The One hundred and thirty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life and Works

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

• T.A. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 3019 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Arwen (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Elrond (Si apre in una nuova finestra) come to Lothlórien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) on their way to Minas Tirith (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [May 20]

Events & Shows

I visited the Tolkien Tapestries (and carpets!) (Si apre in una nuova finestra) exhibition in Paris last week. [report in two parts]

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

Andrew Higgins has two more (Si apre in una nuova finestra) reports from Kalamazoo (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

An international conference (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Scholarship & Fandom

Dimitra Fimi has A "fairy" garden in England: nature spirits, wild blossoms, and Tolkien's longing for home (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

The Inklings Project (under the auspices of the McGrath Institute at Notre Dame) has Calls for Papers out (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (on public relations (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as well as Tolkien & Lewis.)

Thank you to Brian Weaver for reminding me of the $999 Smaug-shaped Cheeto (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Journal of Tolkien Research has published vol 21, issue 2 - Tolkien and Psychology: Papers from the 2024 University of Vermont Tolkien Conference (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Miriam Ellis has Hobbit Pantries as Keys to Plenty (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Thoughts on Tolkien has Beorn and Bombadil (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Stephen C. Winter has “They Cannot Conquer For Ever!” Frodo Finds the Consolation of Nature and The Desolation of Darkness at The Cross-roads (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

doubtfulsea has By Ear (2) (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

David Bratman has a a Tolkienian miscellany (Si apre in una nuova finestra). He also has a visit, with cheesecake and books (Si apre in una nuova finestra), bringing young readers to Tolkien.

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has its consideration page up (Si apre in una nuova finestra)¹.

Lord of the Rings Online delays the Sting server again, now to May 21, as it addresses missing items (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Massively OP]

Why this Lord Of The Rings musical is finally getting the ‘real recognition it deserves’ in Melbourne (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Beat, AU]

LEGO Book Nook with the Balrog might be released this year (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [The Gamer; see original reddit leak (Si apre in una nuova finestra).]

Fugglers are now available with LotR (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [TORn]

Fate of the Fellowship (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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’ (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Guardian]

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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Facebook (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Bluesky (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Instagram (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Threads (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Mastodon (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩