Why Gimli Didn’t Return For The Hobbit (And Where He Was)

The heroic dwarf Gimli, and his actor, John Rhys Davies, had key roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but both the character and actor were absent from The Hobbit trilogy for several reasons. Gimli was the Fellowship of the Ring’s sole dwarf and easily one of the group’s bravest and most formidable warriors, as shown throughout the J. R. R. Tolkien canon and its film adaptations. Gimli’s father, Glóin, debuted in Tolkien’s first work, The Hobbit, as a member of Thorin’s Company. While Gimli doesn’t appear in The Hobbit, his whereabouts during its events are known, thanks to Tolkien’s work.

The Hobbit (both book and film trilogy) centers on the Quest of Erebor, in which thirteen dwarves, the wizard Gandalf, and the hobbit Bilbo sought to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasures for the dwarves. Gimli didn’t debut in the 1937 novel, but Tolkien did explain where he was during the book’s events. According to Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, a canonical posthumous collection of Tolkien’s unfinished works, Gimli was in his sixties during The Hobbit, and while for dwarves, he was in his prime, the rest of the company still considered him too young and forbade him from partaking in the quest.

Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy made numerous changes from the novel source material, including the addition of Lord of the Rings hero Legolas, a future member of the Fellowship like Gimli. The films didn’t have Gimli physically appear, but a scene in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug includes a miniature portrait of him, and a brief dialogue between Legolas and Glóin mentions him. Still, the films nearly featured John Rhys Davies as Glóin, considering the intentional and fitting resemblance between the two. Rhys Davies was asked to return for The Hobbit trilogy, but he declined.

John Rhys Davies was asked if he’d be interested in returning to the Middle-earth adaptations as a younger Gimli or his father, but he declined all of these offers. In a 2009 interview, Rhys Davies explained his decision, stating that he wasn’t interested in wearing the facial prosthetics required for the films’ dwarves, nor did he want to be one dwarf in a crowd of thirteen (as opposed to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which he was the only major dwarf character). Rhys Davies did, however, express interest in playing a non-dwarf character, particularly an elf, but he ultimately didn’t appear in any of the Hobbit films.

Gimli’s brief mention in Desolation of Smaug implies a significant change from the Tolkien canon. Gimli appears quite young in Glóin’s sketch, and is referred to as a “wee lad.” Gimli is supposed to be in his prime at this time, but the film depicts him as a child (at least by dwarf standards). This change is somewhat confusing, as Tolkien’s canonical explanation of an adult Gimli being forbidden from embarking on the quest made perfect sense in the context of the world.

Despite the change, Gimli’s brief mention provided some humorous foreshadowing of his and Legolas’ character development during the War of the Ring. Legolas cruelly insults Glóin’s wife and son when looking at the sketches, adding to the already-hostile interactions between Elves and Dwarves, but Legolas and Gimli would gradually become close friends, openly regarding each other as such by the end of the war. While Gimli didn’t appear in The Hobbit trilogy, there is some solace in the fact that films made sure to still reference his eventual role in the War of the Ring.

About The Author

David Miller
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David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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