The One hundred and seventy-sixth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

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

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

• Third Age (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 301 (Si apre in una nuova finestra)9: Gandalf (Si apre in una nuova finestra) comes to Edoras (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and heals Théoden (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Éomer (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is released and Théoden holds his sword (Si apre in una nuova finestra) again. [Mar 2]

Events & Shows

The Jesters Theatre has The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Mission, British Columbia, Canada) [Feb 20-28]

The Middle-earth Road Trip Readathon is happening via the Storygraph [@hexlibris (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Instagram; March 1-31]

The Tolkien.Folk have published their #MiddleearthMarch prompt list (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Instagram]

The Edinburgh Tolkien Society (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Congrats to the winners! [Instagram]

The Racing Theatre Guild (Si apre in una nuova finestra)(Racine, Wisconsin, USA) will show the Hobbit [April]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

I am planning on doing a global map for Tolkien Reading Day (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | YT (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | RSS feed (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Scholarship & Fandom

Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull have Tolkien Notes 23 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as well as Addenda and Corrigenda February 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wordpress]

John Garth has Meditation and mosaic: two landmark Tolkien studies (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Steady; reviews of Drout and Pezzini; paywall]

Thoughts on Tolkien has Merry the Magnificent (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Wordpress]

Miriam Ellis has A Hobbit Kitchen and the Fróðafrið (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and…

Matej Cadil has The Tree of Light on the Hill of Shadow (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Nick Polk has A Critical Response to “Between Mount Doom and the Wall of ‘Likes’” in Amon Hen #317 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Robin Reid has feminist killjoy bibliographic essay (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

doubtfulsea has Do You Speak Villain? (Part 3) (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Tea with Tolkien had her book launch (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Youtube]

The Inklings Quarterly has IQ 10: Answering Alcuin, Dancing with Stars, & Fellow Book Projects (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Merchandise & Franchise

Czechoslovakian wolfdog Nazgul (Si apre in una nuova finestra) made quite the appearance at the Winter Olympics¹ [NPR]

Lord of the Rings fans all make same comment about The Hunt for Gollum film (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Guardian]

Is A Promised Hobbit Hotel A Scam? WBZ's Matt Shearer Investigate (Si apre in una nuova finestra)s [WBZ News Radio]

Mithril’s Miniature Box ‘The Fellowship of the Ring (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’ is worth having a look at. [Instagram]

First new collectible pieces from Syzygy Forge are stunning! (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [TORn; much more interesting: the upcoming John Howe collection (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

McIntosh delivers positive report at museum annual general meeting (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Observer]

Myth, monsters and making sense of a disenchanted world: why everyone is reading fantasy (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Guardian]

Royal Shakespeare Company confirms launch of GAME OF THRONES: THE MAD KING for Summer 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wertzone; GRRM’s own word (Si apre in una nuova finestra)s]

Rebecca Bratten Weiss is asking the question: Can I Still Love Tolkien? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Radical Soul, Substack]

L.A.’s famous ‘Hobbit Houses’ have a new owner. He calls himself the ‘King of Storybook (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’ [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has been published [Youtube]

The Science Museum in London will be the UK’s (and probably Europe’s) centre for Star Trek 60 celebrations (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - 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!“ (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | [Indac; remarks by Aubry Mintz, Executive Director, ASIFA-Hollywood]

‘Andor’ Creator Tony Gilroy Gives the Interview He Couldn’t During Its Release (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Hollywood Reporter]

Josh Kushner uses 'Lord of the Rings' to explain what being close to OpenAI taught him about perceived power (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [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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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Facebook (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Bluesky (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Instagram (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Threads (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Mastodon (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Bluesky) ↩