The One hundred and seventy-sixth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

February 24, 1950. Tolkien writes Letter 124 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) ready – was it and The Silmarillion (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) wanted?
February 27, 1930. Joseph Wright (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), former tutor of Tolkien, dies.
February 28, 1949. Tolkien writes Letter 119 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on busily working, anticipating a period of leave.
February 29, 1968. Tolkien writes Letter 301 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on Tolkien in Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
March 1 ,1939. Tolkien writes Letter 36a (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on Michael's last year at school.

Tolkien mentions travelling to Scotland early the next week to give a lecture (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) he has not yet written, but ends by saying he hopes Michael will be up and about feeling better soon. [my emphasis]

• Third Age (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 301 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)9: Gandalf (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) comes to Edoras (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and heals Théoden (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Éomer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is released and Théoden holds his sword (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) again. [Mar 2]

Events & Shows

The Jesters Theatre has The Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Mission, British Columbia, Canada) [Feb 20-28]

The Middle-earth Road Trip Readathon is happening via the Storygraph [@hexlibris (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Instagram; March 1-31]

The Tolkien.Folk have published their #MiddleearthMarch prompt list (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Instagram]

The Edinburgh Tolkien Society (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has Dimitra Fimi as guest speaker: Tolkien, mythology and mythography. [Feb 24; Instagram]

The Oxford Tolkien Society has just been beaten by the Cambridge Tolkien Society in the Varsity Quiz (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Congrats to the winners! [Instagram]

The Racing Theatre Guild (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)(Racine, Wisconsin, USA) will show the Hobbit [April]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

I am planning on doing a global map for Tolkien Reading Day (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), with events from Tolkien societies & smials, libraries and cultural partners, who have Middle-earth in their hearts.

If you feel like helping out, let me know, and you can become part of the editing team!

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | YT (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | RSS feed (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Scholarship & Fandom

Wayne G. Hammond & Christina Scull have Tolkien Notes 23 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) as well as Addenda and Corrigenda February 2026 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wordpress]

John Garth has Meditation and mosaic: two landmark Tolkien studies (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Steady; reviews of Drout and Pezzini; paywall]

Thoughts on Tolkien has Merry the Magnificent (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Wordpress]

Miriam Ellis has A Hobbit Kitchen and the Fróðafrið (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and…

Matej Cadil has The Tree of Light on the Hill of Shadow (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Nick Polk has A Critical Response to “Between Mount Doom and the Wall of ‘Likes’” in Amon Hen #317 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Robin Reid has feminist killjoy bibliographic essay (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

doubtfulsea has Do You Speak Villain? (Part 3) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Stephen C. Winter has “He Knows Not to What End He Rides; Yet if he Knew , He Still Would Go On.” Merry Begins His Ride to War (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Tea with Tolkien had her book launch (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Youtube]

The Inklings Quarterly has IQ 10: Answering Alcuin, Dancing with Stars, & Fellow Book Projects (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Merchandise & Franchise

Czechoslovakian wolfdog Nazgul (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) made quite the appearance at the Winter Olympics¹ [NPR]

Lord of the Rings fans all make same comment about The Hunt for Gollum film (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Mirror, UK; an example of how online reporting can be lazy af]

Ben Child is - as is his wont - doing the same thing: The Hunt for Gollum looks like a step too far for the endless Lord of the Rings franchise (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian]

Is A Promised Hobbit Hotel A Scam? WBZ's Matt Shearer Investigate (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)s [WBZ News Radio]

Mithril’s Miniature Box ‘The Fellowship of the Ring (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’ is worth having a look at. [Instagram]

First new collectible pieces from Syzygy Forge are stunning! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [TORn; much more interesting: the upcoming John Howe collection (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

McIntosh delivers positive report at museum annual general meeting (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Stratford-Perth-Museum; using the Stratford Festival’s Hobbit rendition]

Inter alia

The Oxfam Bookshop on St Giles, the charity’s first ever dedicated bookshop, could be closed (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Oxford Clarion]

Charlotte Mendelson has the question What has it got in its pocketses? at the beginning of her piece The whole world in my pocket (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Observer]

Myth, monsters and making sense of a disenchanted world: why everyone is reading fantasy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian]

Royal Shakespeare Company confirms launch of GAME OF THRONES: THE MAD KING for Summer 2026 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Wertzone; GRRM’s own word (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)s]

Rebecca Bratten Weiss is asking the question: Can I Still Love Tolkien? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Radical Soul, Substack]

L.A.’s famous ‘Hobbit Houses’ have a new owner. He calls himself the ‘King of Storybook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’ [LA Times; please note, this is not a ‘hobbit hole’, just a marketing term to sell the news better]

The final trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has been published [Youtube]

The Science Museum in London will be the UK’s (and probably Europe’s) centre for Star Trek 60 celebrations (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - including all films on March 26th ff.

Annie Awards 2026: „Animation is not a genre — it is one of the most powerful and enduring creative mediums in the world!“ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | [Indac; remarks by Aubry Mintz, Executive Director, ASIFA-Hollywood]

‘Andor’ Creator Tony Gilroy Gives the Interview He Couldn’t During Its Release (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter]

Josh Kushner uses 'Lord of the Rings' to explain what being close to OpenAI taught him about perceived power (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Business Insider Africa]

"To use the Lord of the Rings analogy," Kushner said, "Sam, Greg, OpenAI have the Ring, and everyone is willing to do whatever they can to take it."

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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. h/t Brian Weaver (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Bluesky) ↩