The One hundred and forty-second Roving Ranger

Life and Works

Another scientific find has been named after a Tolkien character - Bolg amondol (Opens in a new window). [Phys.org; see original research article (Opens in a new window).]

Events & Shows

‘The Uses of Fantasy’–Zen Cho Lecture Recording now availabl (Opens in a new window)e [Tolkien Lecture, Oxford]

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Opens in a new window) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).

Scholarship & Fandom

Dimitra Fimi has J.R.R. Tolkien and James Joyce (Opens in a new window).

Doubtfulsea has To horse! (Opens in a new window)

David Bratman has a few thoughts (Opens in a new window) on Sørina Higgins’ Mythbusters.

Stephen C. Winter has “I Wonder What Sort of a Tale We’ve Fallen Into?” Sam Gamgee Continues to Think About His and Frodo’s Experience (Opens in a new window).

Robin Reid has the Studies in Tolkien (Opens in a new window) flyer for the upcoming series. [Substack]

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings Online announces the full closure of its old 32-bit worlds at the end of August (Opens in a new window) [Massively OP]

The Mount Vernon Merchants’ Association (Opens in a new window) is using Bilbo Baggins’ Birthday (Opens in a new window) to drum up business. [Facebook]

Elevenses in Maine (Opens in a new window) might actually be opening. [Instagram]

New Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum film will be shot in NZ, set for 2027 release (Opens in a new window) [NZ Herald; paywall]

Inter alia

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is getting a fifth and final season (Opens in a new window) [The Verge]

Someone turned (almost) all of Terry Pratchett’s stories into a rotating book (Opens in a new window) [Youtube]

The 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has announced its shortlist (Opens in a new window).

Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part I (Opens in a new window) [Bret Devereaux]

Andrew Higgins has Ghor: A New Star Wars Art-Language (Opens in a new window). [Substack]

How to Market a Genre that Doesn't Exist: Simak's THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE TALISMAN (1978) (Opens in a new window) [Stratofanatic]

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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).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)

As this is 2025 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 average time of curating this newsletter ranges from 12-16 hours for the bi-weekly edition and 6-8 hours for the weekly one.