The One hundred and sixty-fourth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Nov 24, 1964. Robert Graves, Oxford (Si apre in una nuova finestra)'s Professor of Poetry, introduces Tolkien to Ava Gardner (Si apre in una nuova finestra). They had never heard of one another, and both did not know why the other was famous.
Nov 25, 1936. Tolkien delivers the lecture "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (Si apre in una nuova finestra)" to the British Academy (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Nov 26, 1963. Tolkien, James Dundas-Grant (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Robert Havard (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Owen Barfield (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Christopher Tolkien attend the funeral of C.S. Lewis (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Nov 27, 1914. Tolkien reads The Voyage of Eärendel the Evening Star (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at a poorly attended meeting of Exeter College (Si apre in una nuova finestra)'s Essay Club.
Nov 29, 1971. Edith Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) dies after a short but severe illness attributed to an inflamed gall-bladder.
Nov 30, 1972. Tolkien writes Letter 345 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on objections to noble names for cattle with other suggestions.
Dec 1, 1913. Tolkien is elected president of the Stapledon Society, a student body at Exeter College (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Bovadium Fragments, a review (Si apre in una nuova finestra), if you want it.

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The Roving Ranger and my other projects are reader-supported publications. To make them happen, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

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)]

Events & Shows

Fantasy’s Present Pasts, the inaugural European Conference on the Fantastic, takes place in Glasgow June 23-25, 2026. The Call for Papers is open until Dec 12 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Prancing Pony Podcast Moot will happen Dec 18-21 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Dutch Tolkien Society Unquendor will have its AGM and Joelfest on Dec 20 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Middle Earth After Dark: A Lord of the Rings Burlesque and Trivia Event (Si apre in una nuova finestra)[Atlanta, GA, USA]

Review: THE GREATEST FANTASY TRILOGY at Alma Tavern Theatre (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Stage Talk]

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

Scholarship & Fandom

November 25 sees the publication of Númenor, The Mighty and Frail (Peter Roe Series XXV) (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blackwell’s]

Michael Drout’s The Tower and the Ruin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will be available Dec 2. [Blackwell’s]

I have tried to get rid of a traumatic musical experience with this one:

Lev Grossman (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has That Other American Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack; he is probably single-handedly responsible for GRRM being considered the American Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien Tuesday: Fathers and Sons Time-traveling (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

Hither Shore 21 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has been published, the German Tolkien Society’s academic journal (the topic is Tolkien and his Editors (Si apre in una nuova finestra).)

Andrew Higgins has World Building and Language Invention In Focus. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

The current issue of the Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature (SELIM) has Imitative Translations of Beowulf: Tolkien, Lehmann, and McCully (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [open access]

Thoughts on Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has provided a list of holiday sales including Tolkien scholarship. [reddit]

Miriam Ellis has Sam, Rose and the Complete Gamgee Family at Bag (Si apre in una nuova finestra)End as well as Meeting Hobbits in the Elder Days and the Mystery of Untranslated Texts. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

The Inklings Quarterly is out now: Discovering Charles Williams, Tolkien for Medical Humanities, a Hobbit Dinner & Reading Marathon (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Inklings Project]

doubtfulsea has On the Road(s) Again (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Merchandise & Franchise

J.R.R Tolkien auction: Treasure trove to sell for thousands (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Oxford Mail]

Please note This auction is being viewed critically over at the Tolkien Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

PSA: Lord of the Rings Online extends its free questing coupon for a couple more weeks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Massively OP]

This year’s Thea Awards (Si apre in una nuova finestra) have been given out and Bagshot Row, Hobbiton, in New Zealand has won for Outstanding Achievement, Attraction, Limited Budget (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Hobbit: There And Back Again Board Game Review (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [IGN]

Netflix Promises to Keep Warner Bros. Movies in Theaters if It Wins Deal to Buy Company (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Variety]

Inside the Hobbit group chat Dominic Monaghan shares with his ‘Lord of the Rings’ co-stars (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [New York Post]

Inter alia

Jeff LaSala has Frankenstein’s Monster Has Not a Stitch On! (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Alan Moore in conversation with Stewart Lee [Youtube]

Fantasy novels predicted to shape the next wave of baby names (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Yahoo, UK]

Modiphius announces Terry Pratchett Discworld board games and RPG Kickstarter for 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Tabletop Gaming UK]

The rise of generative AI has positioned the UK publishing sector on the brink of irreversible change. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [University of Cambridge, UK]

Novelists fear their work will be displaced and their future ability to earn from writing will be entirely diminished… over half (51%) of published novelists agreed that AI is likely to displace their work entirely.

I case you were wondering where the Balrog wings have ended up…

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