The One hundred and eighty-fifth Roving Ranger

Life & Works

May 11, 1926 #OTD 100 years ago - J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis meet for the first time. Lewis lated noted in his diary:

“a smooth, pale, fluent little chap — can’t read Spenser because of the forms — thinks the language is the real thing in the school — thinks all literature is written for the amusement of men between thirty and forty — we ought to vote ourselves out of existence if we were honest — still the sound-changes and the gobbets are great fun for the dons. No harm in him: only needs a smack or so.”¹

May 12, 1933 Tolkien writes Letter 68 (Opens in a new window), on the way to Mordor (Opens in a new window) in The Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window).
May 13, 1937 Tolkien writes Letter 13 (Opens in a new window), on Houghton Mifflin’s interest in publishing The Hobbit (Opens in a new window) and having US artists do illustrations for it; he agrees under the condition that he could “veto anything from or influenced by the Disney studios (Opens in a new window) (for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing).”
May 15, 1945 Tolkien writes Letter 99 (Opens in a new window), expressing his sympathy for Mrs. Williams' loss.
May 18, 1912 Tolkien pays his Oxford Union Library fees (Opens in a new window).

Northmoor Road Middle-earth meets Modern Living (Opens in a new window) [Essential Install]²

Funnily enough The place Tolkien lived in in Leeds is up for sale (Opens in a new window) [yes, they have the Blue Plaque to prove it (Opens in a new window)].³

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 Tolkien Society’s Sarehole Festival is looking for volunteers (Opens in a new window)[May 30-31; via Facebook]

Spain’s EstelCon has its date and loads of news on its updated website: Sept 24-27 (Opens in a new window).

Lure of Middle-earth has set its next date: Feb 12-14, 2027 (Opens in a new window).

The University of Exeter Tolkien Society has a movie marathon (Opens in a new window) [May 17; Instagram]

Taruithorn, the Oxford Tolkien Society, is offering a Quenya presentation (Opens in a new window) [May 13] and next week they’ll go punting [Instagram]

Switzerland’s Fantasy Basel (Opens in a new window) will see Lukas Ritzel (Eredgiliath regulars table, Lucerne) and podcast Typisch Ravenclaw talk about Tolkienian topics, including A NEW HOBBIT TRANSLATION (Opens in a new window)! [May 15-16]

The Greek Tolkien Society is doing what a lot of fans love to do - a pub quiz! (Opens in a new window) [May 17; Instagram; Lucky Sparrow Club, Athens]

Oxford Lifelong Learning (Opens in a new window) has none other than John Garth offering two summer courses - Tolkien: The Great War and the Beginnings of Middle-Earth (Opens in a new window) and Building Middle-Earth: Tolkien's Geography and the Power of Place (Opens in a new window).

Sentieri Tolkieniani (Opens in a new window) is taking place June 12-14 [Macello, Italy]

Cartoons on the Bay, the Italian International Animation and Transmedia Festival by Rai Com, will host a Tolkien exhibition (Opens in a new window) [May 27-30]

The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Desert will have “People as Things: Pratchett, Tolkien, Le Guin and the Problem of Evil” (Opens in a new window) [May 24; available online]

FanExpo in Philly has Dark Side Burlesque at the FAN EXPO: A Tolkien Burlesque Show (Opens in a new window) [Mai 30; my fav is Onyx Ondyx as Gollum]

Into the Shire: Desert Hobbit Workshop (Opens in a new window) is happening in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA [May 16, etc.]

In Kansas City, Missouri, USA, an event report: Grade 6 Journeys into World of "The Hobbit." (Opens in a new window)

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).

Scholarship & Fandom

It’s been a pleasure writing Fingolfin’s Findings LXXXII: The ALA's Celebrity READ poster campaign (Opens in a new window) [Steady]

Good luck to the person to get this job: One Calleva Centre Postdoctoral Researcher: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien: A Scholarly Reappraisal (Opens in a new window).

Magdalen College proposes to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the project C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien: A Scholarly Reappraisal, led by Professor Simon Horobin (Magdalen College) and Professor Giuseppe Pezzini (Corpus Christi College), based at the Calleva Research Centre. The post will commence on 1 October 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter and will be for three calendar years.

This project aims to undertake a reassessment of the scholarly legacy of one of Magdalen College’s foremost fellows, the English literary scholar C.S. Lewis, in the context of his professional, intellectual and personal relationships with his friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien.

Dimitra Fimi has The Slow LotR Re-read (4): Bilbo's decluttering (Opens in a new window) as well as part 5: the “true story” of Bilbo’s ring (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

John Garth has On encountering yourself in the wild (Opens in a new window) [Steady; partial paywall]

Robin Reid has the CFP: “Tolkien, Barfield and the Inklings: Questions of Influence” (Opens in a new window) (F2F) [Substack]

Miriam Ellis has Glorfindel upon the other side: one of Tolkien's most glorious glimpses in The Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window).

Brad Eden has The library of Michael H.R. Tolkien (1920-1984): dispersal, reconstruction and partial bibliography (Opens in a new window) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

These days even the Harvard Law School has something ‘Tolkienian’ to say: A last lesson from ‘Lord of the Rings.’ (Opens in a new window)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy in concert - anthems for a world in peril (Opens in a new window) [Observer]

Abigail Nussbaum has reached Rivendell on her Great Tolkien Reread (Opens in a new window) [Blogspot]

Andrew Higgins has Exploring Invented Languages (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “I Am Forgetting Them!” Merry Thinks of Frodo and Sam in The Midst of His Loneliness (Opens in a new window).

Ramblings on my Bookshelves has J R R Tolkien and C S Lewis in Puffin (Opens in a new window) [Wordpress.com]

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

Merchandise & Franchise

“The new era” of Middle-earth merchandise & franchise is making a huge push this week.

Peter Jackson, recipient of the Palme d’Or [more about him (Opens in a new window)]

Amazon MGM Studios has set the premiere date for season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Nov 11, 2026 (Opens in a new window). [press release; see also Jeff LaSala’s Rauron’s Return (Opens in a new window)]

Asmodee announces its first slate of partner publishers in the Middle-earth Enterprises™ (MEE) category management program (Opens in a new window) [press release]

LEGO has started promotion for one of its biggest sets yet: Minas Tirith (Opens in a new window). [preview photo: © Lego]

[Oh, and you are getting GROND as well!]

• Age: 18+

• RRP: £579.99 / €649.99 / $649.99

• Pieces: 8,278

• Dimensions: over 23.5 in. (59cm) high, 24.5 in. (62 cm) wide, and 14.5 in. (37 cm) deep

• Availability:
  LEGO Insiders Early Access: 1st June 2026

  For all: 4th June 2026

Collectibles company Pure Arts’ The Lord of the Rings Nazgul King Art Mask Exclusive Edition (Opens in a new window) will only set you back €1.349,00 [Youtube promo (Opens in a new window)]

If you are a gambler you you can go for The Lord of The Rings 25th Anniversary Series 2 Blind Bag Figural Bag Clip (Opens in a new window) [content is random; developer Monogram has also done War of the Rohirrim (Opens in a new window)]⁴

The Royal Albert Hall welcomed a very special guest (Opens in a new window) for its Wicki concerts of the film trilogy soundtracks [Instagram]

Tolkien and his Medieval Sources (Opens in a new window) - a course with Medievalists.net (Opens in a new window) [get a 15% discount for a limited time (Opens in a new window)]

Mountain Runner Events (Opens in a new window) in South Africa is hosting the Hobbit Trail Runs (Opens in a new window).

Ian McKellen: ‘Of course Gandalf would beat Dumbledore in a fight’ (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]

Still More Magic: The Gathering Plagiarism (Opens in a new window) [Plagiarism Today]⁵

Andy Serkis: The Hunt for Gollum ‘Absolutely Will Be Like’ How They Made Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window) [Den of Geek]

TORn has Colbert on writing a new LOTR movie: “every moment has been a joy so far. (Opens in a new window)”

You can Read An Excerpt From ‘The Inklings Detective Agency’ by John R. Kelly (Opens in a new window) [Nerd Daily]

Free League Publishing continues to provide fans with great RPG materials.

We're thrilled to announce that not one, not two, but three upcoming Middle-earth roleplaying releases will be launched on June 2.

The June lineup includes Hands of the White Wizard (Opens in a new window) for The One Ring™, the official tabletop roleplaying game based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien; Trials of Saruman (Opens in a new window), its 5E counterpart for The Lord of the Rings™ Roleplaying; and Hobbit™ Tales (Opens in a new window), a supplement for The One Ring™ featuring five ready-to-play adventures across the four farthings of the Shire.

Inter alia

For those of you with an interest in language, dictionaries, and the OED in particular - there is now a podcast about it: Lexipoddery (Opens in a new window) [Spotify]

The New York Times has done it again - damaging decent, often desperately needed criticism’s reputation in one fell swoop: Rick Beato Versus the NY Times (Opens in a new window) [Ted Gioia’s Substack]

Christopher Lockett has The Implausibility of Galactic Empires (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Data centers are ruining the planet in many, many ways: The AI Hard Drive Shortage Is Making It More Expensive and Harder to Archive the Internet (Opens in a new window) [404 Media; see also There’s a reason data centers don’t look like castles, the Shire, or a spa (Opens in a new window) (Fast Company)]

ICE Agents Have List of 20 Million People on Their iPhones Thanks to Palantir (Opens in a new window) [404 Media]

Do also read Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record (Opens in a new window) [Internet Archive]

GRRM is happy to share The Mad King Meets the Stage – Tickets on Sale Now (Opens in a new window) [Not a Blog]

Should you consider finally giving up on things like Goodreads - do have a look at LibraryThing (Opens in a new window). They do amazing work and you can put your own collection for free on the internet with TinyCat (Opens in a new window). You can find my library here (Opens in a new window).

I asked about the original artist drawing the hobbits in the D&D 1st edition.

And as always… Tom Gauld ftw.

Thinking about starting a newsletter, podcast, Patreon, Substack etc.?

Then do consider using Steady (Opens in a new window) - it is an exceptionally easy to use option for all needs. Built originally for an independent journalists’ collective, Krautreporter (Opens in a new window), it is run by creative minds for creative minds. Think Patreon, just better. It is based in Germany, free of enshittification (Opens in a new window) and nazis.

Do use my invite link (Opens in a new window) and start with three months fee-free.
[Transparency note: I get a small referral bonus with no extra costs to you.]

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 All my road before me: the diary of C.S. Lewis, 1922-1927, p. 393. ↩

2. h/t Andrew Wells, FB. ↩

3. h/t Nick Kingsley (Opens in a new window), Tolkien Society FB group. ↩

4. h/t MGCoco (Opens in a new window), Bluesky. ↩

5. h/t Trotter from the Tolkien Guide (Opens in a new window) team. ↩