The One hundred and forty-seventh Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

July 26, 2014. Laocoon (Si apre in una nuova finestra), one of Tolkien's favourite trees, lost two limbs. Subsequently, the Oxford Botanic Garden decided that the tree must be felled for safety reasons (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [thetolkienist.com (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
July 27, 1972. Tolkien writes a certificate of authenticity (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for the sale of his desk (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
July 28, 1939. Tolkien performs Chaucer (Si apre in una nuova finestra)'s The Reeve's Tale (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at the 'Summer Diversions' - a festival of recitals, plays and ballet.
July 29, 1938. E.V. Gordon (Si apre in una nuova finestra), a later colleague of Tolkien, dies.
July 30, 1955. Tolkien goes to Italy with Priscilla Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
July 31, 1969. Tolkien writes Letter 311 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), concerned with his health.
August 1, 1917. Tolkien writes Letter 128 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on changing The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra), the continuance of the feud.

Tolkien fans reassured over cracks in statue (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC]

Events & Shows

I have to admit I would never have expected UK football legend Wayne Rooney and ‘Lord of the Rings’ in the same sentence but here we go:
Wayne and Coleen Rooney made heroes of Lord of the Rings spoof (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC | trailer (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Youtube | Legend of Rooney’s Ring (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Liverpool Royal Court Theatre; started July 18]

Glorfyndels has the Tolkien Fandom Event Calendar 2025 (Si apre in una nuova finestra)¹ [tumblr]

Mónica Sanz Rodríguez² [Spanish Tolkien Society] will be talking about Tolkien and the First World War (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at Biblioteca Pública de Maó, Menorca. [July 29]

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

doubtfulsea has King Returns and Tax Returns? (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Marie Bretagnolle has A Princess illustrates The Lord of the Rings: Ingahild Grathmer, Eric Fraser and the Folio Society — Oxonmoot 2022 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The “Diary of a City Guard” has reached part 16 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Andrew Higgins has O Naffarinos!!! (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Adam Roberts has Goblins! (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “Night Always Had Been, and Always Would Be, And Night Was All.” Frodo and Sam Enter Shelob’s Lair. The Dark Journeys of The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Merchandise & Franchise

The Tolkien Library (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is moving to Norway. [Tolkien Guide]

Dutch Fairy Tale Park with Hobbit Houses? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [In Dutch]

Inter alia

How Chuck Tingle Went Legit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Slate]

Lewis & Tolkien Graphic Novel ‘Mythmakers’ to Receive Big-Screen Animated Adaptation (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Narniaweb]

What losing the Rivers of America will mean to Walt Disney World (Si apre in una nuova finestra)³ [Youtube]

Existential Comics wins this comics’ week with Gollum, his riddles, and German philosopher Rudolf Carnap (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Fun Fact Carnap went to Jena University; Jena is the city I live in.

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

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Do use my invite link (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra), or Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 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 (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 Emerald (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Bluesky] ↩

2. Transparency note Mónica is a good friend of mine, a well-respected Tolkien scholar and translator from Spain. ↩

3. h/t File 770 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩