[eowyntje]

I don't have a lot of knowledge of HoME and other writings mentioning the Dwarfs, but looking at the Lotr itself, I'd say it is very likely that Gimli was no ordinary dwarf, for the simple reason that all members o the fellowship were different from their own race in a way.
All 4 the hobbits were more adventurous then normal hobbits, Aragorn is nothing like normal humans, Boromir represents the humans weak side, but is nothing like the other humans describred in Lotr. Gandalf turns out to be no ordinary wizard, and as for legolas, he's quite normal in the beginning but changes when he befriends with a dwarf.
It is veyr likely that Tolkien made Gimli different form his race, more brave for example, because all the members of the fellowship are different from their race and they were the poeple he liked to write about. None of his characters were completely like the discription of their race, they all had their own traits and were unique creatures, and I think that goes for gimli too.