The One hundred and seventy-eighth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Oxford, Physics, and the Day I Saw Tolkien Summon Henry (Opens in a new window)¹ [Conferences that work]

Events & Shows

The Concord Public Library is hosting a Hobbit Fest (Opens in a new window) March 21; New Hampshire, USA]

The Full Moon Players (Opens in a new window) at the Cypress Moon Studio (Opens in a new window) in are doing The Hobbit (Opens in a new window). [Apr 23-26; Sheffield, Alabama, United States]

The Mythical World of Middle-earth conference will take place March 27th (Opens in a new window) [Constantine the Philosopher University (Opens in a new window), Nitra, Slovakia]

Representing the gazillion of pub quizzes this week is Tolkien Trivia (Opens in a new window) in Duluth, Minnesota, USA [Mar 11; caught my eye as the brewery is called Ursa Minor (Opens in a new window)]

And representing all the amazing community work libraries are doing the world over this week: Use a wood ornament to design your own hobbit door (Opens in a new window) [Springfield-Lakemore Branch Library; Akron, Ohio, USA]

MythCon 54 (Opens in a new window) is happening in Oklahoma [July 24-27]

The Wade has another lecture:  "The Ring of Righteousness: Justice in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth" [Youtube (Opens in a new window); March 19]

Please note I am the Guest of Honour of this year’s Lustrum of the Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor.

Registration is now open (Opens in a new window) for June 19-21, 2026.

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Opens in a new window).

I am doing a global map for Tolkien Reading Day (Opens in a new window), with events from Tolkien societies & smials, libraries and cultural partners, who have Middle-earth in their hearts. Send me your links!

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Opens in a new window) | YT (Opens in a new window) | RSS feed (Opens in a new window)]

Scholarship & Fandom

John Garth has Tolkien’s land of the dead and ‘going west’ in 1914–18 (Opens in a new window) [Steady; paywall]

Miriam Ellis has Woodhall in the Woody End: A Special, Dreamy Shire Landscape (Opens in a new window) as well as Yavanna and the Hobbits (Opens in a new window).

Giovanni Carmine Costabile has Tolkien's Oriental Sources? Renunciation of Immortality and Fairy Nature (Opens in a new window) and Clive Shergold Welsh on Wagons: Tolkien’s introduction to the Welsh language (Opens in a new window) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

The Bodleian Map Room Blog does mention Tolkien in “Approaches to Valhalla (Opens in a new window).”

Abigail Nussbaum has The Great Tolkien Reread: Fog on the Barrow-Downs (Opens in a new window) [Blogspot]

doubtfulsea has Encouragement (Opens in a new window).

I wrote about last year: 2025 in retrospect: fifteen notable events (Opens in a new window) [thetolkienist.com]

Stephen C. Winter has “I Have Looked in The Stone of Orthanc, My Friends.” Why Does Aragorn Choose This Moment to Reveal Himself to Sauron (Opens in a new window).

Tom Hillman has Gollum said, Sméagol said (Opens in a new window).

Merchandise & Franchise

Sirius Partners with asmodee and Middle-earth Enterprises on Official The Lord of the Rings™ Tabletop Accessories Line (Opens in a new window) [UberStrategist]

Tales of the Shire (Opens in a new window) is coming to the Switch 2 - for free, if you already own the Switch version. [Youtube]

Foes of Middle-earth has already raised more than $600K on Kickstarter (Opens in a new window) [Polygon]

The Hobbit Affairs! - “a two day Hobbit themed mini ren fair” -will take place April 18 (Opens in a new window), somewhere in North Carolina, USA.

Peter Jackson will receive the Cannes Honorary Palme d'or (Opens in a new window).

Lord of the Rings Star Elijah Wood Says He Doesn't Want Anyone Else Playing Frodo 'As Long as I'm Alive and Able' (Opens in a new window) [IGN; Sunday Times]

LotR boardgaming developer Office Dog Games have Why classic board games still matter to modern publishing studios (Opens in a new window).

Game Designer Matt Leacock notes (Opens in a new window):

Due to high demand, Fate of the Fellowship has been out of stock since late 2025. I’m happy to report that it will be returning to retail in late March! [Substack]

A radio station in Johannesburg (Opens in a new window), South Africa, asked listeners about their experiences with their neighbours, and apparently a dispute about a dog led one caller to share his story:

“My neighbour decided I’m a hobbit… and put hobbit posters all around the complex.”

Yes, apparently parking bays, walls and cars were decorated overnight — proving that passive-aggressive behaviour in Joburg sometimes comes with excellent production values.

Inter alia

Cast of FIREFLY tease possible reunion (Opens in a new window) [Wertzone]

Paramount/Warner Bros. Merger Officially Announced; Star Trek Named One Of “Compelling” Franchises (Opens in a new window) [TrekMovie; see also RedshirtsAlwaysDie (Opens in a new window)]

(Paramount Skydance owner David) Ellison has been described as an ally of Donald Trump. Trump has boasted about his friendship with David Ellison and his father Larry Ellison. [Wikipedia (Opens in a new window)]

DC's future just got very complicated (Opens in a new window) [ICv2]

Please note the Ellisons now essentially own the Eagle & Child (Opens in a new window).

Hobbits are named in this impressive piece on legendary band Wishbone Ash (Opens in a new window). [Loudersound]

Game of Thrones film adaptation in the works at Warner Bros (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]

Comic Baldo mentions Middle-earth in this (Opens in a new window).

Another idiotic social media trend even has the Diocese of Oxford say something: “DIY gravestone cleaning trend risks damage (Opens in a new window).”²

Keeping an eye on this one: Oxford could get a new city centre public square (Opens in a new window). [Oxford Clarion]

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Do use my invite link (Opens in a new window) and start with three months fee-free.
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According to German law I have to inform you all links to enterprises, artists, products etc. are [unpaid advertisements.] Some purchase links may earn me a small commission from Blackwell's (Opens in a new window), Bookshop.org (Opens in a new window), or Genialokal (Opens in a new window), the (independent) bookshops of my personal trust (one with a Tolkien connection!)

If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Opens in a new window) : Facebook (Opens in a new window) : Bluesky (Opens in a new window) : Instagram (Opens in a new window) : Threads (Opens in a new window) : Mastodon (Opens in a new window) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)

As this is 2026 I would like to note that this newsletter is 100% human-made, curated by me, Marcel R. Bülles. This also holds true for everything I write with my blog and here at Steady. Also, the minimum time of curating this newsletter ranges from 8-12 hours every week. Please consider supporting me so I can continue offering the Roving Ranger - thank you.

1. h/t Tolkien Gleanings 386 (Opens in a new window). ↩

2. h/t Oxford Clarion, March 10, 2026 (Opens in a new window). ↩