The One hundred and ninety-second Roving Ranger

Life & Works

A University of Granada project leads to the discovery of a previously unpublished document by J. R. R. Tolkien in an Oxford library (Opens in a new window).

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has published a piece (Opens in a new window) commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. Particularly interesting: The Tolkein [sic] Education Pack (Opens in a new window) (pdf). They have also done a special on Robert Quilter Gilson (Opens in a new window).¹

Another list of the “Best Books of All Times” (Opens in a new window), with Lord of the Rings at #1 [Collider; I usually do not share Valnet (Opens in a new window) content mill (Opens in a new window) material but this is for the sake of completeness]

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 annual German Tolkien Society’s “Thing” (Opens in a new window) is happening this weekend [July 16-19; I might make a surprise appearance; guest society is Tolkiendil / France]

Tolkien & Middle-earth Online Art Exhibition Update (Opens in a new window) [Aug 15; Substack]

The programme (Opens in a new window) for Omentielva Minquea at Marquette University is online [Jul 30 - Aug 2]

The Hobbit to “Open at UH Mānoa's Earle Ernst Lab Theatre (Opens in a new window)” [Broadway World; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA]

The Spanish Tolkien Society will be present at Celsius 232 (Opens in a new window) [Jul 14-18; Avilés, Spain; Smial Ered Luin]

Jaws, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings: Why we love the greatest movie scores so much (Opens in a new window) [Jul 16-18; Sydney, Australia]

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

Scholarship & Fandom

Two excellent pieces of news from Tom Hillman: Pity, Power, and Tolkien's Ring a finalist (Opens in a new window) (with the Mythopoeic Society) and there is a now an audio version (Opens in a new window) of it [Substack]

John Garth has How £400 funding changed Tolkien’s fortunes… and your support changes mine (Opens in a new window) [Steady]

Matej Cadil has The Dance in the Hemlock Glade That Shaped Tolkien’s Legendarium (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey (Opens in a new window) by Dawn Walls-Thumma [Silmarillion Writers Guild]

doubtfulsea has Towering.3 (Opens in a new window).

Dimitra Fimi has The Slow LotR Re-read (10): What Kind of Object Is the Ring? (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Tom Hillman has Treebeard on Tom Bombadil (Opens in a new window) [Blogspot]

Dice Monkey are having a Tolkien Month (Opens in a new window).

Miriam Ellis has Sister Wendy Beckett: A Tolkien connection and a hero of mine in the arts (Opens in a new window).

Stephen C. Winter has “Ever Your Desire is To Appear Lordly and Generous as a King of Old”. Is This True of Faramir? What is The Difference Between Appearance and Reality? (Opens in a new window)

Announcing the 2027 "Beyond Bree" Calendar! [Tolkien Guide]

Robin Reid has CFP: The Mysteries of Night in Fantasy Worlds (Virtual) (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

The Palgrave Handbook of Constructed Languages has Conlangs in Literature and Their Usefulness towards Realism (Opens in a new window) [mentioning Tolkien; paywall]

"Then Daddy began a story": Storytelling in Tolkien’s home and our own (Opens in a new window) [Journal of Tolkien Research; vol. 24, issue 2 (Opens in a new window)]

Frank Weinreich has Stories (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

The Tales after Tolkien Society has #Kzoo2027 - Call For Papers! (Opens in a new window) [Blogspot]

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

The Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum (Opens in a new window) has delivered its production opening video [Youtube]

Lord of the Rings: Ascension (Opens in a new window) was funded in 4 minutes [GameFound]

Tolkien fan letters (Opens in a new window) sell at auction for £103k [BBC]

Amazon Prime Video have announced their setup for San Diego Comic Con, including Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Opens in a new window) [press release; why they would present it with Blade Runner 2099 I am at a loss to say]

It has been a long way for LotR.com (Opens in a new window) - from its earliest beginnings in December 1998 to a recent change of ownership - as according to Spanish website El Anillo Unico Middle-earth Enterprises have recently taken over the URL (Opens in a new window) and are offering a waiting list for more news about the site. Rumours abound. (P.S. It used to be the official website for the musical which is now with lotrmusical.com (Opens in a new window).)

Adventures in the million-dollar Tolkien book market (Opens in a new window) [The Times]

War of the Ring: The Card Game (Opens in a new window) is be getting an(other) extension titled Sieges of Middle-earth (Opens in a new window) (there already is ‘Lords of Middle-earth (Opens in a new window)’) [BoardGameGeek]

It’s coming home: Welsh town wins bid to buy Tolkien letter (Opens in a new window) [Nation.Cymru; this will surely spawn another tourism craze as in Ireland after this seriously overpriced auction; also note that Tolkien lived close to Crick Road in Oxford (Opens in a new window) when it comes to inspiration]

British journalist Sam Moore has written There and Back Again (Opens in a new window): the unofficial oral history of The Lord of the Rings films [October 2026]

Inter alia

Dennis Wilson Wise has an UPDATE on my book on Del Rey Books (Opens in a new window) [Stratofanatic]

AI Made Cloning Games Easier Than Ever (Opens in a new window) [404 Media; that is, stealing them]

The loudest warning about AI and jobs yet (Opens in a new window) [Platformer]

F.C.C. Approves Test of Space Mirror to Light Night Sky Despite Outcry (Opens in a new window) [New York Times; partial paywall; also, the Verge (Opens in a new window) and PCMag (Opens in a new window)]

Jenni Fagan: ‘Maya Angelou taught me that I owed myself hope’ (Opens in a new window) [Guardian; The Hobbit is beautifully mentioned]

Our British Aesculapius’: John Radcliffe and Oxford (Opens in a new window) [Oxford Libraries Trainees]

Godzilla Minus Zero (Opens in a new window) has a teaser trailer [Youtube]

The best thing to come out of the UK in recent years: Count Binface: The intergalactic warrior who could upend Britain's strangest election (Opens in a new window) [NPR; for an absolute classic see this Youtube short with the Count (Opens in a new window) photobombing right-wing twat Tommy Robinson]

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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 Grace Khuri (Opens in a new window) [Bluesky] ↩