this is my headcanon and you will never take it from me.
listen, just Listen for a second, okay.
Gimli Gloinul is from the line of Durin okay, heās from the line of KINGS, his bloodline stands up against Legolasā perfectly, if the elves and dwarves got their shit together for a hot second they would be likeĀ āYES, PERFECT, A DIPLOMATIC MARRIAGE TO BIND OUR HOUSES TOGETHER AND NEVER SHALL THE TWAIN THROW ONE ANOTHER TO DRAGONSā¦again.ā Ā because you have a kingās son and a kingās nephew which, well, I love Dain but heās not an EREBOR KING and GIMLI IS FROM THE FAMILY OF EREBOR KINGS.
And Gimli actsĀ like heās from the line of Erebor kings, too, okay, heās a diplomat and a warrior and a nobleman, heās the sort of person who SAYS things likeĀ āfaithless is he who says fairwell when the road darkensā and stares down Elrond Peredhil in his own home when his strength and faith are questioned. Ā And heās the kind of person who swears his allegiance to people he barely knows because itās Right and Good and Gimli knows it.
And Thorin Oakenshield was handsome, and his sister the lady Dis is beautiful, and Gimliās cousins Fili and Kili were fine young dwarrows, and Gimliās mother is a great beauty.
Basically my point here is that Gimli, proud strong gimli with his firebeard hair and bold laugh and mithril tongue and clever fingers, broke the hearts of everyone in Erebor and not a few people outside of Erebor when he married a goddamn elf. Ā Like. Ā Not even Arwen Undomiel (WHO MARRIED A GODDAMN HUMAN, itās been a weird couple of years in Middle-Earth, everyone wonders strongly if theyāve been drinking too much). Ā Like heās not even marrying a great beauty of the elves, Legolas isnāt ugly by elvish standards but also heās nothing particularly special, and heās not a great diplomat, and heās BARELY a kingās son because everyone knows that Mirkwood elves areā¦a little odd. Ā Legolas is a big cheerful hunter who sings songs he doesnāt remember all of, who chatters to trees and has no sense of the right thing to say even if heās developed enough self-preservation to know the wrongĀ thing to say, and FOR THE LOVE OF MAHAL HE FIGHTS WITH A BOW.
āGIMLIā Gloin bellowsĀ āYOU TURNED DOWN THIRTY-TWO SUITORS FROM FINE DWARVISH LINES FOR THISā
āIgnore him, amrĆ¢lime, heāll get over itā Gimli says in amusement as he beckons Legolas over to his forge, where heās carefully smithing mithril-inlaid gold marriage clasps that will grip fine elvish hair. Ā Itās too hot in the forge to wear shirts, if youāre working. Ā Every dwarf in twenty feet stops what theyāre doing to watch Gimliās biceps flex as he holds up a jewel for Legolasā inspection.
āYOU COULD HAVE HAD A HAREMāĀ Gloin wails from down the hall.