The One hundred and eightieth Roving Ranger

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

Life & Works

April 6, 1963. Tolkien writes a letter to a couple he met on holiday (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
April 7, 1928. The Tablet (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) reports about Tolkien's paper "The Chill Barbarians of the North (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)".
April 8, 1958. Tolkien writes Letters 206 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on the “Hobbit Dinner” (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
April 10, 1958. Tolkien writes Letter 208 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on no "message" in The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), & Death in the story.
April 11, 1953. Tolkien writes Letter 137 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on turning in material for The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
April 12, 1970. Tolkien writes a letter to Tom Shippey (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on “The Author as Philologist”.
April 13, 1937. Tolkien writes Letter 12 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), including a draft of the dust cover for The Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

• T.A. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 3018 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster): Samwise Gamgee (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Ted Sandyman (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) are in The Green Dragon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and gossip about the strange news. [April 12]

The Tolkien Guide has another unboxing video (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), this time on The Bovadium Fragments: Together with ‘The Origin of Bovadium’.

The Tolkien Tapestries will be shown at Angers (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Apr 10 - Nov 8]

The single rarest “collectable” item on all things Tolkien is being sold right now for a rather impressive sum.

Events & Shows

After its expansion into the US, German Middle-earth Enterprises licensee Burgschneider is now moving into the UK with the The Brandywine Festiva (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)l [press release; Sept 2026]

The Tolkien Society is reviving the festivities in Birmingham, organising the Sarehole Festival (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [May 30-31]

The International Medieval Congress has 26 papers on offer if you search for Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Jul 6-9]

The Division at the Humanities of the University of Minnesota Morris held a Hobbit Reading (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Apr 1]

The Stratford’s Festival Hobbit has added a short intro (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) as well as a costume fitting for Bilbo (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [YouTube]

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

Registration is now open (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for June 19-21, 2026.

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Scholarship & Fandom

Matej Cadil has Gardens in Middle‑earth: What Tolkien Teaches Us About Tending a Broken World (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Giovanni Carmine Costabile has Tolkien's Joyful Sorrow, the "Gift of Tears" of Medieval Mysticism, and John Donne's Sermon "Jesus Wept" (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Elfenomeno has an Interview with Pieter Collier, from Tolkien Library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Foreshadowed and Foresung has Tolkien’s “Radical” Changes Are Just Changes (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Slow LotR Re-read (1): Bilbo as a folklore hero (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “What Do You Fear, Lady?” Éowyn Knows What She Fears as She Seeks For What She Desires (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and “They Go Only Because They Would Not Be Parted From Thee- Because They Love Thee.” Some Thoughts on Éowyn’s Unrequited Love For Aragorn (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Miriam Ellis has Happy news: The Tolkien Society Announces my design of the Oxonmoot 2026 logo! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Thoughts on Tolkien has The Origin of the Elendilmir (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wordpress]

Dimitra Fimi has The Slow LotR Re-read (2): Gandalf's hat and scarf (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

doubtfulsea has Goblins and Goblin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

[The] Silmarillion; book-collecting minutiae has Oft Tedious: AR Book Review (Reprint (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)).

The YouTube LEGO channel Justin BoverBricks is working on a Bilbo minifig-sized Smaug - and that looks glorious (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). 📝

Merchandise & Franchise

'That's Still Under Bezos' Magical Halo' — The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Reportedly Remains On-Track for 5 Seasons at Amazon as It Becomes TV's First $1 Billion Series (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [IGN]

Amazon MGM Studios Reorgs TV “Worldbuilding” Team, Matthew King and Adrienne O’Riain Depart (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter]

‘A full-circle moment’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster): why Stephen Colbert is an enticing fit for Lord of the Rings [Guardian; also Will Stephen Colbert’s Lord of the Rings film be Tom Bombadil’s time to shine?] (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Aragorn’s Recast In New Lord Of The Rings Movie Officially Confirmed By Andy Serki (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)s [ScreenRant]

Peter Jackson to produce yet another frankly unnecessary LORD OF THE RINGS film (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wertzone]

Veteran Studio Working On New Lord of the Rings Game (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Insider Gaming; this is still an unsubstantiated rumour as of this moment]

Inter alia

The official broadcast for NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is worth your time (at the time of publication is was available but it is now delisted; here is a look back the mission (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Subscribe to NASA!)

Glom of Nit #51: (Pratchett) Biographers nearly killed by mobile library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Cartes imaginaires, the current exhibition at the French National Library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (where the most successful exhibition ever was Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)), is showing imaginary maps - from An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland by Bernard Sleigh (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[Steady)]to Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wikipedia]

Tad Williams on Tropes, Tolkien, and Telling Better Stories (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Page Chewing Podcast]

If edamame and Tolkien is your thing, Tasmania should be on your bucket list - the Hobbit Hort (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is the place to be [Facebook; see also Grown for taste and Hobbit Hort providing fresh vegetables (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

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

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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Bluesky (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Threads (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Mastodon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

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.