The One hundred and seventy-second Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Jan 26, 1925. Tolkien writes a letter to Professor Joseph Wright (Si apre in una nuova finestra) on the occasion of his retirement.
Jan 27, 1819. John Benjamin Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) dies.
Jan 28, 1949. The letter "Cardinal Mindszenty (Si apre in una nuova finestra)", co-signed by Tolkien, is published in The Times.
Jan 29, 1917. Tolkien faces a Medical Board in Birmingham (Si apre in una nuova finestra), but he is deemed not fit to return to war (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Jan 30, 1914. The Chequers Clubbe (Si apre in una nuova finestra), founded by Tolkien, is given permission to organize dinners.
Jan 31, 1892. Tolkien is christened at the Cathedral of St. Andrew and St. Michael (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in Bloemfontein (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Feb 1, 1913. Tolkien writes a postcard to Edith Bratt (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Feb 2, 1939. Tolkien writes Letter 35 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Mr. Bliss (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Farmer Giles of Ham (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Tolkien reported that the new story, The Lord of the Rings, had reached Chapter 12 and over 300 pages of manuscript. He foresaw at least 200 more pages needed to finish it and asked when was the latest date that the completed manuscript ought to reach Allen & Unwin.

• Third Age (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 301 (Si apre in una nuova finestra)7: Aragorn (Si apre in una nuova finestra) captures Gollum (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in the Dead Marshes (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Feb 1]

People seem to appreciate visiting the Tolkien statue in East Yorkshire (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [reddit]

Starting Feb 1 I will be sharing “guess the place!” photos from 30+ years of fandom with Ko-Fi and do TFFs - Tolkien Fun Facts! Let me know your memories 😇

Events & Shows

Tolkien Reading Day: the theme for 2026 has been anncounced (Si apre in una nuova finestra): Unlikely Heroes.

The Oxford Tolkien Network’s talks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) have started for Hilary Term, the next will be "Poetic Language and the Making of Myth: Reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings through Owen Barfield" [Jan 27]

AMA Announcement! James Tauber, The Digital Tolkien Project, in /r/tolkienbooks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Feb 4; reddit]

The Mexican Tolkien Society in cooperation with the Asociación Tolkien Católica Peruana will be hosting a chat with Edy More (Si apre in una nuova finestra)l on a documentary shown on Jan 3rd on the “catholic soul” of Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Jan 25; Facebook; Youtube]

A short video gives you a good impression of how The Hobbit at the Dobama Theatre (Si apre in una nuova finestra) looks like [Yahoo News]

A Tolkien Round Table (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will be happening at the University of Malta: "Tolkien’s Elvish Mirror: Language, Myth, and Europe’s Search for Self" [April 24-25]

Nominations open for Tolkien Society Awards 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [until Feb 1]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | YT (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | RSS feed (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Scholarship & Fandom

A number of podcasts (Si apre in una nuova finestra) from last year’s Bloomsbury Oxford Fantasy Summer School have been uploaded, including Stuart Lee (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Giuseppe Pezzini (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

A number of reading clubs and read throughs have started in 2025 or early 2026 to make use of the full year: A Reader of Else (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Abigail Nussbaum (Si apre in una nuova finestra) are just two of many; Tea with Tolkien is on the Silmarillion (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and the Year on Tolkien Book Club (Si apre in una nuova finestra) with Kelly Orazi / The Middle Page is huge.

Miriam Ellis has The Joys of Old Age in The Shire as Seen from The Ivy Bush (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Stephen C. Winter has “The Darkness Has Begun. There Will Be No Dawn.” Pippin Has Nothing to Do But Wait for the Beginning of War (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Tom Birkett’s upcoming Runes: A Concise History (Si apre in una nuova finestra) mentions Tolkien by name. [Oxford University Press]

Another fan film has just hit Youtube: A Ranger's Journey (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Austrian musician Anna Grob has published The Messenger (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - listening closely you’ll realise who he is [Youtube]

In the German city of Kassel you could take the tram to Mordor - for a day. [It was a prank!]

Merchandise & Franchise

Why The Two Towers Is The Best Lord Of The Rings Film (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Empire]

Why Return Of The King Is The Best Lord Of The Rings Film (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Empire]

Peter Jackson’s introduction to the rereleased films shows him talking about the loss of Andrew Lesnie (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (director of photography on both trilogies; Oscar recipient for FotR) [Youtube]

‘Fallout’: Amazon Says Season 2 Is Tracking As One Of Its Top 4 Returning Series, But Won’t Release Viewership Stats, Yet (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Deadline]

The streamer added that it is also currently the No. 6 TV season of all time on Prime Video. It falls behind both Seasons 1 and 2 of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Reacher Seasons 2 and 3, and the first season of Fallout.

Inter alia

Why I am with Substack and also not (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [a personal note]

Get Birding with Sean Bean (Si apre in una nuova finestra) looks like a promising new podcast episode - film fans have been asking only one question: how can he get killed by birds? [Dailymotion]

The Day NY Publishing Lost Its Soul (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Ubisoft cancels six games including Prince of Persia and closes studios (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC]

The AI productivity paradox (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Platformer]

From ‘Fortnite’ To ‘Fallout’: Checking In From London’s Beyond Games: Transmedia Summit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Cartoon Brew]

Still looking for books to read? Summary List of File 770 Readers Recommendations for 2025 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Fourth Cone Restoration on their Process of Restoring Vintage Posters (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Print Mag; see their 1977 Hobbit restoration (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Instagram]

Director James Cameron on why he moved to New Zealand (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Stuff]

One of the best traditions to come out of recent years: naming snow ploughs. In this case? Ursula K. Le-Plow. [Remember Snowdo Baggins!]

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.