The One hundred and eighty-third Roving Ranger

Life & Works

Tolkien would have appreciated this: A New Early-Ninth-Century Manuscript of Cædmon’s Hymn (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [also Guardian (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]¹

Tolkien Society Award Winners

Best Artwork “The Long Winter, 1158: Gandalf Helps the Hobbits (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” by Miriam Ellis
Best article ‘The Tides Of Time, The Tides Of Fate, And The Power Of Song (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)‘ by Tom Hillman (published in Journal of Tolkien Research)
Best book The Tower and the Ruin, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation by Michael Drout
Best Online Content Tea with Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (Kaitlyn Facista)
Outstanding Contribution Award Jessica Yates

Congratulations to the winners, all of them well-deserved! I am particularly happy to say that - except for Miriam, we should remedy that! - I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting all of these amazing people. Thus I can add that they are also quite wonderful in person, besides being incredibly creative and diligent in all of their work! [Jessica has earned her award many times over, congratulations!]

As for me: third time pays for all! Keep nominating me, it may work next time - thank you! 😇

Events & Shows

Donato Giancola will be at LobsterCon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [May 1-2; Cambridge, Mass., USA]

The burlesque community has taken a liking to certain parts of Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [May 9, +bingo!; Orlando, Florida, USA]

Middle Earth [sic] is coming to Utah: Hale Centre Theatre announces 2027 season with ‘Lord of the Rings’ headliner (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [ABC4]

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

Luna Press will be publishing A Hobbit’s Holiday: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Journeys in the Belle Époque (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Piano Makers: An exploration of the musical history of the Tolkien family (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [IAML]

doubtfulsea has Planting (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Will Tell has The Two Chairs: An Extreme Tolkien Theory (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Mercury Natis has Updates from the Road (Öffnet in neuem Fenster): GIFCon + Publications [Substack]

Tea with Tolkien has won (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) the 2026 Tolkien Society Award for ‘Best Online Content’ [also: What We Can Learn From Tolkien’s Catholic Imagination with Kaitlyn Facista (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); Jesuits.org]

Stephen C. Winter has “Here is a Thing Unheard of! An Elf Will Go Underground and a Dwarf Dare Not!” Gimli’s Secret and Very Personal Dark Journey (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Connor Salter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) was kind enough to mention to me that the romance bookstore, The Ripped Bodice, is selling Martina Juričková (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)’s Cardinal Vices in Middle-earth, with ‘vices’ possibly having been misunderstood.

Iowa Professor Explores J.R.R. Tolkien’s Influence on ’60s Counterculture (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [For Iowa]

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

Merchandise & Franchise

Active development on Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has ended.

The Lord of the Rings: Foes of Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is still offering late pledge options, after having gathered more than $900k+ with close to 3,000 supporters [GameFound]

Office Dog games has Interview with artist, Lorenzo Colangeli (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [The Hobbit: There & Back Again]

NZ tourism up against the algorithm (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Otago Daily Times]

Andy Serkis shares Viggo Mortensen's reaction to Jamie Dornan being cast as Aragorn in LOTR: The Hunt for Gollum (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Entertainment Weekly]

Stone Blade Entertainment will crowdfound The Lord of the Rings: Ascension (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) later this year [the precursor (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

The Spectator (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) invited people to write critiques on fictional hotels, restaurants, or pubs - with the Prancing Pony getting special mention, but not a review.

Uttar Pradesh (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (largest state in India) is planning on increasing tourism to their part of the world - and part of their campaign shall be hobbit houses (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Travel Trade Journal]

Inter alia

This was not the marketing campaign’s consequences as imagined, I am sure: moleskine’s ai lord of the rings collection can only mock (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Starting May 2, the Oxfordshire Artweeks (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) are happening [Oxford Clarion; three weeks in all]

'A remarkable time capsule': The enchanting history of Oxford University's 750-year-old medieval library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [BBC]

Predating the Aztec Empire, Merton College Library in Oxford has been used by everyone from celebrated 14th-Century mathematicians to JRR Tolkien. In an exclusive interview with the BBC for its 750th birthday, its librarian describes what makes it so special.

Science Fiction at 100 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [University of Liverpool Library]

Fun Fact from Digital Tolkien Project (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) creator James Tauber who is moving to Germany on a research project (the German Tolkien fandom is rather excited!):

Author Lavie Tidhar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) made note that Tolkien is mentioned in A Man Lies Dreaming (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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. h/t Nelson Goering (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) with the TS FB group ↩