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Players in The Lord of the Rings Online gather to honor the late Sir Ian Holm

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"I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."

Players gather around Bilbo Baggins in Rivendell.
(Image credit: Ch_Mell)

Sir Ian Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings movies and Frodo Baggins in the BBC radio version, died on June 19 at the age of 88. He was honored by players across multiple servers in The Lord of the Rings Online, some meeting at the Baggins' home of Bag End while others walked to Rivendell together to gather around the in-game Bilbo and pay their respects.

According to Redditor RoadrageWorker on the Belegaer server, "we gathered in front of Bag End, and to Lobelia's dislike, had a big firework. There was music and mourning, and we all wished Ian godspeed on this last of journeys." A similar spontaneous group got together on the Laurelin server and, as sudo_rm_onering added, "My understanding is it basically broke the whole Shire during the gathering lol. And I couldn't be more approving."

Lord of the Rings Online developer Standing Stones Games has made the Baggins' Birthday quest playable until June 23. The Spring Festival is also back for an encore, running until June 29.

Holm will also be ed for his roles in many films including Alien, Brazil, and Chariots of Fire. Peter Jackson shared his memories of working with Holm inThe Lord of the Rings on Facebook.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

Jody Macgregor
Jody Macgregor
Weekend/AU Editor

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he re having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.