The One hundred and fifty-first Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

The recent Brian Aldiss exhibit at Blackwell Hall/ Bodleian Libraries reminded me of this: Friendships: J.R.R. Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Also note - 2025 is the centenary and a large exhibition is forthcoming with the Bod (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The “30 greatest fantasy books of all time (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” with the Telegraph has The Lord of the Rings in it.

I am helping my fiancée move into her new home so this is a bare-bones edition. Thank you for your understanding. Normal service resumes next week.

Events & Shows

The Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim is celebrating its 54th jubilee in 2026 - international registrations are now open (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Fun Fact: I’ll be celebrating my own 54th Jubilee in 2026 as well!

The DragonCon Tolkien Photoshoot will happen this weekend (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Facebook; please make sure to say hi to the Pink Nazgûl Club, sporting most excellent Dark Lord Crocs (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Your chance to be in The Hobbit in south-east Michigan (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [auditions this weekend]

Fly, you fools! at Edinburgh seems to be qute hilarious (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [What’s on Stage]

Robert Nideffer: 12 Years in Azeroth is at the Whitney Museum (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), bringing together ‘Earth, Azeroth, and Middle-earth.’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Scholarship & Fandom

Tom Hillman has Tolkien: The Monsters and the Fascists (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien Tuesday: Tolkien's nonsense flora and fauna on the Moon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Substack]

doubtfulsea has Bogged Down (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Robin Reid has “An Incomplete Academic Fellowship: Excluding Queer Feminist Women from Tolkien Studies.” (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Sara Brown has “Of their women we hear less”: Pride and Prejudice in the tale of ‘Aldarion and Erendis.’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Merchandise & Franchise

Backstage with The Lord Of The Rings’ Gollum, Shelob and the Nazgul (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube; on LotR Musical in Singapore]

Out now - Dobble: Quest for the One Ring (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Asmodee UK]

‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Featured 6,000 VFX Shots Over Eight Episodes (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Deadline]

Your chance to a luxury photoshoot with ‘the’ Hobbit House (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)™️[Rhode Island, US]

Stuff I did not have on my list for 2025: Quest for the Albatross (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Steam; pre-release]

Quest for the Albatross is a pixel art golf RPG inspired by Tolkien fantasy! Master a unique spellcasting golf system to outplay rivals, solve ancient puzzles, and uncover the secrets of a world on the brink of destruction. Every stroke brings you closer to destiny!¹

• Fun Fact Did you know the hobbits invented golf (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)?

Inter alia

Gates created by Tolkien's great-nephew restored (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [BBC; see Facebook, too (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), with photos of Tim Tolkien at work]

'Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown' will turn Voyager's seven-year journey into a rogue-lite survival gam (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)e [Space.com]

In South Kerry (Ireland) developers want to build hobbit houses, bringing in an appeal (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) after already having been turned down.

The lore behind Columbia’s quirky street names (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Baltimore Banner; including Tolkien-inspired street names]

• I wrote about one such case in the Netherlands (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [thetolkienist.com]

Dan Price has been living in a tiny “hobbit hole” for 35 years (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Fair Companies]

• I did a way more substantial piece, including an interview, in 2015 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [thetolkienist.com]

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

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 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. Some incredibly elusive hints in the text like “journey across the land of Ace (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)”, and, of course, Golfimbul (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), so their statement “Golf is Combat” is correct. Their Kickstarter isn’t going well, though (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩