Death of Crystal Heart

[Imladris]

I am so sorry....

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

It has always been my hope that Tolkien has been busy thinking up new tales for us now that he has a bit more free time. Now I will image Crystal Heart sitting beside him, the first among us to enjoy their beauty.

My heart goes out to all of you who are friends and family. May God give you strength, and bring to you those in whom you might find comfort.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

My prayers for Crystal Heart's family and friends. May she be the first of us to truly know if Balrogs had wings.

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

My regards to her family...

Fea

[Bêthberry]

Goodness, when I first saw Child's thread name, I assumed this was a new Shire game, and popped in just to see who was signing up. I'm sure that Squatter in particular will be disappointed, as he declined her invitation to her game due to impending uni coursework load.

May she rest sweetly with shieldmaidens who have gone before her.

[Mithalwen]

Day is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.

Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I'll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above my mast!


Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar.
Nail elyë hiryva. Namárië!

Tolkien finds better words than I ever could. Crystal Heart has taken ship suddenly and too soon, and left us all behind. To her family and friends, all I can say is "Grief is the price we pay for love" and you are in my thoughts.


"I am standing on the seashore and I see
a ship spread out her white sails and
start for the blue ocean. I watch her
until she is a speck of white clouds
where the sea and the water meet. I say,
"There—she's gone."

Gone where? Gone from my eyesight,
that's
all. Yet she is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as when she left my side—
And able to bear her cargo to her distant
harbor.

Her diminishing size is in me—not in her.
After I say, "There—she's gone". Others
are watching for her coming, and other
voices shout "There---she comes".
And that is dying - that is death. "

[Regin Hardhammer]

As a fellow shire gamer, I am deeply saddend by Crystal's departure. I would like to express my condolences to her family.

[Nurumaiel]

I am in the game Sailing Away, of which Crystal Heart was a part, and though I did not know her very well, I was fond of her as a fellow player, and a very dedicated, enthusiastic player. I am quite at a loss for words, but I pray that God bless her dear family, whose hearts must be going through so much agony, and that He will have a special place for her.

And may she look down with smiles upon her family, and upon her little friends here at the 'Downs.

Perhaps she went by the name 'Crystal Heart,' but her heart was indeed one of warm gold.

Dear Crystal Heart, to you I'll raise the parting glass;
good night, and joy be with you all...