The One hundred and ninety-third Roving Ranger

Life & Works

Jul 24, 1915 Tolkien writes the poem The Happy Mariners (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
July 25, 1938 Tolkien sends an angry letter (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to a German publisher, after being asked whether he was Aryan (Si apre in una nuova finestra) or not.
July 26, 1973 Lord Halsbury (Si apre in una nuova finestra) visits Tolkien.
July 27, 1966 Tolkien receives the unexpected visitors J.S. Ryan (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Hans-Jörg Modlmayr (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
July 28, 1947 Rayner Unwin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) reports on the first version of The Fellowship of the Ring (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
July 29, 1938 E.V. Gordon (Si apre in una nuova finestra), a later colleague of Tolkien, dies.
July 31, 1917 "Tea Cake" Barnsley (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is killed near Ypres (Si apre in una nuova finestra) while consoling a captured prisoner.
August 1, 1997 The German Tolkien Society Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft e.V. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is founded [what a day!]
August 2, 1966 Tolkien is interviewed by William Cater (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and those who are going to read them.

William Cater, The Sunday Times (UK)

The BBC Lord of the Rings radio play (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will have a re-release as “Vinyl and CD” [Tolkien Guide; Brian Sibley himself (Si apre in una nuova finestra) informed the community via Facebook]

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

The third Tolkien Conference in Switzerland will happen in Lucerne; topic will be 'Maps and Landscapes in Tolkien's Middle-earth' (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Mar 13, 2027]

If you are up for some San Diego Comic Con energy but can’t get there - Weta Workshop will livestream (Si apre in una nuova finestra) their reveals on Youtube [6:30pm PDT / 3:30 am CET / 1:30pm NZT; with me it’s July 23rd]

Falešné společenstvo (“a group of czech Tolkien fans that have been writing and performing Tolkien songs, and later full musicals, since 2001”) will be celebrating their 25th Anniversary (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [throughout August; tumblr]¹

For a chronological list of events check out the Tolkien Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (where most of the events mentioned here are listed.)

Scholarship & Fandom

It gives me great pleasure to share another guest post, this time by Christian S. Trenk on Odysseus and Aragorn.

The Journal of Tolkien Research (Si apre in una nuova finestra) continues with more interesting pieces: Getting Tolkien Right: Middle-earth in the National Review (Si apre in una nuova finestra) or Some notes on a Tolkien’s manuscript linked to ‘Leaf by Niggle. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)’

Marie Bretagnolle has What is she Tolkien about? Or a summary of my PhD thesis (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Hypotheses.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

In search of Aquinas in Middle-earth: pedagogical potentials for Thomistic virtue ethics (Si apre in una nuova finestra) through The Lord of the Rings [British Journal of Religious Education; paywall]

Proof-of-Concept: Visions of Peace and Nonviolence in Pop Culture (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (ed. Jennifer Kling) has a chapter titled Nonviolent Activism in The Lord of the Rings.

Adam Roberts is set to publish An A-Z of J. R. R. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Jan 2027; Bloomsbury]

Andrew Higgins has Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Language of Barsoom (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Dimitra Fimi has informed readers of her blog that she will share her future work on Substack only (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Austrian Tolkien Society has moved its communication to its very own Discord server (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

doubtfulsea has Arboricidal (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Prismatic (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Interview with Janet Brennan Croft (Si apre in una nuova finestra), editor of Mythlore [Elfenomeno]

Stephen C. Winter has “If You Had Received This Thing, It Would Have Overthrown You.” Because Denethor Desires the Victory of Gondor Above Everything He Has Not the Strength to Resist the Ring (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Shawn E Marchese has Word-Nerdery: The Etymology of "Fantasy" (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Robin Reid has 2027 International Congress on Medieval Studies (Hybrid) (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and The Middle Ages in the Modern World (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

The British Fantasy Society Journal has put out a Call for Submissions on “Gender in Fantasy (Si apre in una nuova finestra).”

Miriam Ellis has…

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 and Franchise

In advance to the San Diego Comic Con which has been used for years now as the best way of promotion there are a few things on Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Jamie Campbell Bower Is Celeborn (Si apre in una nuova finestra) – Elf Lord And Galadriel’s Husband – In The Rings Of Power S3 | The Rings Of Power Season 3 Will Finally See Sauron Forge The One Ring In Mordor: ‘No-One Is Safe’ (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | ‘Gandalf Has Arrived’ (Si apre in una nuova finestra) In The Rings Of Power Season 3 – And He’s ‘The Wizard We All Love’ [Empire]

Another German franchise offering, this time spice seller Ankerkraut (Si apre in una nuova finestra) with a whole range on anything Lord of the Rings. [Their tag line says it all: Some heroes do not wield a sword, a magic staff or ring - but the cooking spoon.]²

The LotR fan club is slowly opening its gates. I have just received this email:

My comment Let us see what the future brings but at the moment the fan club seems to be what was to be expected - as many companies have been realising for some time being in locked platforms like Youtube, Facebook and Instagram etc. is not good for their business. So they are now opening their own locked platforms to entice fans to join them [enshittification will surely follow; see TORn (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

TORn also has a list of things Tolkienian (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at SDCC.

Lord of the Rings: Ascension has surpassed $1 million in crowdfunding (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (3,700+ backers) [GameFound]

Inter alia

Foreshadowed and Foresung has Christian Nationalists Are the Apostates from C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Should you have ever asked yourself that question… Did elephant energetics decide Hannibal’s Alpine crossing route? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [University of Oxford; it is Oliphaunt-adjacent so fair game]³

OpenAI says its AI went rogue and launched 'unprecedented' cyber-attack (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC; what is ‘unprecedented’ about this?]

Harry Potter publisher to receive millions (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in Anthropic copyright settlement [Guardian]

Dua Lipa has opened the Manifesto Library (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world [Livraria Lello, Porto; banned books and others]

Disney Lays Off Hundreds of Staffers, Pixar Hit Hard (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [The Wrap]⁴

Inside Paramount and WBD, employees are on edge (Si apre in una nuova finestra)as David Ellison's mega-merger hits resistance [Business Insider]

Bethesda confirm FALLOUT remasters and new games from themselves and Obsidian Entertainment (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wertzone]

[July 18, 1971] The Tragedy of John W. Campbell (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (1910-1971) [Galactic Journey]

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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 Laisrinel; Tolkiendil Discord (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

2. The founders had sold their company to brute force capitalist Nestlé (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in 2022 which had led to a shitstorm of unseen proportions - this year they bought it back (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Let’s hope they’ll stay independent and return to their mission of sustainability, protection of the environment, and transparency - a very Tolkienian way of thinking. ↩

3. h/t Oxford Clarion (Si apre in una nuova finestra), July 14, 2026. ↩

4. h/t INDAC (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩