© New Line Cinema
I was absolutely gutted when I woke up this morning to learn that Sir Christopher Lee had passed away over the weekend. I will fully admit I cried — but seeing the tributes being paid to him across the internet have been just as moving. This was a man who touched so many peoples’ lives and for so many years. From his horror classics (Dracula) to Bond (The Man with the Golden Gun) to Star Wars (not that most would acknowledge Episode I, but still) to playing Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. This was a man who was in over 250 movies.
I cannot express my appreciation for the life and work of this man. Just two weeks ago, on the day before his 93rd birthday, I tweeted this:
He’ll be in movies for the next forty years, right??
— Starlight Witch (@starlightgeek) May 26, 2015
Please pardon the typo on his age.
Obviously, time catches up to us all — even those who seem immortal.
To that end…
Pippin: I didn’t think it would end this way.
Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path… One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass… And then you see it.
Pippin: What? Gandalf? See what?
Gandalf: White shores… and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
Pippin: Well, that isn’t so bad.
Gandalf: No… No, it isn’t.
I saw the light fade from the sky
On the wind I heard a sigh
As the snowflakes cover
My fallen brothers
I will say this last goodbye
Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the sea
Under cloud, beneath the stars
Over snow and winter’s morn
I turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me,
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell
Many places I have been
Many sorrows I have seen
But I don’t regret
Nor will I forget
All who took that road with me
Night is now falling
So ends this day
The road is now calling
And I must away
Over hill, and under tree
Through lands where never light has shone
By silver streams that run down to the sea
To these memories I will hold
With your blessing I will go
To turn at last to paths that lead home
And though where the road then takes me,
I cannot tell
We came all this way
But now comes the day
To bid you farewell
I bid you all a very fond farewell
Thank you, Sir Christopher, for giving us a lifetime of entertainment. I know that, at least, whenever we want to see you, we can put in any number of our favorite films to see your face and hear your voice.