Who is Gimli in the movie?
Gimli, son of Glóin, is a Dwarf. He is present at the council as a member of a company, and volunteers to join the Fellowship. He is a cousin to Balin, who went to Moria.

Who was Gimli in the book?
Gimli is the son of Glóin son of Gróin, who was a part of the company that regained the stolen treasure of Erebor. Glóin travelled to Rivendell to ask for advice about two problems: the Dwarves lost contact with Balin who went to Moria, and a messenger from Mordor came to Erebor and asked for information about a Hobbit in exchange for one of the Rings of Power.
Gimli is chosen by Elrond to join the Fellowship as a representative of his people.

Changes in Fellowship of the Ring

The Council of Elrond
In the books, Gimli doesn’t say anything at the council. It’s Glóin that does all the talking for the Dwarves, and he mainly speaks about his worries for Balin, the messenger came to Erebor and solutions for the problem of the Ring. Glóin in fact suggests they’d keep the Ring, or attempt to use one of the lesser Rings to counter Sauron.
Book-wise, the Fellowship is put together by Elrond, who chooses Gimli to represent the Dwarves for reasons unknown.

Gimli in the movie is the ‘leader’ of the company of Dwarves: he is the one who does all the talking, and tries to destroy the Ring with the axe of his neighbour. He protests loudly against the idea of Elves taking the Ring to Mordor and in the end offers allegiance to Frodo mainly because Legolas does too.

The Journey South
When the company takes a rest in Hollin, Gimli starts to name all the peaks of the Misty Mountains: he uses their Elven and Khuzdul names, and elaborates on Caradhras and its reputation of cruelty. It’s clear that Gimli would like to look upon Khazad-dûm, but he knows that this might proof fatal since the Dwarves of Erebor have not heard from Balin and his group for a few years already.

The reason for the Dwarves’ presence at the council is not mentioned in the movie, and so Gimli advises Gandalf to travel through Moria, where he believes his cousin Balin will greet them warmly. During the rest at Hollin, that’s about all he says. The peaks of the Misty Mountain are not named, save Caradhras.

Moria
In the books, Gimli is counselled by Gandalf a couple of times: Gimli explains some things about the doors of Moria and how Dwarves use tricks to hide them, and inside the mines he walks ahead with Gandalf, though he is not of much use. In the Twenty-first Hall Gimli sings a hymn to Durin. He also recognises the handwriting of the book of Mazarbul as Ori’s.
When the company leaves Moria, Gimli takes Sam and Frodo to go admire Mirrormere, where according to legend Durin’s crown appears.

Gandalf doesn’t rely on Gimli in the movie, and it seems as if Gimli is just as dazzled by the wonders of ancient Khazad-dûm as his companions. In the Twenty-first Hall he spots the Chamber of Mazarbul, and faced with Balin’s tomb he starts to cry. There’s also the obligatory Dwarf-tossing joke when the Fellowship runs down the stairs.

Lothlórien
When Haldir and his brothers save the company from Orcs, Gimli is denied access to the wood, except if he goes blindfolded. Aragorn then suggests that they’d all go blindfolded, which causes even more tension between Gimli and Legolas – who’s not a great admirer of Dwarves to begin with.
When they meet the Lord and Lady of the Wood, Celeborn accuses the Dwarves of awakening the Balrog. Galadriel then speaks kind words to Gimli bout the beauty of Khazad-dûm and the need for unity and friendship; and Gimli is deeply moved by this.
At the end of their stay in Caras Galadhon, he asks the Lady for one golden hair. He gets three of those.

In the movie, it’s Gimli’s breathing that reveals the company to the guardians, or so Haldir suggests. In the book, this was a ‘witty remark’ at the address of Sam. The Fellowship doesn’t have to go blindfolded, but there is a bit of a quarrel between Gimli and Haldir, in which Gimli insults Haldir in Khuzdul.
The meeting between Gimli and Galadriel is similar, and so is the gift Gimli receives from the Lady: three hairs from her golden head.


Tim Kirk – Gimli Shows Frodo and Sam the Mirrormere (detail)

Mistakes
– SilverDeath pointed out that it is very unlikely that Gimli would stand on top of Balin’s tomb, especially after going all teary over his death. Tolkien describes the Dwarves as very respectful. It just seems wrong.

– Khuzdul is a secret language, and the Dwarves teach it to no one and don’t speak it in front of strangers. The only exceptions are ‘a few loremasters’ in the days when the Elf-smiths of Eregion and the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm had a very good relationship.
So there is absolutely no way that Gimli would have insulted Haldir in Khuzdul, or that Aragorn could have understood what he was saying – unless Aragorn doesn’t understand, and simply thinks it’s not courteous to speak a strange language in the presence of your host.
Furthermore, the phrase used in the movie consists out of only one word present in Tolkien’s works (ai, which means upon). The other words were ‘invented’.

Bookie Details
– Gimli doesn’t use any other weapon than his axe in the book, and he only uses those in the movie too.

– The Dwarves of Durin’s House all have forked beards, of which the ends are tucked under their belts. The makeup department did their best and came up with a very similar braiding, like you can see here.

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Related Information
Interesting Links:
Our Gallery has a separate section devoted to Gimli. It also has the screencaps of Fellowship of the Ring and the Extended DVD.

A transcript of Lord Of the Rings: Fellowship Of the Ring can be found in our Film Fun & Facts section.

A summary of Lord Of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring can be found in Elrond's Library.

You can also check out some pictures of John Rhys-Davies in our Gallery, or read a short biography in our Film, Fun & Facts section.

Some articles that are related to this character:
- You can find a Brief Introduction to the History of the Dwarves and a History of Durin's House in our Middle Earth section, as well as an article by Hathaldir on Aulë, creator of the Dwarves. There's also a Family Tree of the Dwarves of Erebor.
- The Weaponry has an article on Dwarven Armory.
- There's also some Dwarven poetry in our Poems Section.

Forum threads related to this character / actor:
- For John Rhys-Davies fans, there's the Favourite Character/Actor - The Others thread in the Casting Forum.

Take a look at how some artists saw this character:
- Gimli by Michael Green
- Gimli by Michael Green
- Gimli by Sabra Hart
- Gimli by Sabra Hart
- Gimli by John Howe

Not pleased with the book or the movie, take a look here:
For a humorous take on Gimli, read Cassie Claire's Very Secret Diary of Gimli son of Glóin.