The One hundred and eighty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life & Works

May 26, 1955 Tolkien writes Letter 162a (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), in which he addresses Rayner Unwin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) with an apology for the delays caused by the completion of the Appendices (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for The Return of the King (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
May 27, 1930 The University Press of Oxford sends Tolkien a copy of A Middle English Reader (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
May 28, 1964 Tree and Leaf (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is first published in the UK.
May 29, 1930 Tolkien's "The Oxford English School (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)" is published in The Oxford Magazine.
May 30, 2014 Tolkien in the New Century: Essays in Honor of Tom Shippey (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published.
May 31, 1944 Tolkien writes Letter 72 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on an Inklings meeting, work on The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 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' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Kaitlyn Facista) | Against the Machine: Tolkien, Pope Leo XIV, and the Age of AI (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [info & tickets (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

THIS WEEKEND The Sarehole Festival (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) of the Tolkien Society.

THIS WEEKEND The 54 Year Jubilee of the Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)!

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Blogspot]

Andrew Higgins also has news from Kalamazoo (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Smial moot preparations are well under way for Mithlondrim (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Chester & North Wales) [Jun 20; Blogspot]

Verlyn Flieger is giving two more online talks with Politics & Prose (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [October 2-4, 2026]

The Jobsite Theatre in Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, will be staging The Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Jul 14 - Aug 8, 2027]

RGS Worcester’s Lower School is preparing The Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).”

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

Registration is now open (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for June 19-21, 2026.

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

Scholarship & Fandom

John Garth has Book news: Tolkien and the Smith who helped forge his future path (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Steady]

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

"Any sufficiently advanced Art is indistinguishable from Enchantment."

G. Connor Salter has interviewed Inklings Scholar David Bratman (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Fellowship & Fairydust]

Another Fingolfin’s Findings has Frodo - the free, portable C64 emulator (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Steady; paywall]

Miriam Ellis has Tolkien and the Old Wives (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

doubtfulsea has Blood Money (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Making Money (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Tolkien’s Poetic Imagination (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wordpress]

The Italian ‘hobbit’ - Nicolas Gentile - who is building a Shire now has his very own documentary (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); Kristine Larsen

• The Machine for Its Own Sake: Tolkien's Critique of Instrumental Reason and the Modern Ecological Ethos (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); Ahmad J. El-Youssef

• Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey Inklings: Tolkien and Lewis’s Relative Dimensions in Space-Time (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); Kristine Larsen

• Beyond the Stars: Voyaging into the Void in Tolkien’s Early Cosmologies (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); Kristine Larsen

• Wanted: More Feminist Queer Medievalists in Tolkien Scholarship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster): Robin A. Reid

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). 📝

Merchandise & Franchise

Czech gaming studio Warhorse (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has announced two new games, and one of them is an open world RPG set in Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Reuters; Youtube; see also BBC (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Dark Horse is giving us Merry, Boromir, and Pippin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) from the Bakshi film.

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

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)7 [Hollywood Reporter]

Inter alia

Carton Brew has Before Pixar, There Was ‘The Works’: A Lost Chapter In The History Of Computer Animation (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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

Then do consider using Steady (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - it is an exceptionally easy to use option for all needs. Built originally for an independent journalists’ collective, Krautreporter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), it is run by creative minds for creative minds. Think Patreon, just better. It is based in Germany, free of enshittification (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and nazis.

Do use my invite link (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (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 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩

2. h/t Wendell Wagner, email. ↩