Anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien's Death

At the age of 81, the great subcreator of Middle-earth, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, received what he called the Gift of Men, death, in Bournemouth, England forty-one years ago today on September 2, 1973.

His obituary in The New York Times described him as "a gentle, blue-eyed, donnish-appearing man who favored tweeds, smoked a pipe and liked to take walks and ride an old bicycle." Not a bad summary, that.

As we remember today the man who was a hobbit in all but size, it seems fitting to recall these words he had Gandalf the White speak to Perigrin Took:

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. White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.

These words, no doubt, served as the inspiration for the beautiful and moving song written to play during the credits of Peter Jackson's epic film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: