The One hundred and seventieth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Events & Shows

The Forge of Friendship: J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis – Documentary Sneak Peek and Q&A (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Western Michigan University; Jan 23]

Lord of the Rings Marathon Screening at Magdalen, Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)¹ [Feb 7]

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has rescheduled one of their Tolkien Talks on Lichen and Rocks (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) to [Jan 24]

Nominations open for Tolkien Society Awards 2026 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [until Feb 1]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | YT (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | RSS feed (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Scholarship & Fandom

Available now: The Tolkien Books Database (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [A Digital Tolkien Project]

Hall of Beorn has Discussion: The Downfall of Númenor – Part 5 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Johan de Meij's Tolkien Symphonies: Symphony N°1 'The Lord Of The Rings' Vs. Symphony N°5 'Return To Middle-Earth' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[JWFan]

doubtfulsea has Through a glass… (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Miriam Ellis has Sitting with Sam beneath the Shire Mallorn (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Glimpsing the Days of the King on the Shores of Lake Evendim (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Find out about the “Tolkien Hypthesis” in Castles, Battlefields, and Continents: A Dataset of Maps from Literature (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Anthology of Computers and the Humanities, PDF]

Insect Damage, Tolkien, and a Book of… Cheese? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Oxford Libraries Trainees]

Thoughts on Tolkien has Happy New Year! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Stephen C. Winter has “For if We Fall, Who Shall Stand? And, Master Peregrin, Do You See Any Hope That We Shall Stand?” Beregond and Pippin on the Walls of Minas Tirith (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Abigail Nussbaum has The Great Tolkien Reread: The Shadow of the Past (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).²

Matej Cadil has From Valkyries to Ancient Egypt: What did the Crown of Gondor look like? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Dimitra Fimi has A few gems from the Tolkien Family Album (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Vegetal Modes of Resistance: Arboreal Eco-Rebellion in The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Humanities; MDPI]

Transformations of oral and written narratives : the interdisciplinary approach (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [eds. Maciej Czeremski, Gregor Pobežin, Karol Zieliński; open access PDF; Tolkien features prominently and with Łukasz Neubauer’s ‘…Tolkien’s refashioning of the Völsung material in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún…’]

Merchandise & Franchise

The Journey Continues with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers™ Trick-Taking Game (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Office Dog Games; see also Artist Spotlight with Elaine Ryan (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Lord Of The Rings ‘Extended-Extended Edition’ Mithril Cut Doesn’t Exist, Says Peter Jackson (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Empire]

‘Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy Earns $5 Million in Box Office Presales for Theatrical Re-Release (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Variety]

LotRO sent out a letter to players (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on upcoming plans.

Middle-earth Enterprises CEO Lee Guinchard has been named COO of the Embracer Group (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[press release]

Inter alia

I made a Wallace & Gromit contraption in real life! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - Joseph's Machines³ [Youtube]

Betty Boop, Nancy Drew and the Maltese Falcon: Welcome to the Public Domain (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Internet Archive]

How to Radically Improve Your Attention (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [New Books Newsletter - Substack]

As mentioned before in this newsletter, here are the incredibly nonsensical 90 secs with Tolkien in Fackham Hall (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube]

David Bratman has ubiquitous comic strips (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Blogspot]

Curating a Show on My Ineffable Mother, Ursula K. Le Guin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hyperallergic]

Heavy Is the Crown: George R.R. Martin on His Triumphs and Torments (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter]

Record Profits, Record Output, Record Burnout: Inside Anime’s Quality Crisis (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Cartoon Brew]

Netflix is back as #1 in US streaming (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [File770 (10)]

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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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Bookshop.org (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), or Genialokal (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 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 (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) - and 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 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 Tolkien Gleaning 374 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩

2. h/t File770 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩

3. h/t File770 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩