Elijah Wood has paid a touching tribute to his late 'Lord of the Rings' co-star Bernard Hill

Sharing a picture of Hill taken by their co-star, Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn, Wood penned on X: "So long to our friend, our king, Bernard Hill."

Quoting J. R. R. Tolkien's novel, he continued: "We will never forget you.

"For he was a gentle heart and a great king and kept his oaths; and he rose out of the shadows to a last fair morning."

Dominic Monaghan, who portrayed Merry Brandybuck, wrote alongside the same photograph: "The Broken king has passed to the grey havens but he will always be remembered. #ripbernard."

Hill - who was also known for starring as Captain Edward Smith opposite Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 blockbuster 'Titanic' - is survived by his wife Marianne and their son Gabriel.

His cause of death is currently unknown.

He had been due to appear at Liverpool's Comic-Con over the weekend but cancelled at the last minute, and the event's organisers immediately took to social media to lead the tributes.

They wrote on X: "We're heartbroken to hear the news of Bernard Hill's passing. A great loss. Thinking of his family at this very sad time, and wishing them a lot of strength."

The 'True Crime' star was born in Manchester and attended drama school at the same time as the late 'Harry Potter' actor Richard Griffiths before playing small roles on television but did not get his big break until 1980 when he was cast as a working-class Liverpudlian man ultimately driven to the edge by the welfare system in 'The Black Stuff'.

As his career took off, Hill took on roles in 'Gandhi' 'Mountains of the Moon', 'Skallagrigg' and 'Madagascar Skin' before appearing in Hollywood films, including 'The Ghost and the Darkness', opposite Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas.