The One hundred and fifty-third Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Sept 9, 1954. Tolkien writes a letter to the Rector of the University of Liège (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Sept 10, 1957. Tolkien wins the International Fantasy Award (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Sept 11, 1918. Tolkien is transferred to Savoy Convalescent Hospital, Blackpool, west coast of England.
Sept 13, 1951. Third day of the Congrès Internationale de Philologie Moderne (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [PDF] at the University of Liège (Si apre in una nuova finestra), a conference in which Tolkien delivers the paper "Middle English 'Losenger' (Si apre in una nuova finestra)".
Sept 14, 1950. Tolkien writes Letter 130 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on Riddles in the Dark (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Yes, the pub mentioned is THE pub: Larry Ellison Is Spending Billions to Reshape Oxford and His Own Legacy (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Wall Street Journal; paywall]

If you would like to know how the only actor in the films to have met the Professor remembers this meeting in THIS pub - have a look at Wogan: Now and Then (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [originally shown: Jan 24, 2006; Youtube]

Birmingham Heritage Week 2025 is happening… this week (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

I would love you to help me get this newsletter to more than 1,000 subscribers

Here are seven reasons why - could you please pass this on to people you know who would appreciate this newsletter? Thank you very much.

Events & Shows

Robin Reid has more on Tolkien Society's Seminar 2025 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

Fans of the old CCG and the LCG, i.e. card games, will be able to register for Lure of Middle-earth 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) starting Sept 19.

Verlyn Flieger will give an online course called The British Invasion: The Impact of The Lord of the Rings and the Beatles. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Feb 1, 2026]

Roving Ranger (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Youtube] - Roving Ranger (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Spotify]

Scholarship & Fandom

A webinar on J.R.R. Tolkien, Myth and Modernism is happening Sept 10 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Andrew Lazo; free to register]

Tolkien Notes 22 is out, with an emphasis on The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Karen Wynn Fonstad's materials (Atlas of Middle-earth etc.) have found a home at UW-Milwaukee¹, in the American Geographical Society Library (Si apre in una nuova finestra).²

Renga in Blue has finished an absolutely mesmerizing walk-through: Ring Quest: The Fiery Ruin of Hill and Sky (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Northvegr Journal (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has started a ten piece series titled Northern Pride: A Survivor’s Guide to Glorious Defeat (Si apre in una nuova finestra), subtitled: 10 posts exploring the spirit of doomed courage from the Vikings to Tolkien—and why it still matters. [Substack]

The award-winning The Rest is History (Si apre in una nuova finestra) podcast has recently published an episode on The Hobbit - paywalled to its subscribers (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Apple Podcasts]

The University Parks parkrun (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in Oxford mentions 10 Tolkien Society members (Si apre in una nuova finestra) giving their best - congratulations!

doubtfulsea has Horse, Two (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Eowyn, Elven-fair (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Merchandise & Franchise

You might be interested in supporting this documentary that is happening on Kickstarter right now called Fantasy Rising (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Given that Dimitra Fimi is in it I am sharing it here.]

Tales of the Shire is getting patches (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Nintendo Life]

Fate of the Fellowship inventor Matt Leacock talks about the game’s success and visiting Hobbiton in NZ (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

Andy Serkis Says ‘I Can’t Escape’ Gollum Before Flying to New Zealand to Begin New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Variety]

Lord of the Rings composers nominated for World Soundtrack Award (Si apre in una nuova finestra)s.³

LotRO: An outlook on the next expansion (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Massively OP] and a free redeem code for many quests (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Inter alia

The 25 best fictional robots (Si apre in una nuova finestra) – according to New Scientist.⁴

Scarborough Beach Park has a whimsical… Gollum door (Si apre in una nuova finestra)? [Brisbane, Australia]

Neo-fascist tech bros (Thiel (Si apre in una nuova finestra); Andreessen (Si apre in una nuova finestra)) continue to abuse Tolkien’s invented languages, with Saronic Technologies applying for planning permissions (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to build a massive shipyard for autonomous vessels (aka drones) in California.

LibraryThing (Si apre in una nuova finestra), one of the best bookish sites on the net - particularly because it is one of the few not-enshittified sites - is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. If you haven’t heard of it yet, do have a look at the latest newsletter (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

• Please note: it is particularly awesome for its free, small library service that I have been using for quite some time. See the Tolkienist’s Library (Si apre in una nuova finestra). You can have your own little library online, too!

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

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

Do use my invite link (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra), or Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 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 (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).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

As this is 2025 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 to Sarah C. Schaefer (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for making me aware of this. ↩

2. Mentioned in this TORn piece (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

3. h/t TORn (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

4. h/t File770 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩