Gimli is the sixth-highest point in the Valhalla Ranges, with the highest being Gladsheim Peak, 2 km (1.2 mi) to the north-northwest.

The name "Valhalla Mountains" first appeared in George Mercer Dawson's Geological Survey of Canada map published in 1890.

Dawson applied names derived from Scandinavian mythology to several of the mountain ranges and peaks in Southern Kootenay.

[4] This landform's toponym was officially adopted as "Mount Dag" on March 3, 1971, at the request of the Kootenay Mountaineering Club, but it was officially changed to Gimli on April 29, 1998, by the Geographical Names Board of Canada at the request of local residents.

[5] According to Norse mythology, Gimli is the place where the righteous survivors of Ragnarök (doomsday when heaven and earth are destroyed) are foretold to live.