'Lord of the Rings' Fans Are Sharing Interesting Theories About Gimli

From Redditor u/EowynLinhGranger:

I think Galadriel was being respectful to Gimli. You have to think, that the relationship between Elves and Dwarves isn't great. Also, I don't believe Gimli truly knew what he wanted until the end of their stay. Even if she did know ahead of time, there is a significance in Gimli asking for a strand of her hair and her accepting his request; that goes back to the Elder Days where she did not let one of her own people have a strand of her hair because he wanted it for greed. So by him (a Dwarf - known to the Elves as being greedy) asking for a single hair and recieving three, it creates an unprecedented situation that breaks from the traditional tensions between the races. 

From Redditor u/McFoodBot:

Something from the Battle of the Hornburg caught my interest - when Aragorn and Eomer led an attack from the postern gate, Gimli follows them, but does not actually join the battle until Orcs join. 

[He blames it on the height of the Dunlendings, but] considering Gimli's valor and combat prowess, it seems out of character for him to hesitate and ultimately choose not to join an attack due to the enemies being slightly too large for him. 

Some of Durin's Folk lived in Dunland for about thirty years or so after Smaug descended upon Erebor. One of those Dwarves who was likely born in Dunland during this period was Gloin, the father of Gimli, and he would've spent his entire childhood and some of his early adult years there. 

I wonder if Gloin had spoken to Gimli about the Dunlendings in the past, and as a result, Gimli gained respect for them for seemingly providing some help to Durin's Folk when they needed it most. Thus, Gimli chose not to take part in the fight and only attached when Orcs became involved. 

From Redditor u/nthan333:

At the Battle of the Hornburg, Gimli and Legolas engaged in an Orc-slaying contest and at the end Gimli was said to have won by one Orc. Gimli lied about winning, as even though his views on Elves had drastically changed, he still had his Dwarven stubborness. He was obsessed with not letting Legolas get the better of him and we see this throughout the movies and books. Legolas, however, knew this and willingly let him keep the lie going to preserve his newfound friendship with the Dwarf, as his views on the creatures had changed drastically as well. 

This is why the count was so close (41-40). Gimli knew if he lied about winning by a large margin it would upset Legolas, so he said he barely beat him in the contest and Legolas was content enough to let him get the one up on him, and not for the last time either, because he understood his friend. 

From Redditor u/analysisparalysis12:

Wearing a Ring of Power is unnatural for Men and an unintended side effect of their increased power in the spiritual realm is that their bodies become invisible in this one. If an Elf or Maiar wore the One, they would remain visible, though heightened, because they inhabit both the spiritual and physical realm. We have no reason to believe that Dwarves would turn invisible while wearing the One Ring because Dwarves are also closely knit to the stuff of Arda, and it is unlikely that the One Ring would drag them away from it. 

From a Redditor:

As Dwarves are vertically challenged, it doesn't make sense that they should be fast sprinters since their stride distance is extremely small, thus it must be to do with the speed they can move their legs. This leads me to believe that Dwarves have much higher digestion/metabolism than other creatures, which is why none of the energy they gain goes into growth and instead into rapid bursts of speed and strength. Gimli is seen downing 7ish beers in The Return of the King and then passing out instantly. Beer takes around 15-30 minutes to absorb into the bloodstream for regular humans, whereas for him it's relatively instant. 

From Redditor u/Joytex:

I've read LOTR more times than I can remember but only recently heard the theory that the figure Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas encounter in the night near Fangorn forest could be Radagast (or maybe his spirit moving west after 'death' at the hands of Saruman).