It has been a long and unexpected journey fraught with assorted perils and YouTube tributes set to Enya songs, but at last Peter Jackson’s quest is at an end: With the addition of Billy Connolly, the director has announced that he has finally finished casting for The Hobbit, bringing to a close a far-reaching search that most people thought was over, like, months ago. But anyway, now it definitely is, with Connolly—the man who makes Scottish people laugh and briefly pause from kicking each other’s teeth in—joining the sprawling Hobbit ensemble as Dain Ironfoot, dwarf warrior and cousin to Richard Armitage’s Thorin Oakenshield. “With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete,” Jackson said, meaning now there’s just the small matter of actually making the movies.
Anyway, the conclusion of Hobbit casting news is, in its own small way, the end of an era for us as well. So here is one last, suitably epic round of YouTube tributes to say goodbye. Hey, did you know that there are at least three people who have combined their dual loves of Taylor Swift and Lord Of The Rings, then shared it with the world? Now you do.