Question: This has confused me ever since I heard who Balin was in the movie. While Gimli doesn't necessarily look young in Lord of the Rings, his cousin Balin in the Hobbit looks much much older than he does, and not to mention the Hobbit was 60 years prior to the events in Lord of the Rings. There must be a huge age gap between the two or perhaps Balin's white hair has no significance on his age? And for that matter, what are the life expectancies on dwarves, they are pretty much the only races in Tolkien's creations that I've never really heard. Judging from their contrasting age appearances in the movies he would seem to be about 100 years older than Gimli?
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Chosen answer: While the most common usage of the word cousin is to describe the children of siblings, known as "first cousins" who would be of the same generation, "cousin" actually covers quite a wide range of relationships, which can readily cross generations. In this case, Gimli's father Glóin is Balin's first cousin as their fathers, Gróin and Fundin, were brothers. Gimli is therefore Balin's first cousin once removed, making the age difference between them (113 years, to be specific) quite reasonable. Dwarves in the Tolkien stories generally live to around 250 years old, with correspondingly longer generations than humans.
Tailkinker ★