The One hundred and eighty-second Roving Ranger

Life & Works

The Tolkien Society licensing bid for Sarehole Recreation Ground (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Yahoo News]

The Tolkienist’s Roving Ranger and more nominated for ‘Best Online Content’ with the Tolkien Society Awards | THANK YOU!

Events & Shows

As Michael Drout and Corey Olsen are involved I need to note Biblioventures | Tolkien, Beowulf, and Faerie (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - but it costs $100 [May 4]

Matej Cadil has opened an exhibiton of his work (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) titled “Two Worlds with One Brush” [Church of St John the Baptist in Horní Žďár (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) near Trutnov (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); official communal note (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

A Tolkien Weekend is happening in Great Haywood (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [July 11-12]

Please note I am the Guest of Honour of this year’s Lustrum of the Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor.

Registration is now open (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for June 19-21, 2026.

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

Scholarship & Fandom

Six Damn Fine Degrees #282: The BBC Radio Lord Of The Rings Part Three: Stephen Oliver, The Composer For The King (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [A Damn Fine Cup]

Stephen C. Winter has “This is An Evil Door”. Some Thoughts on The Dark Journeys of The Lord of the Rings as Aragorn and his Company Enter The Paths of the Dead (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Journal of Inklings Studies Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), has been published, with several articles with public access like Honegger’s review of Pezzini’s latest book (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

doubtfulsea has Subterranean (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

A thousand students from a school in Granada set a record reading The Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Elfenomeno]

The Oxford Tolkien Network has shared more videos with Youtube (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [check out the official website (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

My grand­father the pro­fessor, his friend JRR Tolkien, and a beloved island idyll (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Pressreader; Sunday Independent Ireland]

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). 📝

Merchandise & Franchise

When someone at GameSpot notices a legendary scene from the film trilogy in Resident Evil: Requiem (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - you check back with your girlfriend: It is true! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)¹

It makes me - personally - incredibly happy that The Princess Bride has won out over The Return of the King (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) as the best literary film adaptation of the last fifty years [Literary Hub]

Gamegenic is going to release sleeves, playmats, deckboxes (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for MTG: The Hobbit. [StarCityGames]

The third season of LotR: The Rings of Power is set to premiere later this year (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter; rumours go for a november release]

Among April’s Humble Bundle Choices (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is LotR: Return to Moria.

There is also a Steam sale (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) happening for LotR: Return to Moria until May 2nd.²

The Connecticut Renaissance Faire has added a themed weekend for September: ShireFolk (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

TheOneRing.net’s Merchandise March Madness 2026 had Geek Orthodox’ stained glass (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) win out over the film trilogy’s DVD Argonath edition.

Inter alia

Close to Cumberland in British Columbia (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Canada) the Cumberland Community Forest Society is trying to save… Middle Earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

You may never have noticed you crossed paths with John Baskerville but this research project will tell you about it: The Baskerville Punches (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [The Iron Room, Library of Birmingham]

With this year’s Doc Edge film festival in New Zealand Royd Tolkien can finally show There’s a Hole in my Bucket (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

These 6 book cover designs show what Gen Z actually wants to buy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Creative Boom]

Christopher Lockett has On Bookmarks (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

xkcd is always right.

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

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

Do use my invite link (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Bookshop.org (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), or Genialokal (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Bluesky (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Threads (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Mastodon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

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. my girl Susi (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) ❤️ and me were recently watching German YT gaming legend Gronkh’s walkthrough of Resi: Requiem and she confirmed it! Thank you, love 🤩 ↩

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