The One hundred and seventy-ninth Roving Ranger

📚 special Tolkien Reading Day edition 📚

Events & Shows

Waterstones in Coventry will have The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for their monthly book club. [March 25]

The Lost in Translation Show in Adelaide, Australia, will be doing its version of the film Return of the King (Si apre in una nuova finestra) on March 20.

The Winni Players Community Theatre (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will be doing a staged radio show of The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Mar 28; Meredith, New Hampshire, USA]

Greg Banks (Si apre in una nuova finestra)' The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will be happening at the Shakespeare Tavern [Jun 6-28; Atlanta, Georgia, USA]

The Lord of the Rings is mentioned in Fantasy Characters Bring Stories to Life at Newcastle World Book Day Celebration (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Newcastle Magazine]

You can now register for the Austrian Tolkien Society’s Spring Festival (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [May 13-17]

The Fellowship of the Cards (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will return to Évry-Courcouronne (close to Paris) on May 23-24 [BoardGameGeek]

Last day to register for the Forodrim 54th Anniversary (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is March 31st [May 28-31; Tolkien Society in Sweden]

Should anybody participate in the Hobbit Mosh (Si apre in una nuova finestra) please send me a review. [April 10; Auckland, New Zealand]

The Cushing Public Library hosts a number of events, including a Hobbit Festival (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Mar 28+; Oklahoma, USA]

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

Dimitra Fimi has For Mothering Sunday: Some brief thoughts on Faramir's mother (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

I have a short report on the second Tolkien Conference (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in Switzerland I had been invited to [thetolkienist.com (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Iris Meredith has Amdir, Estel, Peter Thiel (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Nick Hubble has started a 50 Year Reread of The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Wordpress]

Jason Fisher has Generative AI, Hallucinations, and Tolkien Revisited (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogspot]

John Garth has The Lord of the Rings: toughest quiz ever (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Steady]

I wrote another Fingolfin’s Findings - on the Oakenshield Marionettes.

The next rolling issue of vol 23 of the Journal of Tolkien Research is beginning to fill: "Deep Down Here by the Dark Water Lived Old Gollum": The 1927 Public Opening of the Wookey Hole Show Caves and 'The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra)'; “Neither Living Nor Dead”: From Nazgûl to the Sídhe in Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring (1954) (Si apre in una nuova finestra); and Through Peaks and Troughs: Visualising the Rhythmic Sentiment of The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Nick Polk has Ireland, Eärendil, and Tolkien Reading Day (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

Matej Cadil has Walking Further Into Middle‑earth: A New Adventure (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Tolkien Trewsday has started Year Four (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogspot]

doubtfulsea has The Damage of Dragons (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

(Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Tom Hillman has "Fled from the Company" -- Frodo and Sam not looking back (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Stephen C. Winter has “To The Stone of Erech! I Seek The Paths of The Dead. Come With Me Who Will.” Aragorn Acts Swiftly as Time Runs Out (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and “May I Not Now Spend My Life as I Will?” The Lady Éowyn Longs to Break Free From Her Cage (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Miriam Ellis has Glimpsing Bilbo's heart through his map of favorite walks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and When Folk Little and Big Lived Together at Bree (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Tolkien seems to have been prophetic on a number of current issues - a recent piece of scholarship (Si apre in una nuova finestra) puts one of the essential neurological changes in human life at… 32.

Another Youtube video co-written by me has been published recently: Minas Ithil & Minas Morgul.

Durin (Si apre in una nuova finestra), issue 1, the comic by Turner Mohan, Sergio Artigas and Carlos Vera is available now. [deviantart; seven issues are planned]

Merchandise & Franchise

Tolkien Reading Day seems to have become the day of choice for major media to use as marketing tool (not good for the community, generally speaking, but that’s where we are right now…)

Anyway - Peter Jackson just announced the next film after "Hunt for Gollum” and it is going to be “Shadow of the Past”, in cooperation with Stephen Colbert.

Whenever I see something with the amazing Jed Brophy I need to share it: When Orcs Collide (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Weta Workshop]

Kate Winslet To Play Female Lead In Andy Serkis’ ‘LOTR: The Hunt For Gollum’ (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Deadline; according to this (Si apre in una nuova finestra) she is going to play Gollum’s grandmother; Twitter]

The Royal Mail bringing the gold to the film trilogy. And stamps (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

I did not have this on my bingo card for 2026 but here we go: Fellowship of the ring: the journey to IFoA qualification (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [yes, that is, on how to become an actuary (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Also not on my bingo card - a Louis Vitton fashion show review (Si apre in una nuova finestra) with a Tolkien allusion:

Set in a world that could be repurposed for a 2096 version of a JRR Tolkien saga, grass covered monoliths appeared as if they had erupted from the ground. [The Impression]

Do Middle‑earth and Westeros make sense? Climate scientists modelled them to find out (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Conversation]

Hidden Steam listing hints at The Lord of the Rings: War in the North re-releasing (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [TweakTown]

Johan Egerkrans, artist to the eye-opending Swedish editions of H, LotR, and Sil, has put up the cover illustrations as limited giclée prints (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Wooden Wisdom featuring Actor Elijah Wood bring the fantasy world to the dancefloor (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [May 31; Denver, Colorado, USA]

Elijah Wood is finally reading The Lord of the Rings 25 years after playing Frodo: 'They're incredible!' (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Entertainment Weekly]

“Delving too Deep” panel provided rare look at Lord of the Rings set details (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [TORn]

TORn also has March Madness again - this time it is Clash of the Collectibles (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Fellowship of the Ring In Concert 25th anniversary UK/IRE tour dates (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Oct-Dec; officially sanctioned by composer Shore]

It’s been a few years since the film came out but pant-less Aragorn is making a comeback:

Inter alia

Browncoats, assemble! FIREFLY animated TV series in development (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wertzone]

High-speed combat drone production starts at new US Anduril plant in days (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Reuters]

David Bratman has A Guide to Terms of Address for British Nobility (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Epic Games Lays Off Over 1,000 As CEO Frames Cuts As Cost Of Being ‘Industry’s Vanguard’ (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [CartoonBrew]

Artist Michael Hague has passed away (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Down the Tubes; he did the legendary 1984 Hobbit]

Does it surprise me that xkcd has a Tolkien connection even in its “what if?” videos? No.¹

This edition has been delayed due to illness - thank you for your patience.

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. h/t Mountain King, my friend Sebastian of our German-speaking podcast SmallTolk (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩