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Despite how much it's been memed - that "pledge" moment in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will never fail to give me chills. If you think about it, the loyalty that Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas swear to Frodo by offering their weapons in his service isn't just a statement of their cause - it's a sign of respect. And according to Gimli himself, Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy deserves that respect as much as Frodo did.

Rhys Davies made the comment during recent interview with Empire Magazine, in which cast members of The Fellowship of the Ring got together to chat for the film's 25th anniversary. Sitting down with Orlando Bloom, AKA Legolas, Rhys Davies was asked about where Gimli's movie props were a quarter century after they appeared on screen.

"I’m not telling you where the axe is," said the Indiana Jones icon, "Or I’ll get visitors. Gimli’s original helmet has gone missing; I had to buy another one, to be able to put it on for the odd interview. I would like to get Wētā to make me a replica axe, because… you went and met Zelensky[y], didn’t you, in Ukraine?"

Co-star Bloom, who very famously shared some of the trilogy's best on-screen chemistry with his orc-slaying dwarven friend, confirmed that he had met the president of Ukraine.

"I would like to give him Gimli’s axe," continued Rhys Davies. 

While it's a beautiful gesture, Bloom told his costar that, in fact, Zelenskyy couldn't accept the gift.

"He’s not allowed to accept that stuff, actually," the Pirates of the Caribbean star said, "I was gonna do something similar. It’s a political thing."

Political thing or not, it's pretty neat that in our tumultuous and often un-Middle Earthly word, two out of the Three Hunters would pledge their weapons to a real-life leader. Somebody get Viggo Mortensen on the phone.

The Lord of the Rings is streaming on HBO Max.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you:

• Lord of the Rings reading guide 
• Lord of the Rings watch guide
• The Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch 
• The OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat 
• The true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.