The One hundred and seventy-fifth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

February 17, 1894. Hilary Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela), J.R.R. Tolkien's brother, is born.
February 18, 1857. Arthur Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela) is born on Handsworth, Staffordshire, England.
February 20, 1938. In response to an article (Abre numa nova janela) in the Observer, a letter (Abre numa nova janela) by Tolkien is published, explaining the name and inception of the intriguing hero, which would, according to the Observer, "save many research students so very much trouble in the generations to come."
February 21, 1958. Tolkien writes Letter 205 (Abre numa nova janela), on Christopher's lecture presentation at Oxford.
February 22, 1964. Jane Neave (Abre numa nova janela), aunt of Tolkien, dies.
February 23, 1945. A letter by Tolkien, "The Name Coventry (Abre numa nova janela)", is published in the Catholic Herald (Abre numa nova janela).

• Third Age (Abre numa nova janela), 301 (Abre numa nova janela)9: The Fellowship is ambushed near Sarn Gebir (Abre numa nova janela) at night. A frightened Gollum (Abre numa nova janela) flees to the eastern bank and hides in the Emyn Muil (Abre numa nova janela). A flying shadow approaches but Legolas shoots it with the bow of Galadriel. [Feb 23]

Events & Shows

Meet the Tolkien Society (Abre numa nova janela) at William & Mary College (Abre numa nova janela).

Daniel Hubin will give his talk A Long Defeat: Tolkien's Vision of History in The Lord of the Rings (Abre numa nova janela) [Pusey House, Oxford, Feb 24]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Abre numa nova janela).

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Abre numa nova janela) | YT (Abre numa nova janela) | RSS feed (Abre numa nova janela)]

Scholarship & Fandom

#TolkienTrewsday (Abre numa nova janela) - which took up my idea of #TolkienTuesday on Xitter, inspired by #FolkloreThursday - is celebrating its Three Years Anniversary this week. [Bluesky]

Abigail Nussbaum has The Great Tolkien Reread: The Old Forest (Abre numa nova janela) [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

doubtfulsea has Do You Speak Villain? (2) (Abre numa nova janela)

Miriam Ellis has So special a gift: The tender bond between J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela) and Tolkien's Sweetest Love Story: Sam Gamgee and Rose Cotton (Abre numa nova janela).

Edinburgh University Press made sure to mention the Journal of Inklings Studies (Abre numa nova janela) (vol 15, issue 2) again, including John Garth’s Revealed: Tolkien's 1939 Lecture on Fairy-stories (Abre numa nova janela) (free to read online).

Nicholas Birns has The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation (2025) (Abre numa nova janela) by Michael D.C. Drout [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Janet Croft shared Volume 37, Number 3 Mythlore At 50: A Celebration (2026) (Abre numa nova janela).

Robert S. Blackham who had published several books on Tolkien’s life (Abre numa nova janela) has passed away.¹

Stephen C. Winter has “As a Father You Shall Be to Me.” Thoughts on Fathers and Sons as Merry Lays His Sword on Théoden’s Lap (Abre numa nova janela).

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings Online explains why its world is an ‘ecosystem’ rather than a themepark (Abre numa nova janela) [MMORPG]

Hasbro Reveals Three MTG Set Release Dates to Complete 2026 Calendar (Abre numa nova janela) [MTGRocks; Hobbit is coming Aug 14]

Concept Art from Eidos-Montréal’s LOTR Game [MP1st; project cancelled (Abre numa nova janela)]

Leibniz, Tolkien et Wilde : les rois des enchères en 2025 (Abre numa nova janela) [Actualitté]

Inter alia

George R.R. Martin has The Dreaming Spires (Abre numa nova janela).

The illustrated edition (Jim Kay) of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Abre numa nova janela) may have appeared in 2019 - but it is only now that a fan noticed Ron Weasley reading Tolkien? (Abre numa nova janela) [reddit]

Podcast Octothorpe’s 153rd episode (Abre numa nova janela) has cover art titled “Alison the White” [by Alison Scott]

Online comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal has a statement on Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Abre numa nova janela) (and Disney) Tolkien might have agreed with, despite its ramifications (Abre numa nova janela).

The Wade has the manuscript of Gaudy Night (Abre numa nova janela) [Youtube]

10 Thoughts On “AI, (Abre numa nova janela)” February 2026 Edition [John Scalzi]

David Bratman has museum report: A Larger Reality, Ursula K. Le Guin (Abre numa nova janela) [Blogspot]

Good Omens will release May 13 (Abre numa nova janela) [File 770]

British Library celebrates fairy tales (Abre numa nova janela) in a major new exhibition² [March 27 ff.]

Onodrim Industries Raises €40 Million in Seed Funding (Abre numa nova janela) to Accelerate Europe's Defence & Industrial Technology Renaissance [Yahoo Finance]

Palantir CEO Alex Karp Recorded a Video About ICE for His Employees [Wired; potential paywall]

Palantir leadership sometimes refers to employees as “hobbits,” after the fictional Lord of the Rings characters.

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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 (Abre numa nova janela), Bookshop.org (Abre numa nova janela), or Genialokal (Abre numa nova janela), 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 (Abre numa nova janela) : Facebook (Abre numa nova janela) : Bluesky (Abre numa nova janela) : Instagram (Abre numa nova janela) : Threads (Abre numa nova janela) : Mastodon (Abre numa nova janela) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Abre numa nova janela)

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. Family note on Linkedin (Abre numa nova janela). ↩

2. h/t File 770 (Abre numa nova janela). ↩