The One hundred and sixty-fourth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Nov 24, 1964. Robert Graves, Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)'s Professor of Poetry, introduces Tolkien to Ava Gardner (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). They had never heard of one another, and both did not know why the other was famous.
Nov 25, 1936. Tolkien delivers the lecture "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)" to the British Academy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Nov 26, 1963. Tolkien, James Dundas-Grant (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Robert Havard (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Owen Barfield (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Christopher Tolkien attend the funeral of C.S. Lewis (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Nov 27, 1914. Tolkien reads The Voyage of Eärendel the Evening Star (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at a poorly attended meeting of Exeter College (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)'s Essay Club.
Nov 29, 1971. Edith Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) dies after a short but severe illness attributed to an inflamed gall-bladder.
Nov 30, 1972. Tolkien writes Letter 345 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on objections to noble names for cattle with other suggestions.
Dec 1, 1913. Tolkien is elected president of the Stapledon Society, a student body at Exeter College (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Bovadium Fragments, a review (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), if you want it.

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

Events & Shows

Fantasy’s Present Pasts, the inaugural European Conference on the Fantastic, takes place in Glasgow June 23-25, 2026. The Call for Papers is open until Dec 12 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Prancing Pony Podcast Moot will happen Dec 18-21 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Dutch Tolkien Society Unquendor will have its AGM and Joelfest on Dec 20 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Middle Earth After Dark: A Lord of the Rings Burlesque and Trivia Event (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[Atlanta, GA, USA]

Review: THE GREATEST FANTASY TRILOGY at Alma Tavern Theatre (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Stage Talk]

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

Scholarship & Fandom

November 25 sees the publication of Númenor, The Mighty and Frail (Peter Roe Series XXV) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Blackwell’s]

Michael Drout’s The Tower and the Ruin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) will be available Dec 2. [Blackwell’s]

I have tried to get rid of a traumatic musical experience with this one:

Lev Grossman (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has That Other American Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Substack; he is probably single-handedly responsible for GRRM being considered the American Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien Tuesday: Fathers and Sons Time-traveling (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Substack]

Hither Shore 21 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has been published, the German Tolkien Society’s academic journal (the topic is Tolkien and his Editors (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).)

Andrew Higgins has World Building and Language Invention In Focus. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

The current issue of the Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature (SELIM) has Imitative Translations of Beowulf: Tolkien, Lehmann, and McCully (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [open access]

Thoughts on Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has provided a list of holiday sales including Tolkien scholarship. [reddit]

Miriam Ellis has Sam, Rose and the Complete Gamgee Family at Bag (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)End as well as Meeting Hobbits in the Elder Days and the Mystery of Untranslated Texts. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

The Inklings Quarterly is out now: Discovering Charles Williams, Tolkien for Medical Humanities, a Hobbit Dinner & Reading Marathon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Inklings Project]

doubtfulsea has On the Road(s) Again (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Merchandise & Franchise

J.R.R Tolkien auction: Treasure trove to sell for thousands (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Oxford Mail]

Please note This auction is being viewed critically over at the Tolkien Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

PSA: Lord of the Rings Online extends its free questing coupon for a couple more weeks (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Massively OP]

This year’s Thea Awards (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) have been given out and Bagshot Row, Hobbiton, in New Zealand has won for Outstanding Achievement, Attraction, Limited Budget (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Hobbit: There And Back Again Board Game Review (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [IGN]

Netflix Promises to Keep Warner Bros. Movies in Theaters if It Wins Deal to Buy Company (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Variety]

Inside the Hobbit group chat Dominic Monaghan shares with his ‘Lord of the Rings’ co-stars (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [New York Post]

Inter alia

Jeff LaSala has Frankenstein’s Monster Has Not a Stitch On! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Alan Moore in conversation with Stewart Lee [Youtube]

Fantasy novels predicted to shape the next wave of baby names (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Yahoo, UK]

Modiphius announces Terry Pratchett Discworld board games and RPG Kickstarter for 2026 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Tabletop Gaming UK]

The rise of generative AI has positioned the UK publishing sector on the brink of irreversible change. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [University of Cambridge, UK]

Novelists fear their work will be displaced and their future ability to earn from writing will be entirely diminished… over half (51%) of published novelists agreed that AI is likely to displace their work entirely.

I case you were wondering where the Balrog wings have ended up…

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Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

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