The One hundred and thirty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life and Works

May 18, 1912. Tolkien pays his Oxford Union Library fees (Abre numa nova janela).
May 19, 2006. The Ring of Words (Abre numa nova janela) is published.
May 20, 1969. Tolkien writes Letter 310 (Abre numa nova janela).
May 21, 2013. The Fall of Arthur (Abre numa nova janela) is published.
May 22, 2014. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (Abre numa nova janela) is published.
May 23, 1972. Tolkien writes Letter 336 (Abre numa nova janela), on the topic of fame.

• T.A. (Abre numa nova janela) 3019 (Abre numa nova janela). Arwen (Abre numa nova janela) and Elrond (Abre numa nova janela) come to Lothlórien (Abre numa nova janela) on their way to Minas Tirith (Abre numa nova janela). [May 20]

Events & Shows

I visited the Tolkien Tapestries (and carpets!) (Abre numa nova janela) exhibition in Paris last week. [report in two parts]

Folk duo Knorrwood to hold ‘Lord of the Rings’ inspired concert at BTE (Abre numa nova janela) [May 16/17; official website (Abre numa nova janela); immediately reminded me of LotRO soundtrack.]

Andrew Higgins has two more (Abre numa nova janela) reports from Kalamazoo (Abre numa nova janela).

An international conference (Abre numa nova janela) is with the Collège des Bernardins in Paris this weekend, with speakers like Thomas Honegger, Holly Ordway, Vincent Ferré, Eduardo Seguara and Giuseppe Pezzini.

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Abre numa nova janela) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Abre numa nova janela).

Scholarship & Fandom

Dimitra Fimi has A "fairy" garden in England: nature spirits, wild blossoms, and Tolkien's longing for home (Abre numa nova janela) [Substack]

The Inklings Project (under the auspices of the McGrath Institute at Notre Dame) has Calls for Papers out (Abre numa nova janela) (on public relations (Abre numa nova janela) as well as Tolkien & Lewis.)

Thank you to Brian Weaver for reminding me of the $999 Smaug-shaped Cheeto (Abre numa nova janela). [Bluesky]

Jordan Rannells has done some amazing Tolkien-related events in recent years and he is an audio wizard - if you love LotR or WoT you might consider supporint his soundscapes on Kickstarter right now (Abre numa nova janela).

The Journal of Tolkien Research has published vol 21, issue 2 - Tolkien and Psychology: Papers from the 2024 University of Vermont Tolkien Conference (Abre numa nova janela).

Miriam Ellis has Hobbit Pantries as Keys to Plenty (Abre numa nova janela).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Beorn and Bombadil (Abre numa nova janela).

Stephen C. Winter has “They Cannot Conquer For Ever!” Frodo Finds the Consolation of Nature and The Desolation of Darkness at The Cross-roads (Abre numa nova janela).

doubtfulsea has By Ear (2) (Abre numa nova janela).

David Bratman has a a Tolkienian miscellany (Abre numa nova janela). He also has a visit, with cheesecake and books (Abre numa nova janela), bringing young readers to Tolkien.

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has its consideration page up (Abre numa nova janela)¹.

Lord of the Rings Online delays the Sting server again, now to May 21, as it addresses missing items (Abre numa nova janela) [Massively OP]

Why this Lord Of The Rings musical is finally getting the ‘real recognition it deserves’ in Melbourne (Abre numa nova janela) [Beat, AU]

LEGO Book Nook with the Balrog might be released this year (Abre numa nova janela). [The Gamer; see original reddit leak (Abre numa nova janela).]

Fugglers are now available with LotR (Abre numa nova janela). [TORn]

Fate of the Fellowship (Abre numa nova janela) designer Matt Leacock has more information on the upcoming game. [Substack]

Inter alia

Margaret Atwood says she cannot remember another time ‘when words themselves have felt under such threat’ (Abre numa nova janela) [Guardian]

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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Abre numa nova janela) : Facebook (Abre numa nova janela) : Bluesky (Abre numa nova janela) : Instagram (Abre numa nova janela) : Threads (Abre numa nova janela) : Mastodon (Abre numa nova janela).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Abre numa nova janela)

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 average time of curating this newsletter ranges from 12-16 hours for the bi-weekly edition and 6-8 hours for the weekly one.

1. h/t to TORn (Abre numa nova janela). ↩