at the Black Gate of Mordor. Before they could be overwhelmed, the Ring was destroyed, and Sauron was defeated.
After the War, Gimli led 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, repaired much of the physical damage incurred during the War. 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's date of death is not recorded, and according to the Red Book of Westmarch, some say that after Aragorn died as King of the Reunited Kingdom, he travelled with Legolas into the West (perhaps granted permission at the request of Galadriel), the first Dwarf to visit the Undying Lands.
[edit] 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" 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 a "short corslet of steel rings" of superlative quality, being made by Dwarves. Gimli uses this axe both one and two-handed during various affrays, his martial prowess creating a profound impression on those fighting by his side, especially during the siege of the Hornburg. 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 more prosaic and blunt style 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 defence 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] Concept and creation
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] Trivia
- Gimli shares his name with a town in Manitoba, Canada.
[edit] Notes
- ^ 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 Galadriel's uncle Fëanor, greatest of the Noldor 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.
[edit] External links
- Gimli at The Thain's Book
| Dwarves from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium | |
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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 |
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| 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 |
