The One hundred and eighty-second Roving Ranger

Life & Works

The Tolkien Society licensing bid for Sarehole Recreation Ground (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Yahoo News]

The Tolkienist’s Roving Ranger and more nominated for ‘Best Online Content’ with the Tolkien Society Awards | THANK YOU!

Events & Shows

As Michael Drout and Corey Olsen are involved I need to note Biblioventures | Tolkien, Beowulf, and Faerie (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - but it costs $100 [May 4]

Matej Cadil has opened an exhibiton of his work (Si apre in una nuova finestra) titled “Two Worlds with One Brush” [Church of St John the Baptist in Horní Žďár (Si apre in una nuova finestra) near Trutnov (Si apre in una nuova finestra); official communal note (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

A Tolkien Weekend is happening in Great Haywood (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [July 11-12]

Please note I am the Guest of Honour of this year’s Lustrum of the Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor.

Registration is now open (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for June 19-21, 2026.

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

Scholarship & Fandom

Six Damn Fine Degrees #282: The BBC Radio Lord Of The Rings Part Three: Stephen Oliver, The Composer For The King (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [A Damn Fine Cup]

Stephen C. Winter has “This is An Evil Door”. Some Thoughts on The Dark Journeys of The Lord of the Rings as Aragorn and his Company Enter The Paths of the Dead (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Journal of Inklings Studies Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), has been published, with several articles with public access like Honegger’s review of Pezzini’s latest book (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

doubtfulsea has Subterranean (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

A thousand students from a school in Granada set a record reading The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Elfenomeno]

The Oxford Tolkien Network has shared more videos with Youtube (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [check out the official website (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

My grand­father the pro­fessor, his friend JRR Tolkien, and a beloved island idyll (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Pressreader; Sunday Independent Ireland]

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Si apre in una nuova finestra). 📝

Merchandise & Franchise

When someone at GameSpot notices a legendary scene from the film trilogy in Resident Evil: Requiem (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - you check back with your girlfriend: It is true! (Si apre in una nuova finestra)¹

It makes me - personally - incredibly happy that The Princess Bride has won out over The Return of the King (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as the best literary film adaptation of the last fifty years [Literary Hub]

Gamegenic is going to release sleeves, playmats, deckboxes (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for MTG: The Hobbit. [StarCityGames]

The third season of LotR: The Rings of Power is set to premiere later this year (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Hollywood Reporter; rumours go for a november release]

Among April’s Humble Bundle Choices (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is LotR: Return to Moria.

There is also a Steam sale (Si apre in una nuova finestra) happening for LotR: Return to Moria until May 2nd.²

The Connecticut Renaissance Faire has added a themed weekend for September: ShireFolk (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

TheOneRing.net’s Merchandise March Madness 2026 had Geek Orthodox’ stained glass (Si apre in una nuova finestra) win out over the film trilogy’s DVD Argonath edition.

Inter alia

Close to Cumberland in British Columbia (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Canada) the Cumberland Community Forest Society is trying to save… Middle Earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

You may never have noticed you crossed paths with John Baskerville but this research project will tell you about it: The Baskerville Punches (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [The Iron Room, Library of Birmingham]

With this year’s Doc Edge film festival in New Zealand Royd Tolkien can finally show There’s a Hole in my Bucket (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

These 6 book cover designs show what Gen Z actually wants to buy (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Creative Boom]

Christopher Lockett has On Bookmarks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

xkcd is always right.

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) - 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. my girl Susi (Si apre in una nuova finestra) ❤️ and me were recently watching German YT gaming legend Gronkh’s walkthrough of Resi: Requiem and she confirmed it! Thank you, love 🤩 ↩

2. h/t Bluesky (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩