The One hundred and sixty-eighth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life & Works

Isengard in Oxford (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Review of Bovadium Fragments; LARB]

Cat Eldridge has Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [File 770]

Tolkien Birthday Toast (Si apre in una nuova finestra): January 3rd.

Please note

After fifty Roving Rangers in 2025 - mostly on time for Monday evenings - I’ll use Christmas¹ and the start of the new year² to - hopefully - recharge the batteries for another year of Middle-earthian shenanigans. And don’t forget…

It’s the time of the year - you can help me continue offering the Roving Ranger and all the other things I am working on by gifting a membership (Si apre in una nuova finestra) or two to friends & family. Thank you - from Marcel! 🤩

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | YT (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | RSS feed (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Events & Shows

The Cailloux Theater in Kerrville, Texas, USA, will have its Youth Theatre perfom The Hobbit [March 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Scholarship & Fandom

Why I Keep Returning to Middle-earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Michael Drout; New York Times, paywall; see this option, too (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

David Bratman has left the Tolkien Studies building (Si apre in una nuova finestra). He has a few more things to add (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Thank you for your hard work, David!]

doubtfulsea has A Moon disfigured (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Dimitra Fimi has Magical Christmas (3): Gothic and Ghost stories at Christmas (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “Opposing The Fire That Devours and Wastes With The Fire That Kindles.” Gandalf Kindles a Flame in The Hearts of The Free Peoples of Middle-earth. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Two more items with the Journal of Tolkien Research: Belliphonic Tolkien: Listening to the Wars in Middle-earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and The High Hallow: Tolkien’s Liturgical Imagination (2025) by Ben Reinhard (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Miriam Ellis has Tolkien's Eagles: Friends in High Places. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

The answer is pretty simple³: The only fantasy author with a massive US audience (and beginning globally) at the time… was Tolkien. So his stories’ backcloth provided much of the recognisable ‘framework’ to the game. It could have possibly been anything - but Gary wanted success, so he went for the bestseller [imho] ⬇️⁴

Merchandise & Franchise

LOTRO Legendarium: Looking back at Lord of the Rings Online’s weird 2025 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Massively OP]

In one of the most hilarious video game articles this year we get a lot of Middle-earth related titles: The 176 video games that only sold one copy in 2025 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Polygon]

Books you might like to buy…

This is a perfectly random and incomplete list of Tolkienian publications I appreciate and you might like to get for yourself or for someone you’d like to present a gift to at the end of 2025.

Please do support independent bookstores wherever and whenever possible - thank you. At the end of this newsletter you’ll find the reasons why I am supporting these three bookshops.

[Blackwell’s & Genialokal for the EU etc.; Bookshop for the US etc.]

A Real Taste for Fairy-Stories Essays by Verlyn Flieger
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Proceedings of the Tolkien 2019 Conference
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)| Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
The Art of Mercy in Middle-Earth
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
The Hobbit Graphic Novel (revised and expanded)
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Queer Approaches to Tolkien
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Doomed to Die. An A-Z of Death in Tolkien
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra)| Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
The Tower & the Ruin
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

With thanks to Tim Bolton’s 2025 & 2026 Upcoming Tolkien-related books list (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Inter alia

Lucasfilm wins bid to throw out UK lawsuit over 'resurrection' of 'Star Wars' character (Si apre in una nuova finestra)[Reuters]

Follow Snowdo Baggins around Oxfordshire on this map (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Heritage Auctions Establishes New World Record With $3.875 Million ‘Star Wars’ Painting in Landmark Hollywood & Entertainment Sale (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [press release; fans with a keen eye will see the connection to ‘Tolkien’]

The Most Popular Books in US Public Libraries (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [ProQuest]

The Oscars Are Heading To YouTube In 2029 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Cartoon Brew]

Warner Bros. plans to reject Paramount bid on funding, terms (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Fortune]

kchchchchchch.😅

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

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

Do use my invite link (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and start with three months fee-free.
[Transparency note: I get a small referral bonus with no extra costs to you.]

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) - and 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 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. Here is a list (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for international well wishes for the end of the year festivities, Christmas among them - including Alassëa merendë! ↩

2. Festivities like Hanukkah, New Year’s Eve, Kwanzaa and Diwali, to name but a few; for a longer list have a look at Wikipedia (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

3. Do not quarter and hang me, appreciated! ↩

4. h/t Tolkien Gleanings #367 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩