Books Lord of the Rings characters who aren’t properly appreciated

[Zola 3,038]

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 September 2, 2013 by Zola

[HarLea Quinn 26,501]

Nice analysis .I enjoyed reading it !

[Xiro 3,468]

Who knew that Balrog Slaying^TM was a trademark

[Dave 5,715]

Glorfindel is pretty badass. I like how many of the Noldor are just champs, and they can just shrug things off like its no big deal. Fingolfin is still my favorite guy in the Silmarillion: just how he goes toe-to-toe with Melkor and nearly pulls it off it awesome. Not to mention that he pretty much has to fix Feanor's mess all by himself.

 

I actually didn't know the bit about Feanor and Galadriel. Was that in the Silmarillion? If so, I completely missed it.

 

Just to add to the list of characters who aren't properly appreciated: Theoden. His story is about a man who has to pull himself out of despair and try and persevere in the face of incredibly dire odds (it also shows how great Gandalf is, because his powers of pep-talk really get to shine through in Rohan). His character growth is great: the Theoden we first meet in Edoras has lost all hope in the future, and is afraid of acting at all because what's the point, and then by the end, we see him psyched and ready to charge the forces of Mordor and Harad, fearless of death, because he knows that even if he falls, there is a chance for victory, so long as they keep hoping. I just really love how Theoden has to dig down deep to find his true power, and when he does, he's able to finally be the king he always wanted to be.

[RoxSox 3,593]

Zola, you are marvelous.

[playfulSuccubus 2]

Just to add to the list of characters who aren't properly appreciated: Theoden. His story is about a man who has to pull himself out of despair and try and persevere in the face of incredibly dire odds (it also shows how great Gandalf is, because his powers of pep-talk really get to shine through in Rohan). His character growth is great: the Theoden we first meet in Edoras has lost all hope in the future, and is afraid of acting at all because what's the point, and then by the end, we see him psyched and ready to charge the forces of Mordor and Harad, fearless of death, because he knows that even if he falls, there is a chance for victory, so long as they keep hoping. I just really love how Theoden has to dig down deep to find his true power, and when he does, he's able to finally be the king he always wanted to be.

Totally agreed, I always loved Theoden and his arc. Great character. 

[Tigerruss 576]

Stop making me upset that I only watched the movies! :unsure:

 

Anyways nice thread! It was interesting to read.

[xxClouDxxmoon 901]

Thays why i want a free roam LotR games, something like Skyrim. It would be awesome, and you could learn so much.

[DragonMaster 1,166]

Stop making me upset that I only watched the movies! :unsure:

That's exactly what I said when I read this thread.

 

My dad has a whole bunch of Tolkien books (like the Silmarillion), but I just can never bring myself to read them. I've read through the Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring, and both times I found myself getting bored due to the way they are written. I guess I have a short attention span with books.

 

Anyway, this thread is an interesting read nonetheless.