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Na Vedui
Rohan
Dec 16 2014, 11:04pm
Post #1 of 3
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Elves and Dwarves
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I had the impression in my mind of Gimli's friendship with Legolas and his adoration of Galadriel coming (as Lewis said of LOTR, I believe) "like lightning out of a clear sky". But the other day I re-read the last page of "The Hobbit" and it hit me smack between the eyes:
"and there was friendship in those parts between elves and dwarves and men"
So I was wrong, and in fact both Gimli and Legolas at the time of LOTR came from societies with three-quarters of a century of Elf-Dwarf rapprochement behind them.
Having said that, at the Council of Elrond Gloin is - even after all those years - a bit grumpy with Legolas about how Thranduil imprisoned them, and - as far as I remember - there's no indication that Gimli and Legolas already knew each other. So I suspect that the Gloin household was rather at the Elf-wary end of the spectrum and didn't fraternise much. But it's an interesting thought that without the events of The Hobbit to take the edge off the hostility, the chances of getting both an Elf and a Dwarf even to join the Fellowship, let alone stay in it without flattening each other, might have been nil.
It also, very likely, explains how Ori came to write in an Elvish script in the Book of Mazarbul.
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Bracegirdle
Valinor
Dec 17 2014, 11:08pm
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Whether purposefully or not, that last line does give pause for thought as a tie-in from The Hobbit to LOTR. Although there was still much animosity between the two races I think Legolas and Gimli would naturally be drawn together (of necessity) in some ways during The Fellowship because of the position they find themselves in. But even so their friendship goes far beyond the norm.
You remind me of a favorite short passage concerning Gimli’s love for Galadriel, when Eomer and Gimli have their short banter after the war, arguing about who is the fairest Arwen or Galadriel. Gimli says something to the effect – You have chosen the Evening but my heart dwells with the Morning. (Rough paraphrase). I just love the wordplay in this exchange.
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
But, sneaking off in daylight takes much more cunning.
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Na Vedui
Rohan
Dec 18 2014, 5:59pm
Post #3 of 3
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You have chosen the Evening ...
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Such a bitter-sweet image - a reminder of all that is passing away in spite of victory; even the Evening of magic and beauty will pass in the end, although Eomer will not live to see that loss.
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