The One hundred and fifty-ninth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Oct 20, 2003. Tolkien and the Great War (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is published.
Oct 21, 1963. Tolkien writes a letter to Mrs. Munby (Si apre in una nuova finestra), in response to a number of questions posed by her son Stephen about The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Oct 22, 1955. C.S. Lewis (Si apre in una nuova finestra) wrote "The Dethronement of Power (Si apre in una nuova finestra)", a review of The Two Towers (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and The Return of the King (Si apre in una nuova finestra) published in Time and Tide (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Oct 23, 1937. Tolkien writes Letter 18 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), thanking Stanley Unwin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for calling him a genius, adding that he would start writing on something soon. [my emphasis]
Oct 24, 1952. Tolkien writes Letter 135 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on the cost of printing The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra), his current work, & the British atomic bomb.
Oct 25, 1944. Tolkien writes Letter 87 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), sending chapters of The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra), and commenting on a letter from an American boy.
Oct 26, 1966. Finding himself short of a speech subject, Tolkien reads Smith of Wootton Major (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to a room of about 800 people.

• Third Age, 3018. Frodo Baggins (Si apre in una nuova finestra) awakes in Rivendell (Si apre in una nuova finestra), recovered from his wound, and meets Gandalf (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Oct 24]

(Si apre in una nuova finestra)

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Events & Shows

Please note: Tolkien 2027. Birmingham NEC 18-22 Aug 2027 [Tolkien Society]

The 13th International Tolkien Mailing Competition (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is live [application by Nov 5; run by the Hungarian Tolkien Society]

Thistle’s Tale of Brandywine Magic and Mayhem (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [TORn; on the first Brandywine Festival LARP by Burgschneider]

The Children’s Theater of Madison (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will stage The Hobbit [Feb 7 -22, 2026; Wisconsin, USA]

The Rangers of the North (Si apre in una nuova finestra) are meeting up [Oct 25, Manchester, UK; Bluesky, see also FB (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Scholarship & Fandom

I did something involving Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Astrid Lindgren, Tove Jansson, and Terry Pratchett.

Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull have Legacy and Faith (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Stephen C. Winter has “The Beacons of Gondor Are Alight, Calling for Aid. War is Kindled.” Gandalf Speaks of The Ancient Alliance of Gondor and Rohan. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

The members of the German smial Rheinhessen (Si apre in una nuova finestra) have funded a public bookcase (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in their village of Abenheim. [Facebook]

Tom Hillman has A sad tale of Milton Waldman, to whom Tolkien wrote a famous letter (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Miriam Ellias has The Grey Havens And Our Longing For Tolkien's Elves (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Roäc the Grey Haven Raven has A World Mental Health Day Reflection (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

doubtfulsea has It’s in Writing (1) (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Dimitra Fimi has Constructions of Childhood in Tolkien’s Legendarium (3): The hobbits as children. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

TolkienLibrary.com (Si apre in una nuova finestra) founder and collector, Pieter Collier, has moved to Norway (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Famed organist Anna Lapwood seems to have taken a liking to Lighting the Beacons (Si apre in una nuova finestra)(Instagram; Howard Shore, RotK OST).

Artist couple Into Far Lands has just published a chronological map of Númenor (Si apre in una nuova finestra), planning for Aman & Valinor. [reddit/TolkienArt]

Tolkien's Medievalism in Ruins (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is out (see New Books in Literary Studies podcast).

Vincent Ferré has The Dynamics of Creation in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fiction: Peoples, Languages, and Imaginary Geography (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [In French]

Kristine Larsen has A Plane, a Plaque, and a Prize: J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Medawar with the Journal of Tolkien Research (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

American Tolkien Society Collection (Si apre in una nuova finestra) now available for research.

The Journal of Inklings Studies (Volume 15, Issue 2, October 2025) has published another issue (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

• Several items are free access, of particular interest is John Garth’s Revealed: Tolkien's 1939 Lecture on Fairy-stories (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Carl Hostetter has offered corrections (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Facebook]

Matěj Čadil / The Road goes ever on

Merchandise & Franchise

Plans to reopen Tolkien and Lewis pub approved (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC]

Oxford Eagle and Child pub will be 'sensitively' restored (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Oxford Mail]

"Did You Ever Know That You're My Frodo?" (Si apre in una nuova finestra) Bette Midler singing for Stephen Colbert [Youtube]

Another mobile game gone: Official Sunset Announcement: LoTR: Rise to War (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

FAN EXPO HQ to Celebrate 25th Anniversary of The Lord of The Rings with 11-City Cast Reunion Tour in 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [PR Newswire]

Inter alia

Cost Of ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ Approaches $600 Million (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Forbes]

‘Inside George’s Brain’: The Audacious Effort to Bring the Star Wars Creator’s Museum Dream to Life (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wall Street Journal]

Rare New US Bank Licence Issued by OCC for Erebor (Si apre in una nuova finestra)[East & Partners]

How Hobbit-Inspired Startup Plans to Replace Silicon Valley Bank (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wall Street Journal; see also Who is Palmer Luckey? Trending for launching a crypto-friendly bank approved by US regulators (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Economic Times]

Atari’s launching a new retro console for the holidays: its one-time console war rival (Si apre in una nuova finestra)¹ [Polygon]

Legendary movie poster artist Drew Struzan has passed away (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Hollywood Reporter; see his work with Instagram (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

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1. h/t Phantastik News (Si apre in una nuova finestra) ↩