The White Council

Re: Gimli & Legolas

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: I was reviewing the books last night because it occured to me : that there wasn't a real strong turning point in the : relatioship of Gimli and Legolas, but they seemed suddenly to : have this friendship. It didn't seem to make much sense to me, : since it occured shortly after the breaking of the fellowship. : Since Legolas had just seen the dwarves at their worst (Moria : and the Balrog) and Gimli had just seen the elves at their best : (Lorien and Galadriel) wouldn't the animosty between these two : have at least remained the same, at worst have deepened, and at : best have become a cool sor of admiration of skill and : determination?

Um, WHAT animosity are you referring to?

It's not like Legolas and Gimli were at each other's throats. Gimli, in typical Proud Dwarf (tm) fashion read more into Gandalf's remarks about the ancient friendship of Elf and Dwarf than he should have, and when he became defensive Legolas became defensive. That's the extent of their "animosity", which was nothing, really. Boromir's needling of Gimli was more belligerent than anything Legolas said. When Gimli became defensive again on the outskirts of Lorien (as Legolas told the story of Amroth and Nimrodel) Legolas tried to soften his words for Gimli's sake.

Later on, when Gimli refused to be blind-folded before all the others, he and Legolas taunted each other, but that's hardly a revelation of animosity. Gimli quickly forgot the incident.

If you're looking for why Legolas decided to become a good friend to Gimli, I think you should look to what Galadriel said to assuage Celeborn's sudden concern over the Dwarves' having roused the Balrog. Legolas may have decided that Gimli's people had suffered enough misunderstanding, and Gimli as the only Dwarf present (in Lorien) had been subjected to the effect of years of ignorance and prejudice. They were both really strangers in Lorien. It may have seemed to Legolas that he could help redress unintended wrongs, and in doing so formed a bond with Gimli that Tolkien could not fully elucidate.

But I find the word "animosity" striking far from the mark. Legolas and Gimli had been travelling together for weeks before the three incidents which have been given so much weight by some people.