The One hundred and seventy-sixth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

February 24, 1950. Tolkien writes Letter 124 (Opens in a new window), on The Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window) ready – was it and The Silmarillion (Opens in a new window) wanted?
February 27, 1930. Joseph Wright (Opens in a new window), former tutor of Tolkien, dies.
February 28, 1949. Tolkien writes Letter 119 (Opens in a new window), on busily working, anticipating a period of leave.
February 29, 1968. Tolkien writes Letter 301 (Opens in a new window), on Tolkien in Oxford (Opens in a new window).
March 1 ,1939. Tolkien writes Letter 36a (Opens in a new window), on Michael's last year at school.

Tolkien mentions travelling to Scotland early the next week to give a lecture (Opens in a new window) he has not yet written, but ends by saying he hopes Michael will be up and about feeling better soon. [my emphasis]

• Third Age (Opens in a new window), 301 (Opens in a new window)9: Gandalf (Opens in a new window) comes to Edoras (Opens in a new window) and heals Théoden (Opens in a new window). Éomer (Opens in a new window) is released and Théoden holds his sword (Opens in a new window) again. [Mar 2]

Events & Shows

The Jesters Theatre has The Hobbit (Opens in a new window) (Mission, British Columbia, Canada) [Feb 20-28]

The Middle-earth Road Trip Readathon is happening via the Storygraph [@hexlibris (Opens in a new window), Instagram; March 1-31]

The Tolkien.Folk have published their #MiddleearthMarch prompt list (Opens in a new window) [Instagram]

The Edinburgh Tolkien Society (Opens in a new window) has Dimitra Fimi as guest speaker: Tolkien, mythology and mythography. [Feb 24; Instagram]

The Oxford Tolkien Society has just been beaten by the Cambridge Tolkien Society in the Varsity Quiz (Opens in a new window). Congrats to the winners! [Instagram]

The Racing Theatre Guild (Opens in a new window)(Racine, Wisconsin, USA) will show the Hobbit [April]

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

I am planning on 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.

If you feel like helping out, let me know, and you can become part of the editing team!

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

Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull have Tolkien Notes 23 (Opens in a new window) as well as Addenda and Corrigenda February 2026 (Opens in a new window) [Wordpress]

John Garth has Meditation and mosaic: two landmark Tolkien studies (Opens in a new window) [Steady; reviews of Drout and Pezzini; paywall]

Thoughts on Tolkien has Merry the Magnificent (Opens in a new window). [Wordpress]

Miriam Ellis has A Hobbit Kitchen and the Fróðafrið (Opens in a new window) and…

Matej Cadil has The Tree of Light on the Hill of Shadow (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Nick Polk has A Critical Response to “Between Mount Doom and the Wall of ‘Likes’” in Amon Hen #317 (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Robin Reid has feminist killjoy bibliographic essay (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

doubtfulsea has Do You Speak Villain? (Part 3) (Opens in a new window)

Stephen C. Winter has “He Knows Not to What End He Rides; Yet if he Knew , He Still Would Go On.” Merry Begins His Ride to War (Opens in a new window).

Tea with Tolkien had her book launch (Opens in a new window). [Youtube]

The Inklings Quarterly has IQ 10: Answering Alcuin, Dancing with Stars, & Fellow Book Projects (Opens in a new window).

Merchandise & Franchise

Czechoslovakian wolfdog Nazgul (Opens in a new window) made quite the appearance at the Winter Olympics¹ [NPR]

Lord of the Rings fans all make same comment about The Hunt for Gollum film (Opens in a new window) [Mirror, UK; an example of how online reporting can be lazy af]

Ben Child is - as is his wont - doing the same thing: The Hunt for Gollum looks like a step too far for the endless Lord of the Rings franchise (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]

Is A Promised Hobbit Hotel A Scam? WBZ's Matt Shearer Investigate (Opens in a new window)s [WBZ News Radio]

Mithril’s Miniature Box ‘The Fellowship of the Ring (Opens in a new window)’ is worth having a look at. [Instagram]

First new collectible pieces from Syzygy Forge are stunning! (Opens in a new window) [TORn; much more interesting: the upcoming John Howe collection (Opens in a new window)]

McIntosh delivers positive report at museum annual general meeting (Opens in a new window) [Stratford-Perth-Museum; using the Stratford Festival’s Hobbit rendition]

Inter alia

The Oxfam Bookshop on St Giles, the charity’s first ever dedicated bookshop, could be closed (Opens in a new window) [Oxford Clarion]

Charlotte Mendelson has the question What has it got in its pocketses? at the beginning of her piece The whole world in my pocket (Opens in a new window) [Observer]

Myth, monsters and making sense of a disenchanted world: why everyone is reading fantasy (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]

Royal Shakespeare Company confirms launch of GAME OF THRONES: THE MAD KING for Summer 2026 (Opens in a new window) [Wertzone; GRRM’s own word (Opens in a new window)s]

Rebecca Bratten Weiss is asking the question: Can I Still Love Tolkien? (Opens in a new window) [Radical Soul, Substack]

L.A.’s famous ‘Hobbit Houses’ have a new owner. He calls himself the ‘King of Storybook (Opens in a new window)’ [LA Times; please note, this is not a ‘hobbit hole’, just a marketing term to sell the news better]

The final trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu (Opens in a new window) has been published [Youtube]

The Science Museum in London will be the UK’s (and probably Europe’s) centre for Star Trek 60 celebrations (Opens in a new window) - including all films on March 26th ff.

Annie Awards 2026: „Animation is not a genre — it is one of the most powerful and enduring creative mediums in the world!“ (Opens in a new window) | [Indac; remarks by Aubry Mintz, Executive Director, ASIFA-Hollywood]

‘Andor’ Creator Tony Gilroy Gives the Interview He Couldn’t During Its Release (Opens in a new window) [Hollywood Reporter]

Josh Kushner uses 'Lord of the Rings' to explain what being close to OpenAI taught him about perceived power (Opens in a new window) [Business Insider Africa]

"To use the Lord of the Rings analogy," Kushner said, "Sam, Greg, OpenAI have the Ring, and everyone is willing to do whatever they can to take it."

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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 Brian Weaver (Opens in a new window) (Bluesky) ↩