The One hundred and eighty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life & Works

May 26, 1955 Tolkien writes Letter 162a (Si apre in una nuova finestra), in which he addresses Rayner Unwin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) with an apology for the delays caused by the completion of the Appendices (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for The Return of the King (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
May 27, 1930 The University Press of Oxford sends Tolkien a copy of A Middle English Reader (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
May 28, 1964 Tree and Leaf (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is first published in the UK.
May 29, 1930 Tolkien's "The Oxford English School (Si apre in una nuova finestra)" is published in The Oxford Magazine.
May 30, 2014 Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom Shippey (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is published.
May 31, 1944 Tolkien writes Letter 72 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on an Inklings meeting, work on The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Hobbits names, wartime bigotry.

The Holy See has published the encyciclal letter MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS of his holiness POPE LEO XIV ‘on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.’

One might find it of note that the Pope has something to say on this topic - including the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien gets a mention in §213¹.

The twentieth-century Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien, in the words of a protagonist in one of his novels, described our responsibility in this way: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”

Many voices have been trying to make sense - or often no sense at all - of this and here are a few links for you:

Pope Leo XIV quotes The Lord of the Rings in 'Magnifica Humanitas' (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Kaitlyn Facista) | Against the Machine: Tolkien, Pope Leo XIV, and the Age of AI (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Matej Cadil)

The way the internet is going reliable information will be more difficult to find every day - so a curated newsletter like the Roving Ranger is more needed than ever.
Share it, let people know! Thank you 😊

Events & Shows

THIS WEEKEND Tolkien Tage, Germany - the largest Tolkien-centred fan-organised event in the world (afaik!) Meet me there - I am introducing Roverandom and co-hosting the German-speaking Tolkien podcasts. My personal highlight: the first ever audience performance of Paul Corfield Godfrey - Lord of the Rings Opera (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [info & tickets (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

THIS WEEKEND The Sarehole Festival (Si apre in una nuova finestra) of the Tolkien Society.

THIS WEEKEND The 54 Year Jubilee of the Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim (Si apre in una nuova finestra)!

If the Birmingham Museums are ever thinking of inviting Tolkienists to some of their events… THIS is my dream 🥂🤩

The Tales after Tolkien Society has From #Kzoo2026 and Looking towards #Kzoo2027...and Maybe #Kzoo2028 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogspot]

Andrew Higgins also has news from Kalamazoo (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Smial moot preparations are well under way for Mithlondrim (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (Chester & North Wales) [Jun 20; Blogspot]

Verlyn Flieger is giving two more online talks with Politics & Prose (Si apre in una nuova finestra), this time on Tolkien’s roots in myth [Jul 19 + 26]²

According to the latest Lure of Middle-earth newsletter the Italian Lord of the Rings LCG convention - Weathertop III - will take place at Costa di Dente (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [October 2-4, 2026]

The Jobsite Theatre in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, will be staging The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Jul 14 - Aug 8, 2027]

RGS Worcester’s Lower School is preparing The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as well [Jun 17-19; Worcestershire, UK]

Fun fact: “Tracing its origins back to the 7th century, it is the sixth oldest school in the world (Si apre in una nuova finestra).”

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

John Garth has Book news: Tolkien and the Smith who helped forge his future path (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Steady]

Tom Hillman is on a roll: "What really happened," or, "Was hat Ranke mit Tolkien zu tun?" (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as well as Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and last, but not least: Tolkien and Clarke's Third Law: a Corollary (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogspot]

"Any sufficiently advanced Art is indistinguishable from Enchantment."

G. Connor Salter has interviewed Inklings Scholar David Bratman (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Fellowship & Fairydust]

Another Fingolfin’s Findings has Frodo - the free, portable C64 emulator (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Steady; paywall]

Miriam Ellis has Tolkien and the Old Wives (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

doubtfulsea has Blood Money (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Making Money (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Tolkien’s Poetic Imagination (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wordpress]

The Italian ‘hobbit’ - Nicolas Gentile - who is building a Shire now has his very own documentary (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Youtube; trailer]

I am very glad to see that LEGO stills are finally replacing the film aesthetics 😅: The Great Tolkien Reread: The Council of Elrond, Part 1 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogspot]

The Journal of Tolkien Research has added a number of posts to its issue 2 of volume 23:

• Hope and the Handiwork of Varda: Celestial Signposts of the Music’s Mending (Si apre in una nuova finestra); Kristine Larsen

• The Machine for Its Own Sake: Tolkien's Critique of Instrumental Reason and the Modern Ecological Ethos (Si apre in una nuova finestra); Ahmad J. El-Youssef

• Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey Inklings: Tolkien and Lewis’s Relative Dimensions in Space-Time (Si apre in una nuova finestra); Kristine Larsen

• Beyond the Stars: Voyaging into the Void in Tolkien’s Early Cosmologies (Si apre in una nuova finestra); Kristine Larsen

• Wanted: More Feminist Queer Medievalists in Tolkien Scholarship (Si apre in una nuova finestra): Robin A. Reid

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

Czech gaming studio Warhorse (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has announced two new games, and one of them is an open world RPG set in Middle-earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Instagram; please note - whatever website is telling you about the game, nobody knows anything yet]

Possibly one of the worst choices the Royal Mint could have gone for: Royal Mint releases 'Lord of the Rings’ 50 pence coin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Reuters; Youtube; see also BBC (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Dark Horse is giving us Merry, Boromir, and Pippin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) from the Bakshi film.

‘Lord Of The Rings’ & ‘Tomb Raider’ To Be Housed At Fellowship Entertainment After Embracer Spin-Off (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Deadline; consequences for Austrian/ German industries (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

In an open letter Lars Wingefors (Founder and Chair Embracer Group AB) said:

I think the assets held by Fellowship Entertainment are among the most undervalued in the industry and I feel it’s my duty as the largest shareholder to change this and create a structure to realize their full potential.

This echoes the statement by then Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav that “Lord of the Rings” is “underused.” [The Wrap (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

This means we will see a flood of new merchandise and franchise projects in the next months [imho.]

‘The Rings of Power’ Season 4 in Development, Eyes Filming in Early 202 (Si apre in una nuova finestra)7 [Hollywood Reporter]

Inter alia

Carton Brew has Before Pixar, There Was ‘The Works’: A Lost Chapter In The History Of Computer Animation (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Should you love the art of Alphonse Mucha as much as me this Kickstarter might be for you: ILSEE Art Nouveau occult fantasy romance 1897 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

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.
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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. You can jump quickly to it via this link (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

2. h/t Wendell Wagner, email. ↩