The One hundred and eighty-third Roving Ranger

Life & Works

Tolkien would have appreciated this: A New Early-Ninth-Century Manuscript of Cædmon’s Hymn (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [also Guardian (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]¹

Tolkien Society Award Winners

Best Artwork “The Long Winter, 1158: Gandalf Helps the Hobbits (Si apre in una nuova finestra)” by Miriam Ellis
Best article ‘The Tides Of Time, The Tides Of Fate, And The Power Of Song (Si apre in una nuova finestra)‘ by Tom Hillman (published in Journal of Tolkien Research)
Best book The Tower and the Ruin, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation by Michael Drout
Best Online Content Tea with Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Kaitlyn Facista)
Outstanding Contribution Award Jessica Yates

Congratulations to the winners, all of them well-deserved! I am particularly happy to say that - except for Miriam, we should remedy that! - I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting all of these amazing people. Thus I can add that they are also quite wonderful in person, besides being incredibly creative and diligent in all of their work! [Jessica has earned her award many times over, congratulations!]

As for me: third time pays for all! Keep nominating me, it may work next time - thank you! 😇

Events & Shows

Donato Giancola will be at LobsterCon (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [May 1-2; Cambridge, Mass., USA]

The burlesque community has taken a liking to certain parts of Middle-earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [May 9, +bingo!; Orlando, Florida, USA]

Middle Earth [sic] is coming to Utah: Hale Centre Theatre announces 2027 season with ‘Lord of the Rings’ headliner (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [ABC4]

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

Registration is now open (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for June 19-21, 2026.

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

Scholarship & Fandom

Luna Press will be publishing A Hobbit’s Holiday: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Journeys in the Belle Époque (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Piano Makers: An exploration of the musical history of the Tolkien family (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [IAML]

doubtfulsea has Planting (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Will Tell has The Two Chairs: An Extreme Tolkien Theory (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Mercury Natis has Updates from the Road (Si apre in una nuova finestra): GIFCon + Publications [Substack]

Tea with Tolkien has won (Si apre in una nuova finestra) the 2026 Tolkien Society Award for ‘Best Online Content’ [also: What We Can Learn From Tolkien’s Catholic Imagination with Kaitlyn Facista (Si apre in una nuova finestra); Jesuits.org]

Stephen C. Winter has “Here is a Thing Unheard of! An Elf Will Go Underground and a Dwarf Dare Not!” Gimli’s Secret and Very Personal Dark Journey (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Connor Salter (Si apre in una nuova finestra) was kind enough to mention to me that the romance bookstore, The Ripped Bodice, is selling Martina Juričková (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’s Cardinal Vices in Middle-earth, with ‘vices’ possibly having been misunderstood.

Iowa Professor Explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s Influence on ’60s Counterculture (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [For Iowa]

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Si apre in una nuova finestra). 📝

Merchandise & Franchise

Active development on Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has ended.

The Lord of the Rings: Foes of Middle-earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is still offering late pledge options, after having gathered more than $900k+ with close to 3,000 supporters [GameFound]

Office Dog games has Interview with artist, Lorenzo Colangeli (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [The Hobbit: There & Back Again]

NZ tourism up against the algorithm (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Otago Daily Times]

Andy Serkis shares Viggo Mortensen's reaction to Jamie Dornan being cast as Aragorn in LOTR: The Hunt for Gollum (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Entertainment Weekly]

Stone Blade Entertainment will crowdfound The Lord of the Rings: Ascension (Si apre in una nuova finestra) later this year [the precursor (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

The Spectator (Si apre in una nuova finestra) invited people to write critiques on fictional hotels, restaurants, or pubs - with the Prancing Pony getting special mention, but not a review.

Uttar Pradesh (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (largest state in India) is planning on increasing tourism to their part of the world - and part of their campaign shall be hobbit houses (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Travel Trade Journal]

Inter alia

This was not the marketing campaign’s consequences as imagined, I am sure: moleskine’s ai lord of the rings collection can only mock (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Starting May 2, the Oxfordshire Artweeks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) are happening [Oxford Clarion; three weeks in all]

'A remarkable time capsule': The enchanting history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval library (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC]

Predating the Aztec Empire, Merton College Library in Oxford has been used by everyone from celebrated 14th-Century mathematicians to JRR Tolkien. In an exclusive interview with the BBC for its 750th birthday, its librarian describes what makes it so special.

Science Fiction at 100 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [University of Liverpool Library]

Fun Fact from Digital Tolkien Project (Si apre in una nuova finestra) creator James Tauber who is moving to Germany on a research project (the German Tolkien fandom is rather excited!):

Author Lavie Tidhar (Si apre in una nuova finestra) made note that Tolkien is mentioned in A Man Lies Dreaming (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Thinking about starting a newsletter, podcast, Patreon, Substack etc.?

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Do use my invite link (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and start with three months fee-free.
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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.

1. h/t Nelson Goering (Si apre in una nuova finestra) with the TS FB group ↩