Gimli was the son of Glóin, who lived for the first part of his life in the Ered Luin before moving to Erebor with his father after the removal of Smaug. In 3018 he accompanied his father to Rivendell to take part in the Council of Elrond, where Gimli was selected to represent Dwarves in the Fellowship of the Ring. He later went on to guide the Company through Moria, until they finally came to Lórien. There he swore allegiance to the Lady Galadriel and became good friends with Legolas. He was even so bold as to ask for a strand of the Lady's hair. Gimli went with Aragorn and Legolas to Rohan, where he fought at the Hornburg, and then took the Paths of the Dead into Corsairs before sailing to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He also fought ouside the Black Gate.

After the victory in the War of the Ring Gimli took a company of Dwarves from Erebor to the Glittering Caves, in which he became the King. He remained friends with all members of the Fellowship until 120 of the Fourth Age, when all other Fellowship members had passed out of Middle-earth, either by death or by sailing over the Sea, he sailed with Legolas with hopes of seeing the Lady Galadriel once again.