The One hundred and sixty-first Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Nov 3, 1913. Tolkien writes to Edith (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) about registering as a reader at the Bodleian Library.
Nov 4, 1961. Tolkien writes Letter 232 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on his aunt and the long-ago trip through Switzerland.
Nov 5, 1956. Tolkien writes a letter to Mr Britten (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), starting an exchange on questions about the Silmarillion etc.
Nov 6, 1969. Informal date of foundation of The Tolkien Society (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Nov 7, 1944. Tolkien starts writing Letter 89 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on religious matters, eucatastrophe, and local news.
Nov 8, 1971. Tolkien writes letter 330a (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on unfinished works, and film rights.
Nov 9, 1933. Tolkien's poem "Errantry (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)" is published in The Oxford Magazine.
Nov 19, 1943. Tolkien writes Letter 51b (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on work and visiting Charles Williams (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

• Third Age, 2994. Balin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Lord of Moria (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), is killed by an Orc archer as he stood to watch in Mirrormere (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Nov 10]

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Events & Shows

Michael Tolkien will be speaking in Oxford about Eden, Fall, Exile and Beyond in the History of Middle Earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Dec 5]

Come write at the Lamb & Flag in Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Every Sunday in November; Instagram]

UK blues rock group Ten Years After (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) uploaded their song The Hobbit from a live concert in Helsinki (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in 1969 [Youtube]

The Prancing Pony Podcast has put out a Call for Papers (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - for both papers as well as activities and entertainments - for this year’s Moot. [Instagram]

My local regulars’ table - in Jena, Germany - celebrated another edition of Hobbit Halloween (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (including Thuringwethil, Annatar, and other creatures of the night) [Instagram]

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

Scholarship & Fandom

I may have done something silly.

Too Many Books and Never Enough has Wonder and Imagination (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Tom Hillman has From a Gift in Death to the Gift of Death: Túrin and the Doom of Men (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Holly Ordway has The Doctor of the Church and the Maker of Middle-earth: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Newman Connections (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Word on Fire]

Miriam Ellis has Savoring the Hobbit Mushroom Habit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Stratofanatic has Analyzing the Mistakes in Grokipedia's Entry for Alliterative Verse (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Stephen C. Winter has “Whatever Betide, You Have Come to the End of The Gondor That You Have Known.” Gandalf Enters the Gates of Minas Tirith and Declares Its Doom (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Making of The Fellowship – Catching up with Cathedral of Bricks (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Brothers Brick, on a new LEGO build]

Kaitlyn’s (Tea with Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)) book is up for pre-order: Into the Heart of Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Ave Maria Press]

Merchandise & Franchise

New Immersive Soundscape Released For Silmarillion Audiobook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [TORn]

Irish harpist Joy Shannon unveils “Grey Havens” from new Tolkien-inspired album (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Moshville Times, UK; Ruth Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), JRRT’s great-granddaughter, is providing backing vocals and can be seen in the video]

Olga Kann releases music video for “Echoes from the Barrow-Downs” (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Chaoszine]

Elijah Wood crashes Lord of the Rings-themed wedding held at the Shire: 'Oh my God' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[Entertainment Weekly]

Amazon Scales Back Gaming Ambitions Amid 14,000 Layoffs (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Kotaku; the planned LotR MMO might be cancelled] See also GamesRadar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Verge (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), and Reuters (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

LotR:RoP is now free to stream with German television channel ZDFNeo (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - in both English & German.

The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game Prerelease Events: Your Journey Continues Here! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Office Dog Games]

Syzygy Forge Announces Licensing Partnership with Middle-earth Enterprises (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube; don’t forget to look at the Shadow and Flame Pepper Bourbon Whiskey coming soon]

A German Army brigade stationed in Lithuania is promoting its ‘readiness’ with an unfortunate soundtrack and an impressive level of historical amnesia: the Nazgûl theme (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [taz, in German]

Inter alia

If you ever wanted to know how collections should be properly stored - the Library of Birmingham’s Iron Room has you covered (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

28 Years Later, One Star Wars Leak Confirms What Fans Have Wanted All Along (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Inverse; the original Star Wars might return to theatres in 2027]

We’re in a Book Affordability Crisis (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [BookRiot]

Elon Musk Really Doesn't Get The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wired; one article free, otherwise paywall]

The right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings. But they don’t understand it. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Yahoo; originally Vox]

Ansible 460 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has been published.

2025 World Fantasy Awards have been presented (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), the British Fantasy Awards (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) as well.[File770]

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Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

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