Gimli's Portrayal in LotR Movies Still Angers Fans: "Dwarves Deserve Better"

J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth has had a huge influence on all subsequent fantasy works, and the original Lord of the Rings books are still revered and read by millions of people around the world.

Although the novels have been popular since their release, the big surge in popularity came after Peter Jackson turned them into a trilogy of blockbuster movies, introducing Tolkien's work to new generations of fantasy fans. Still beloved to this day, these films do have a number of problems, with one of them being the representation of the dwarves.

Gimli, the main dwarf character in the films, is certainly loved by everyone, but it is no doubt that he looked like a complete fool at times. Legolas and Aragorn constantly mocked the dwarf's exaggerated masculinity, and overall, Gimli was treated as mostly a comic relief character in the movies.

But what if we told you that in Tolkien's original books Gimli wasn't like that at all?

That's right — Tolkien never once speaks out against Gimli and the other dwarves, repeatedly stating that these creatures are far superior to elves and humans. While many fans wonder how Gimli could keep up with Legolas and Aragorn on their journeys together, Tolkien specifically stipulates that they were the ones struggling to keep up with Gimli's physique, not the other way around.

Of the three of them, it was Gimli who set the pace, so Jackson's decision to change this in the film was quite disappointing to fans of the book series.

Unfortunately, most Lord of the Rings fans who have never read the original novels treat the dwarves as funny rather than the most powerful creatures. Gimli and his fellow dwarves were some of the most essential allies in Frodo's quest, and people are sad that, thanks to Peter Jackson, this part of Tolkien's story is often forgotten.