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In The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug, when the dwarves get captured in the forest by the elves, Legolas takes a photo from one of the dwarves, and the dwarf states that’s Gimli. I'm aware who that is from Lord of the Rings, but how do they connect to each other?

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    It's not a photo (no cameras). You might call the individual drawings portraits, or portrait miniatures. Miniatures used to be quite common, before cameras.
    – Glen_b
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 0:03
  • He says "it's my wee lad" I assumed that means his son. Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 15:57

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TL;DR: Gimli (depicted in the locket, and from The Lord Of The Rings) is the son of Glóin (in The Hobbit).


Glóin is the dwarf that shows Legolas the locket.

Glóin

The locket depicts his wife and son, Gimli - the same Gimli of the Lord of the Rings.

locket

Glóin: Give it back, that's private!

Legolas: Who is this? Your brother?

Glóin: That is my wife.

Legolas: And what is this horrid creature, goblin mutant?

Glóin: That's me wee lad, Gimli.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gimli is mentioned specifically as "the son of Glóin".

“For the rest, they shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men, Legolas shall be for the Elves; and Gimli son of Glóin for the Dwarves. They are willing to go at least to the passes of the Mountains, and maybe beyond. For Men you shall have Aragorn son of Arathorn, for the Ring of Isildur concerns him closely”

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    "Wee lad" How young is Gimli in that picture, sporting the full facial hair and all?
    – agweber
    Commented Dec 4, 2014 at 19:17
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    @agweber We are speaking of dwarves not humans! I have always imagined dwarves be born with all the facial hair already in place...
    – Bakuriu
    Commented Dec 4, 2014 at 20:03
  • Just making trouble, @agweber: How do you know that the one with the beard isn't his wife? We never meet any Dwarven women; they could be bearded for all we know... and curled hair and square necklines haven't always been restricted to women.
    – keshlam
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 3:15
  • @keshlam to be fair, Gloin identifies his wife as Legolas looks at the image in the left side of the locket.
    – phantom42
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 4:23
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    @VincentVancalbergh: When talking of the movies, all that Gimli talks about is how people think there are no Dwarven women, and Aragorn makes a gesture about "probably because of their beards" to make Eowyn laugh -- but we are not told whether Aragorn is serious, or even knows.
    – DevSolar
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 12:32
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Gimli, Son of Gloin

He's also Balin's cousin(?)

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    This seems very brief. Could you flesh it out with something that actually proves your assertion?
    – Valorum
    Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 11:35
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    @Richard Balin and Dwalin are sons of Fundin who is brother of Groin the father of Oin and Gloin. Therefore Gimli and Balin are 1st cousins once removed. Commented Dec 5, 2014 at 13:21
  • Balin is also the brother of Dwalin. Later, Balin visits Bilbo in Bag End, and eventually goes to Moria.
    – user35971
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 19:20

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