The One hundred and thirty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life and Works

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

• T.A. (Opens in a new window) 3019 (Opens in a new window). Arwen (Opens in a new window) and Elrond (Opens in a new window) come to Lothlórien (Opens in a new window) on their way to Minas Tirith (Opens in a new window). [May 20]

Events & Shows

I visited the Tolkien Tapestries (and carpets!) (Opens in a new window) exhibition in Paris last week. [report in two parts]

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

Andrew Higgins has two more (Opens in a new window) reports from Kalamazoo (Opens in a new window).

An international conference (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).

Scholarship & Fandom

Dimitra Fimi has A "fairy" garden in England: nature spirits, wild blossoms, and Tolkien's longing for home (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

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

Thank you to Brian Weaver for reminding me of the $999 Smaug-shaped Cheeto (Opens in a new window). [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 (Opens in a new window).

The Journal of Tolkien Research has published vol 21, issue 2 - Tolkien and Psychology: Papers from the 2024 University of Vermont Tolkien Conference (Opens in a new window).

Miriam Ellis has Hobbit Pantries as Keys to Plenty (Opens in a new window).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Beorn and Bombadil (Opens in a new window).

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

doubtfulsea has By Ear (2) (Opens in a new window).

David Bratman has a a Tolkienian miscellany (Opens in a new window). He also has a visit, with cheesecake and books (Opens in a new window), bringing young readers to Tolkien.

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has its consideration page up (Opens in a new window)¹.

Lord of the Rings Online delays the Sting server again, now to May 21, as it addresses missing items (Opens in a new window) [Massively OP]

Why this Lord Of The Rings musical is finally getting the ‘real recognition it deserves’ in Melbourne (Opens in a new window) [Beat, AU]

LEGO Book Nook with the Balrog might be released this year (Opens in a new window). [The Gamer; see original reddit leak (Opens in a new window).]

Fugglers are now available with LotR (Opens in a new window). [TORn]

Fate of the Fellowship (Opens in a new window) 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’ (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]

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Do use my invite link (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window), Bookshop.org (Opens in a new window), or Genialokal (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window) : Facebook (Opens in a new window) : Bluesky (Opens in a new window) : Instagram (Opens in a new window) : Threads (Opens in a new window) : Mastodon (Opens in a new window).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)

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 (Opens in a new window). ↩