The One hundred and thirty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life and Works

May 18, 1912. Tolkien pays his Oxford Union Library fees (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
May 19, 2006. The Ring of Words (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published.
May 20, 1969. Tolkien writes Letter 310 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
May 21, 2013. The Fall of Arthur (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published.
May 22, 2014. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published.
May 23, 1972. Tolkien writes Letter 336 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on the topic of fame.

• T.A. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 3019 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Arwen (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Elrond (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) come to Lothlórien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on their way to Minas Tirith (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [May 20]

Events & Shows

I visited the Tolkien Tapestries (and carpets!) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) exhibition in Paris last week. [report in two parts]

Folk duo Knorrwood to hold ‘Lord of the Rings’ inspired concert at BTE (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [May 16/17; official website (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); immediately reminded me of LotRO soundtrack.]

Andrew Higgins has two more (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) reports from Kalamazoo (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

An international conference (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is with the Collège des Bernardins in Paris this weekend, with speakers like Thomas Honegger, Holly Ordway, Vincent Ferré, Eduardo Seguara and Giuseppe Pezzini.

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

Dimitra Fimi has A "fairy" garden in England: nature spirits, wild blossoms, and Tolkien's longing for home (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

The Inklings Project (under the auspices of the McGrath Institute at Notre Dame) has Calls for Papers out (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (on public relations (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) as well as Tolkien & Lewis.)

Thank you to Brian Weaver for reminding me of the $999 Smaug-shaped Cheeto (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Bluesky]

Jordan Rannells has done some amazing Tolkien-related events in recent years and he is an audio wizard - if you love LotR or WoT you might consider supporint his soundscapes on Kickstarter right now (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Journal of Tolkien Research has published vol 21, issue 2 - Tolkien and Psychology: Papers from the 2024 University of Vermont Tolkien Conference (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Miriam Ellis has Hobbit Pantries as Keys to Plenty (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Beorn and Bombadil (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Stephen C. Winter has “They Cannot Conquer For Ever!” Frodo Finds the Consolation of Nature and The Desolation of Darkness at The Cross-roads (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

doubtfulsea has By Ear (2) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

David Bratman has a a Tolkienian miscellany (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). He also has a visit, with cheesecake and books (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), bringing young readers to Tolkien.

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has its consideration page up (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)¹.

Lord of the Rings Online delays the Sting server again, now to May 21, as it addresses missing items (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Massively OP]

Why this Lord Of The Rings musical is finally getting the ‘real recognition it deserves’ in Melbourne (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Beat, AU]

LEGO Book Nook with the Balrog might be released this year (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [The Gamer; see original reddit leak (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).]

Fugglers are now available with LotR (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [TORn]

Fate of the Fellowship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) designer Matt Leacock has more information on the upcoming game. [Substack]

Inter alia

Margaret Atwood says she cannot remember another time ‘when words themselves have felt under such threat’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian]

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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Bluesky (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Threads (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Mastodon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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 average time of curating this newsletter ranges from 12-16 hours for the bi-weekly edition and 6-8 hours for the weekly one.

1. h/t to TORn (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩