The One hundred and ninety-third Roving Ranger

Life & Works

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

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) will have a re-release as “Vinyl and CD” [Tolkien Guide; Brian Sibley himself (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Mar 13, 2027]

If you are up for some San Diego Comic Con energy but can’t get there - Weta Workshop will livestream (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [throughout August; tumblr]¹

For a chronological list of events check out the Tolkien Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) continues with more interesting pieces: Getting Tolkien Right: Middle-earth in the National Review (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) or Some notes on a Tolkien’s manuscript linked to ‘Leaf by Niggle. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’

Marie Bretagnolle has What is she Tolkien about? Or a summary of my PhD thesis (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hypotheses.org (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

In search of Aquinas in Middle-earth: pedagogical potentials for Thomistic virtue ethics (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) through The Lord of the Rings [British Journal of Religious Education; paywall]

Proof-of-Concept: Visions of Peace and Nonviolence in Pop Culture (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Jan 2027; Bloomsbury]

Andrew Higgins has Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Language of Barsoom (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Dimitra Fimi has informed readers of her blog that she will share her future work on Substack only (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Austrian Tolkien Society has moved its communication to its very own Discord server (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

doubtfulsea has Arboricidal (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Prismatic (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Interview with Janet Brennan Croft (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Shawn E Marchese has Word-Nerdery: The Etymology of "Fantasy" (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Robin Reid has 2027 International Congress on Medieval Studies (Hybrid) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and The Middle Ages in the Modern World (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

The British Fantasy Society Journal has put out a Call for Submissions on “Gender in Fantasy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).”

Miriam Ellis has…

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

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) – 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’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | ‘Gandalf Has Arrived’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

TORn also has a list of things Tolkienian (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at SDCC.

Lord of the Rings: Ascension has surpassed $1 million in crowdfunding (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (3,700+ backers) [GameFound]

Inter alia

Foreshadowed and Foresung has Christian Nationalists Are the Apostates from C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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

OpenAI says its AI went rogue and launched 'unprecedented' cyber-attack (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [BBC; what is ‘unprecedented’ about this?]

Harry Potter publisher to receive millions (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Anthropic copyright settlement [Guardian]

Dua Lipa has opened the Manifesto Library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [The Wrap]⁴

Inside Paramount and WBD, employees are on edge (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)as David Ellison's mega-merger hits resistance [Business Insider]

Bethesda confirm FALLOUT remasters and new games from themselves and Obsidian Entertainment (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wertzone]

[July 18, 1971] The Tragedy of John W. Campbell (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (1910-1971) [Galactic Journey]

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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
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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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩

2. The founders had sold their company to brute force capitalist Nestlé (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in 2022 which had led to a shitstorm of unseen proportions - this year they bought it back (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), July 14, 2026. ↩

4. h/t INDAC (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩