The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - The death of Legolas and Gimli...did they die?

Lobelia · 07-03-2003, 12:42 AM

Chuckle! Yes, it would indeed be a sad day for female Legolas fans. Not, mind you, that he showed any signs of interest in anyone.

As I understand it, Gimli, like the hobbits who went to the Undying Lands, would live a normal lifespan. He'd just die a lot happier! This is what Tolkien said in his letters.

I came across a fan story someone here in Oz wrote, in which Sam doesn't actually make it to Valinor, he just thinks, in his senility, that he is getting on an elven ship (they have long stopped going) and drowns under the horrified gaze of his grandson and son-in-law, and Legolas and Gimli don't make it either - a storm comes up and wipes them out. At the time, I thought, "Hang on, hang on, it says..." and went back to the Appendices. And you know what? It never actually said they made it, only that they went. Of Sam, it only says that it was a tradition in his family. I am sure Tolkien INTENDED it to mean what we assume, but it leaves a loophole for cheeky fan writers to slip through. : -- )

07-03-2003, 12:42 AM	#4
Lobelia Wight Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 150	Chuckle! Yes, it would indeed be a sad day for female Legolas fans. Not, mind you, that he showed any signs of interest in anyone. As I understand it, Gimli, like the hobbits who went to the Undying Lands, would live a normal lifespan. He'd just die a lot happier! This is what Tolkien said in his letters. I came across a fan story someone here in Oz wrote, in which Sam doesn't actually make it to Valinor, he just thinks, in his senility, that he is getting on an elven ship (they have long stopped going) and drowns under the horrified gaze of his grandson and son-in-law, and Legolas and Gimli don't make it either - a storm comes up and wipes them out. At the time, I thought, "Hang on, hang on, it says..." and went back to the Appendices. And you know what? It never actually said they made it, only that they went. Of Sam, it only says that it was a tradition in his family. I am sure Tolkien INTENDED it to mean what we assume, but it leaves a loophole for cheeky fan writers to slip through. : -- )