Allow me to begin by telling you about 3 characters, namely Glorfindel, Gandalf, and Gimli.
1- Glorfindel.
Seriously. Few people I talk to remember who Glorfindel is, despite having read the books. Let’s just say that he’s the original inventor of
The Dead-person-eagle-Carry™ ,
Balrog Slaying™,
And Arwen’s rip off of Save-the-hobbit-from-the-ring-Wraiths™
(Going by Tolkien’s notes that the Glorfindel in LotR’s is a reincarnation of the original Glorfindel). He was even supposed to be in Legolas’ place in the Fellowship of the Ring, but Tolkien ended up switching him out for a smaller role. Still, you gotta admit that he’s pretty cool. DON'T FORGET ABOUT HIS GLORIOUSNESS.
2- Gandalf / Olorin.
This guy is probably my favorite character ever invented. While he did copy Glorfindel’s Balrog Slaying™, he can pretty much do whatever he wants, because he was there before time and the universe even existed. He's Olorin, the Maiar, which is pretty much the third most powerful kind of being in Tolkien’s mythos, and even better, he’s got the reputation of being the wisest of them all. The poor guy was off doing his own thing when the Valar called a council and volunteered him to lose pretty much all of his world-creating powers, take on the appearance of an old man, and go off to face down the one thing he fears most in the world. If you haven’t figured out what that is yet, then go and read the books again. Even when he dies, the Valar say "lol nope" and send him straight back. At least Círdan gave him Narya for his troubles. Gandalf deserves a magic ring of hope.
(Olorin, as depicted by some random person on Tumblr)
3- Gimli.
There’s a lot of really interesting stuff going on with him that people overlook, mostly involving Galadriel. You see, Galadriel has a gift that allows her to see into people and discern them for what they are. A long time ago there was this other elf guy, Fëanor, who was pretty much the greatest, most powerful and magnificent elf ever to live. He created the Silmarilli, and It’s said that he created them because he was so inspired by the beauty of Galadriel’s silver-golden hair, which captured all the glory of Laurelin and Telperion (look them up yourself). Anyway, Fëanor begs Galadriel, not once, but three times, for a single strand of her hair, and she refuses him all three times, because when she looks into him, she sees only darkness. Years later Gimli shows up, a dwarf (elves and dwarves don’t get along very well if you haven’t noticed), and when he is asked (when with the rest of the Fellowship) what gift he desires of the elves, asks humbly, not even knowing the history behind the request, for a single strand of Galadriel’s hair to admire forever. Much to the more knowledgeable crowd of elves surprise, she gives him not one, but three strands of her hair. Now tell me that doesn’t speak volumes about Gimli and who he is; the dwarf who was more worthy than the greatest elf to ever live. Just think about that for a minute.
And then, to make it even better, Gimli and Legolas end up sailing together to the undying lands, BFF’s, the only dwarf ever to be accepted into Valinor. Gimli is cool.
Okay. I’m done for now. Thank you for reading, if you did.
Feel free to add to the list, discuss what has already been posted, or just admire the afore mentioned characters. I love discussing this kind of stuff.
And why you should appreciate them more
Allow me to begin by telling you about 3 characters, namely Glorfindel, Gandalf, and Gimli.
1- Glorfindel.
Seriously. Few people I talk to remember who Glorfindel is, despite having read the books. Let’s just say that he’s the original inventor of
The Dead-person-eagle-Carry™ ,
Balrog Slaying™,
And Arwen’s rip off of Save-the-hobbit-from-the-ring-Wraiths™
(Going by Tolkien’s notes that the Glorfindel in LotR’s is a reincarnation of the original Glorfindel). He was even supposed to be in Legolas’ place in the Fellowship of the Ring, but Tolkien ended up switching him out for a smaller role. Still, you gotta admit that he’s pretty cool. DON'T FORGET ABOUT HIS GLORIOUSNESS.
2- Gandalf / Olorin.
This guy is probably my favorite character ever invented. While he did copy Glorfindel’s Balrog Slaying™, he can pretty much do whatever he wants, because he was there before time and the universe even existed. He's Olorin, the Maiar, which is pretty much the third most powerful kind of being in Tolkien’s mythos, and even better, he’s got the reputation of being the wisest of them all. The poor guy was off doing his own thing when the Valar called a council and volunteered him to lose pretty much all of his world-creating powers, take on the appearance of an old man, and go off to face down the one thing he fears most in the world. If you haven’t figured out what that is yet, then go and read the books again. Even when he dies, the Valar say "lol nope" and send him straight back. At least Círdan gave him Narya for his troubles. Gandalf deserves a magic ring of hope.
(Olorin, as depicted by some random person on Tumblr)
3- Gimli.
There’s a lot of really interesting stuff going on with him that people overlook, mostly involving Galadriel. You see, Galadriel has a gift that allows her to see into people and discern them for what they are. A long time ago there was this other elf guy, Fëanor, who was pretty much the greatest, most powerful and magnificent elf ever to live. He created the Silmarilli, and It’s said that he created them because he was so inspired by the beauty of Galadriel’s silver-golden hair, which captured all the glory of Laurelin and Telperion (look them up yourself). Anyway, Fëanor begs Galadriel, not once, but three times, for a single strand of her hair, and she refuses him all three times, because when she looks into him, she sees only darkness. Years later Gimli shows up, a dwarf (elves and dwarves don’t get along very well if you haven’t noticed), and when he is asked (when with the rest of the Fellowship) what gift he desires of the elves, asks humbly, not even knowing the history behind the request, for a single strand of Galadriel’s hair to admire forever. Much to the more knowledgeable crowd of elves surprise, she gives him not one, but three strands of her hair. Now tell me that doesn’t speak volumes about Gimli and who he is; the dwarf who was more worthy than the greatest elf to ever live. Just think about that for a minute.
And then, to make it even better, Gimli and Legolas end up sailing together to the undying lands, BFF’s, the only dwarf ever to be accepted into Valinor. Gimli is cool.
Okay. I’m done for now. Thank you for reading, if you did.
Feel free to add to the list, discuss what has already been posted, or just admire the afore mentioned characters. I love discussing this kind of stuff.
Edited by Zola