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Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror, be it clear as Kheled-zaram. Or so says the heart of Gimli the Dwarf.
Gimli, FOTR
Meet Gimli, the son of Gloin and our newest member of the household! Gimli loves to play tug-of-war and annoy us to take him on walks. For a dachsund, he’s surprisingly fast. He is 100% a natural sprinter, and wasted over cross-country (he is known to plop down in the shade on hikes).
Like the relationship between Gimli the dwarf and Legolas of the Woodland realm, he comes off at first stubborn and rash (he’s a rescue). But play some fetch with him and you will become fast friends!
The quote above is an insightful and heartfelt conversation with Legolas as the Fellowship leaves Lothlorien, and the loss Gimli is experiencing. While the group is downhearted over having to leave, Gimli is openly weeping over this, continuing to surprise what we think of when we think of a dwarf. While granted with longer lives than Men, dwarfs are mortal beings, so reminiscing on a memory may affect Gimli different than a thousand-year-old Elf. Cirdan the shipwright has to at least be 10,000 years old, perhaps even awakening in Cuivienen itself. Does a brief meeting with a dwarf, say 3,000 years ago, really resonate with him in the present? Could it casually come back as a dream, or is it lost as just an idea or feeling, in a never-ending lifetime?
Gimli’s presence in the books brings about a lot of these thoughtful discussions, and his relationships with others is true and meaningful. He has a stern and steadfast character, but isn’t opposed to having a bit of fun or make the occasional wager. Gimli would go on to be a lordly dwarf, known as Elf-friend, Lockbearer and the Lord of the Glittering Caves. His adventures with Legolas Greenleaf would become legend, and it is said when his life grew old, he joined Legolas in crossing the Sea to Valinor, the first and only dwarf to ever have that honor. I always wonder what his conversations with Aule would look like, or if he had the chance to roam through the gardens of Lorien with Galadriel.
Dwarfs are perhaps my favorite race in Middle-Earth, and it saddens me that they are also one of the more unexplored races in the legendarium. The most we ever learn about dwarfs are from Gimli himself, through stories like the Kheled-zaram, or the Song of Durin. Anyway. Gimli, an underrated and lordly dwarf – is now a member of the fam.