I love the Lord of the Rings movies, but they genuinely suffer from the decision to make Gimli a comedy relief character and little else. I’m only halfway through rereading the Fellowship for the first time since I was little but book Gimli is so different and he brings so much depth to the world and story. Idk how to word this but he has such an AWE for the place and the history and he’s almost reverent. I just got to the part where they’ve just left Moria and they’re grieving Gandalf and running from the orcs and Gimli says “wait a minute. Let me take a moment and go appreciate this landmark which is important to me and my history.” And then he invites Frodo to go with him because it’s beautiful and he wants to share it! And when they’re in the mines and he sings about the glory days of Moria and falls silent afterwards for the rest of the conversation. And the way he speaks about the mountains and the power and ill will that they have and it’s like! he understands this world and he has a deep respect for it and he’s seen it age and that’s mellowed him and given him a gravity and a wisdom that’s largely overlooked in the movies. (When I’ve read more and am more coherent I’m gonna write something about how Aragorn and Gimli work similarly to remind the reader about the age of middle earth and the way they’re often passing through the decay of an old world that is passing away). But the more I read the more I love Gimli and I love the book more for what he brings to it.
