The One hundred and ninety-third Roving Ranger

Life & Works

Jul 24, 1915 Tolkien writes the poem The Happy Mariners (Opens in a new window).
July 25, 1938 Tolkien sends an angry letter (Opens in a new window) to a German publisher, after being asked whether he was Aryan (Opens in a new window) or not.
July 26, 1973 Lord Halsbury (Opens in a new window) visits Tolkien.
July 27, 1966 Tolkien receives the unexpected visitors J.S. Ryan (Opens in a new window) and Hans-Jörg Modlmayr (Opens in a new window).
July 28, 1947 Rayner Unwin (Opens in a new window) reports on the first version of The Fellowship of the Ring (Opens in a new window).
July 29, 1938 E.V. Gordon (Opens in a new window), a later colleague of Tolkien, dies.
July 31, 1917 "Tea Cake" Barnsley (Opens in a new window) is killed near Ypres (Opens in a new window) while consoling a captured prisoner.
August 1, 1997 The German Tolkien Society Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft e.V. (Opens in a new window) is founded [what a day!]
August 2, 1966 Tolkien is interviewed by William Cater (Opens in a new window).

The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and those who are going to read them.

William Cater, The Sunday Times (UK)

The BBC Lord of the Rings radio play (Opens in a new window) will have a re-release as “Vinyl and CD” [Tolkien Guide; Brian Sibley himself (Opens in a new window) informed the community via Facebook]

The way the internet is going reliable information will be more difficult to find every day - so a curated newsletter like the Roving Ranger is more needed than ever. Share it, let people know! Thank you 😊

Events & Shows

The third Tolkien Conference in Switzerland will happen in Lucerne; topic will be 'Maps and Landscapes in Tolkien's Middle-earth' (Opens in a new window) [Mar 13, 2027]

If you are up for some San Diego Comic Con energy but can’t get there - Weta Workshop will livestream (Opens in a new window) their reveals on Youtube [6:30pm PDT / 3:30 am CET / 1:30pm NZT; with me it’s July 23rd]

Falešné společenstvo (“a group of czech Tolkien fans that have been writing and performing Tolkien songs, and later full musicals, since 2001”) will be celebrating their 25th Anniversary (Opens in a new window) [throughout August; tumblr]¹

For a chronological list of events check out the Tolkien Guide (Opens in a new window) (where most of the events mentioned here are listed.)

Scholarship & Fandom

It gives me great pleasure to share another guest post, this time by Christian S. Trenk on Odysseus and Aragorn.

The Journal of Tolkien Research (Opens in a new window) continues with more interesting pieces: Getting Tolkien Right: Middle-earth in the National Review (Opens in a new window) or Some notes on a Tolkien’s manuscript linked to ‘Leaf by Niggle. (Opens in a new window)’

Marie Bretagnolle has What is she Tolkien about? Or a summary of my PhD thesis (Opens in a new window) [Hypotheses.org (Opens in a new window)]

In search of Aquinas in Middle-earth: pedagogical potentials for Thomistic virtue ethics (Opens in a new window) through The Lord of the Rings [British Journal of Religious Education; paywall]

Proof-of-Concept: Visions of Peace and Nonviolence in Pop Culture (Opens in a new window) (ed. Jennifer Kling) has a chapter titled Nonviolent Activism in The Lord of the Rings.

Adam Roberts is set to publish An A-Z of J. R. R. Tolkien (Opens in a new window) [Jan 2027; Bloomsbury]

Andrew Higgins has Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Language of Barsoom (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Dimitra Fimi has informed readers of her blog that she will share her future work on Substack only (Opens in a new window).

The Austrian Tolkien Society has moved its communication to its very own Discord server (Opens in a new window).

doubtfulsea has Arboricidal (Opens in a new window) and Prismatic (Opens in a new window).

Interview with Janet Brennan Croft (Opens in a new window), editor of Mythlore [Elfenomeno]

Stephen C. Winter has “If You Had Received This Thing, It Would Have Overthrown You.” Because Denethor Desires the Victory of Gondor Above Everything He Has Not the Strength to Resist the Ring (Opens in a new window).

Shawn E Marchese has Word-Nerdery: The Etymology of "Fantasy" (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Robin Reid has 2027 International Congress on Medieval Studies (Hybrid) (Opens in a new window) and The Middle Ages in the Modern World (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

The British Fantasy Society Journal has put out a Call for Submissions on “Gender in Fantasy (Opens in a new window).”

Miriam Ellis has…

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Opens in a new window). 📝

Merchandise and Franchise

In advance to the San Diego Comic Con which has been used for years now as the best way of promotion there are a few things on Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Jamie Campbell Bower Is Celeborn (Opens in a new window) – Elf Lord And Galadriel’s Husband – In The Rings Of Power S3 | The Rings Of Power Season 3 Will Finally See Sauron Forge The One Ring In Mordor: ‘No-One Is Safe’ (Opens in a new window) | ‘Gandalf Has Arrived’ (Opens in a new window) In The Rings Of Power Season 3 – And He’s ‘The Wizard We All Love’ [Empire]

Another German franchise offering, this time spice seller Ankerkraut (Opens in a new window) with a whole range on anything Lord of the Rings. [Their tag line says it all: Some heroes do not wield a sword, a magic staff or ring - but the cooking spoon.]²

The LotR fan club is slowly opening its gates. I have just received this email:

My comment Let us see what the future brings but at the moment the fan club seems to be what was to be expected - as many companies have been realising for some time being in locked platforms like Youtube, Facebook and Instagram etc. is not good for their business. So they are now opening their own locked platforms to entice fans to join them [enshittification will surely follow; see TORn (Opens in a new window)]

TORn also has a list of things Tolkienian (Opens in a new window) at SDCC.

Lord of the Rings: Ascension has surpassed $1 million in crowdfunding (Opens in a new window) (3,700+ backers) [GameFound]

Inter alia

Foreshadowed and Foresung has Christian Nationalists Are the Apostates from C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce (Opens in a new window).

Should you have ever asked yourself that question… Did elephant energetics decide Hannibal’s Alpine crossing route? (Opens in a new window) [University of Oxford; it is Oliphaunt-adjacent so fair game]³

OpenAI says its AI went rogue and launched 'unprecedented' cyber-attack (Opens in a new window) [BBC; what is ‘unprecedented’ about this?]

Harry Potter publisher to receive millions (Opens in a new window) in Anthropic copyright settlement [Guardian]

Dua Lipa has opened the Manifesto Library (Opens in a new window) in one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world [Livraria Lello, Porto; banned books and others]

Disney Lays Off Hundreds of Staffers, Pixar Hit Hard (Opens in a new window) [The Wrap]⁴

Inside Paramount and WBD, employees are on edge (Opens in a new window)as David Ellison's mega-merger hits resistance [Business Insider]

Bethesda confirm FALLOUT remasters and new games from themselves and Obsidian Entertainment (Opens in a new window) [Wertzone]

[July 18, 1971] The Tragedy of John W. Campbell (Opens in a new window) (1910-1971) [Galactic Journey]

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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 Laisrinel; Tolkiendil Discord (Opens in a new window). ↩

2. The founders had sold their company to brute force capitalist Nestlé (Opens in a new window) in 2022 which had led to a shitstorm of unseen proportions - this year they bought it back (Opens in a new window). Let’s hope they’ll stay independent and return to their mission of sustainability, protection of the environment, and transparency - a very Tolkienian way of thinking. ↩

3. h/t Oxford Clarion (Opens in a new window), July 14, 2026. ↩

4. h/t INDAC (Opens in a new window). ↩