Glóin son of Gróin was one of the twelve Dwarves who went with Thorin Oakenshield to win back the Lonely Mountain, and the brother of Óin. On the night of the Unexpected Party he was the loudest doubter of the burglar Gandalf had found them.1,2
He looks more like a grocer than a burglar!
He went the whole road with the company, and after the Battle of Five Armies he stayed in the Mountain under King Dáin.3,2
Many years later, in the autumn of 3018, he came to Rivendell with his son Gimli on an errand from Dáin. At the feast he sat beside Frodo and told him the news of Dale and Erebor. At the Council of Elrond he spoke of the messenger from Mordor who had come to Erebor, offering friendship and rings of power in return for news of hobbits and of a certain ring, and of Balin, who had gone to Moria years before and had not been heard of since.4,5
It was Gimli, not his father, who went south from Rivendell as one of the Nine Walkers, to stand for the Dwarves in the Fellowship of the Ring.6
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Appendices Tolkien's own appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
- Published story The Hobbit, ch. 1, “An Unexpected Party”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A, III, “Durin's Folk”
- Published story The Hobbit, ch. 18, “The Return Journey”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, ch. 1, “Many Meetings”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, ch. 2, “The Council of Elrond”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, ch. 3, “The Ring Goes South”