Gloin: Father of Gimli

Gloin: Father of Gimli
By: Johanna K. Best

Introduction

This is the story of Gloin the father of Gimli. This is a continuation of Gloin's story from The Hobbit. All of the stories in my project will be derived from existing stories and characters in The Hobbit. Gloin and his peoples will be followed through their lives during the War of the Ring. This is the story of a good dwarf, but my stories will be about the good and the evil characters. I chose to include this story because I think it is very important to learn more about Gloin and his peoples. Gloin was an influential character in The Hobbit, and his son, Gimli, was an influential character in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I am writing this story as it would be told in tales in the future. Seeing as how I created large portions of this story based on existing information, I tried to keep it as accurate as possible. If any mistakes are found feel free to tell me, and I will gratefully fix them.

Gloin is of the race of the dwarves, and his name means the “gleaming one”. This name fits him very well due to his ever present lust for wealth. Gloin was a member of the Quest of Erebor. This quest was to reclaim Erebor, commonly called the Lonely Mountain, from the grips of the evil dragon Smaug. Smaug had driven Durin’s folk, the dwarves who lived in Lonely Mountain, from their home when Gloin was yet a young dwarf at the age of 13. 145 years later Gloin joined the quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and all of the treasure within. The amount of the treasure left was not known, but the stories of its magnitude entranced even the youngest of dwarves. The quest was a success, Smaug was killed and the treasure was theirs. Yet, this came at a cost. The leader of the quest, Thorin Oakenshield, was slain in the Battle of Five Armies. Thus, Gloin became the King Under the Mountain.

It was told that Gloin was a great and loving king who ruled his people through peaceful times. Yet, those times were short lived when the evil Lord Sauron came out from hiding and started searching for his precious ring. The One Ring to rule them all. This ring had the ability to destroy all of Middle-Earth, and enslave its people under Sauron’s rule. There was only one way to stop this, and that was to destroy the One Ring by throwing it into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was created. A council was called by Elrond, the lord of the elven kingdom Imladris. Many peoples of Middle-Earth were called to meet at the Council of Elrond, thus Gloin went with his only son Gimli. At this council, Gimli volunteered to join the Fellowship of the Ring, which was created in order to take the One Ring to Mordor and destroy it.

Gimli’s choice filled Gloin with great pride and great fear. He knew that his only son might die fulfilling this quest, just as he almost died many times during his quest for Erebor. Yet, there was nothing he could do, but to return to his kingdom without his beloved son. Sadly, he made the long journey back to the Lonely Mountain, always contemplating what he might do to help out not only his son, but all of the peoples of Middle-Earth. One day while he was cautiously riding through the now deserted forest of Mirkwood, which had become overridden by evil creatures, he realized that his part was to rid Middle-Earth of evil creatures, especially goblins. Gloin had battled goblins in the Battle of Five Armies, which occurred at the end of his quest. For many years his people helped to keep the goblins at bay, but they had slowly relaxed their watch, allowing the vile creatures to once again roam freely. This plan took shape during the rest of Gloin’s journey home. Little did he know that a skin-changer by the name of Beorn was himself making a similar plan just west of Mirkwood Forest.

Gloin devised a plan that would enable his people to kill the goblins traveling south from the Northern Waste. In their travels, the goblins passed between the Grey Mountains and the Iron Hills. This is where Gloin built his defenses. He set up strongholds in this passage where he could ambush unsuspecting goblins. Due to Beorn’s assaults west of Gloin, many goblins had started to travel on the east side of Mirkwood Forest, in order to skirt his watches. This proved of little help, because Gloin had prepared well for such an unknown event. When his watchers informed him of the new paths the goblins were taking, he increased his army, and awaited their arrival. Long did Gloin and his people battle with the goblins, yet they achieved victory, though it was not without loss.

Gloin mourned for the losses of his people, yet his mind was always with his son. After many battles in which the goblins were finally destroyed, Gloin decided to search for his son. He set runners far and wide looking for news of his son. None of his runners had any luck, but one day a young dwarf showed up at the gates to Erebor. This young dwarf had tidings of Gimli. He told Gloin that his son had settled in the Glittering Caves south of the kingdom of Rohan. Gloin was overjoyed, and immediately packed to visit his son. After many months of traveling, Gloin eventually came to the gates of his son’s kingdom. Gloin felt more joy in seeing his son than he did from all the treasure in Middle-Earth, and that is saying a lot coming from a dwarf.

Resources

JRR Tolkien

            The Hobbit (1937) The information about Gloin, Erebor, the peoples of Dale, the dragon Smaug, and the goblins.

             The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1955) The information about Sauron, the One Ring, Gimli, and the council
of Elrond.

Web Pages:

The Encyclopedia of Arda

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/ Basic information about the characters and places were obtained from this source.

Images:

Rolozo Tolkien: Book Illustration by Green of a dwarf.

http://fan.theonering.net/rolozo/?hide=-5&collection=greenp-hobbit&view=collection All images link back to their original location,

which contains artist information and full size versions.