Gimli

## Relevant Pages

**Gimli** isa character *in The*
Lord of the Rings*.* He is portrayed by John Rhys Davies, who also voices Treebeard the Ent. He first appears in the first film of the series and is
first mentioned in the second film of *The Hobbit*.

He is based on the character of the same name from
Tolkien's Legendarium.

## History

Before Quest of Erebor

Gimli is born in the Blue Mountains to Glóin and his wife. Gimli was rumored to have been delivered by his uncle, who accidentally dropped his nephew's head. Sixty years after his birth, Thorin tells his kinsman he is going to reclaim Erebor. Gimli wants to go with his father, but Thorin claims him too young to journey (even though Ori, Fíli and Kíli are only older than him by ten to fifteen years

During Quest of Erebor

Gimli stays in the Blue Mountains with his mother. *(An Unexpected Journey)*

During the quest, Glóin keeps a picture of Gimli and his mother in a locket. It is once ocnfiscated by Legolas, who asks who the "goblin mutant is", with Glóin answering that it is his son, Gimli (The Desolation of Smaug)

After the Battle of the Five Armies

Sometime after the recolonization of Erebor, Gimli and his mother move from the Blue Mountains to the Lonely Mountain to be reunited with Glóin and their other friends and family.

Before War of the Ring

At least sixty years later, the One Ring has re-awakened in Middle-earth and Sauron has come into power again. Gimli accompanies his father Glóin to Rivendell to discuss the fate of the One Ring. As the council gets intense, Gimli begins fighting but backs down once Gandalf begins uttering Black Speech, which shocks not only Elrond, but the entire room into silence. After Elrond tells them that the One Ring must be destroyed to Save Middle-Earth. Gimli takes his ax and attempts to destroy the ring with his ax. However, Elrond claims that the ring can only be destroyed in the fires of . When Legolas cries that the Ring must be destroyed by 's fire, Gimli grows angry and starts another fight by claiming he will never let the Ring be destroyed by an Elf. However, Frodo offers to take the ring to Mordor, but claims that he cannot go there alone as he does not know the way. Gimli offers his ax, joining the group as well, and tolerates Legolas, for now. (The Fellowship of the Ring).

While they are on their way to Mordor, Gimli tries to persuade Gandalf to go through the Mines of Moria, but the wizard tells him he would not go through the mountains if there were no alternative choice.

## Weapons and Equipment

* **Battle Ax -** An ax Gimli inherited from his father.

## Trivia

* Character Notes
* Source material
* Production Notes
* References
* Set Notes

### Etymology

* Gimli's name is derived from the old Norse poetic term, gimm, meaning "fire".
	+ Gimli's name appears once in the Voluspa and three times in the Prose Edda.
* Gimli possibly means "One of Gimle and Gimill", which further translates into "inhabited solely by Light-elves.
* His name is also the name of an Elf, referring to Gimli becoming best friends with Legolas, the son of King Thranduil
* Gimli is one of the title characters of the first film, along with Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Boromir

### Character Notes

* Gimli resents Legolas because the former's father had been imprisoned by the Latter's father. However, they become best friends at the end of the War of the Ring. *(The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Return of the King)*
* Gimli hates it when people grab him by the beard. *(The Fellowship of the Ring)*
* By the quest of Erebor, Gimli is sixty-two years old. By the time of the war of the ring, Gimli is approximately 122 years old. *(The Fellowship of the Ring)*

### Difference from book

* Gimli attempts to destroy the Ring with hix ax, but it gets destroyed.
* It was his idea to travel through the mines of Moria as opposed to Gandalf doing so.
* In the books, Gimli only came with his father, Gloin, to Rivendell because his father was a member of Thorin Oakenshield's company. He ended up being selected as one of the Dwarves representatives in the Fellowship of the Rings.

### Production information

* Bill Bailey, Warwick Davis, Timothy Spall and Robert Trebor auditioned for the role of Gimli
* John Rhys Davies not only does Gimli's acting, but also voices Treebeard *(The Two Towers)*
* Billy Connelly was considered to play Gimli, but later played the charcter's cousin, Dáin II Ironfoot.

### Popular culture

* Gimli's claim, "Nobody tosses a dwarf," refers to the bizaree 1970s fad of Dwarf tossings.

#### Film connections

* Gimli's behavior of entering the haunted mountain later reflects on Dori claiming that Dwarves do not like the supernatural *(The Return of the King, The Desolation of Smaug*)
* Gimli says "No One tosses a dwarf to Aragorn *( The Fellowship of the Ring*).
* In the first film, Gimli tells Aragorn that no one tosses a dwarf. Ironically, in the next film, Gimli later tells Aragorn to toss him over to the long-distance, to which Aragorn is shocked to hear that from Gimli.
* The words Gimli speaks to Haldir *(I spit upon your grave)* are the same words that Thorin uses when he is imprisoned in Mirkwood *(The Fellowship of the Ring, The Desolation of Smaug)*.

### Prop notes

* His helmet and ax are the same ones that Gloin carries in *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies*.