[Quempel]

StW

I have been a long distance speed walker for some time now, and ok its not running, but I like my backbone and knee joints. Your assumption that Gimli wasn't physically able to run is just that, your assumption. No where in the book or the movie does it say that Gimli was unable to run. He would not have been able to keep up with over 6 foot tall Legolas and Aragorn simply because of stride length, but he is in shape. He had been walking and running with the fellowship for a long time, thus building up his endurance. And sorry StW, walking at a fast pace builds the same endurance as running, there are many medical studies that show walking does as much good as running, without the pain. So here is Gimli who has been out walking at a rather fast clip, in snow, over mountains, through mountains, and now all of the sudden he is so out of shape that he can't do anything.

The other flaw in your argument is that you are applying modern day human standards to non-human. Gimli is not human, he is a dwarf. You assume that Tolkien’s dwarfs fall under the same standards of humans, and Tolkien clearly distinguished the differences between the races in middle earth. Dwarfs did not have the same physical characteristics as humans. Same as humans did not have the same characteristics as elves. In fact the only paring of human with other races were with elves. There are no hobbit dwarf mating, no human hobbit mating. Perhaps this is because the DNA would not mix. Applying modern human standards to a fictional non-human dwarf is assuming that you know everything about Tolkien's dwarfs. The same standards you believe you know about the human body and running can and possibly do not apply to Dwarfs.

By the way are you a trained doctor? Or just a runner? There is a difference between a doctor who has spent years studying the human body and a lone runner who has only his own experiences to draw upon. It's like saying since you fix your own car you are certified mechanic.


And one more question, are you on Pete's payroll? Your disdain of Tolkien comes out loud and clear in your posts, and I have to wonder why you even read the books to begin with and simply didn't wait for Pete's much superior action flicks to come out.