The One hundred and fifty-first Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

The recent Brian Aldiss exhibit at Blackwell Hall/ Bodleian Libraries reminded me of this: Friendships: J.R.R. Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela). Also note - 2025 is the centenary and a large exhibition is forthcoming with the Bod (Abre numa nova janela).

The “30 greatest fantasy books of all time (Abre numa nova janela)” with the Telegraph has The Lord of the Rings in it.

I am helping my fiancée move into her new home so this is a bare-bones edition. Thank you for your understanding. Normal service resumes next week.

Events & Shows

The Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim is celebrating its 54th jubilee in 2026 - international registrations are now open (Abre numa nova janela). Fun Fact: I’ll be celebrating my own 54th Jubilee in 2026 as well!

The DragonCon Tolkien Photoshoot will happen this weekend (Abre numa nova janela) [Facebook; please make sure to say hi to the Pink Nazgûl Club, sporting most excellent Dark Lord Crocs (Abre numa nova janela)]

Your chance to be in The Hobbit in south-east Michigan (Abre numa nova janela) [auditions this weekend]

Fly, you fools! at Edinburgh seems to be qute hilarious (Abre numa nova janela) [What’s on Stage]

Robert Nideffer: 12 Years in Azeroth is at the Whitney Museum (Abre numa nova janela), bringing together ‘Earth, Azeroth, and Middle-earth.’ (Abre numa nova janela)

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Abre numa nova janela) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Abre numa nova janela).

Scholarship & Fandom

Tom Hillman has Tolkien: The Monsters and the Fascists (Abre numa nova janela).

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien Tuesday: Tolkien's nonsense flora and fauna on the Moon (Abre numa nova janela). [Substack]

doubtfulsea has Bogged Down (Abre numa nova janela).

Robin Reid has “An Incomplete Academic Fellowship: Excluding Queer Feminist Women from Tolkien Studies.” (Abre numa nova janela) [Substack]

Sara Brown has “Of their women we hear less”: Pride and Prejudice in the tale of ‘Aldarion and Erendis.’ (Abre numa nova janela) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Merchandise & Franchise

Backstage with The Lord Of The Rings’ Gollum, Shelob and the Nazgul (Abre numa nova janela) [Youtube; on LotR Musical in Singapore]

Out now - Dobble: Quest for the One Ring (Abre numa nova janela) [Asmodee UK]

‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Featured 6,000 VFX Shots Over Eight Episodes (Abre numa nova janela) [Deadline]

Your chance to a luxury photoshoot with ‘the’ Hobbit House (Abre numa nova janela)™️[Rhode Island, US]

Stuff I did not have on my list for 2025: Quest for the Albatross (Abre numa nova janela). [Steam; pre-release]

Quest for the Albatross is a pixel art golf RPG inspired by Tolkien fantasy! Master a unique spellcasting golf system to outplay rivals, solve ancient puzzles, and uncover the secrets of a world on the brink of destruction. Every stroke brings you closer to destiny!¹

• Fun Fact Did you know the hobbits invented golf (Abre numa nova janela)?

Inter alia

Gates created by Tolkien's great-nephew restored (Abre numa nova janela) [BBC; see Facebook, too (Abre numa nova janela), with photos of Tim Tolkien at work]

'Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown' will turn Voyager's seven-year journey into a rogue-lite survival gam (Abre numa nova janela)e [Space.com]

In South Kerry (Ireland) developers want to build hobbit houses, bringing in an appeal (Abre numa nova janela) after already having been turned down.

The lore behind Columbia’s quirky street names (Abre numa nova janela) [Baltimore Banner; including Tolkien-inspired street names]

• I wrote about one such case in the Netherlands (Abre numa nova janela). [thetolkienist.com]

Dan Price has been living in a tiny “hobbit hole” for 35 years (Abre numa nova janela). [Fair Companies]

• I did a way more substantial piece, including an interview, in 2015 (Abre numa nova janela). [thetolkienist.com]

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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).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Abre numa nova janela)

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. Some incredibly elusive hints in the text like “journey across the land of Ace (Abre numa nova janela)”, and, of course, Golfimbul (Abre numa nova janela), so their statement “Golf is Combat” is correct. Their Kickstarter isn’t going well, though (Abre numa nova janela). ↩