The One hundred and forty-second Roving Ranger

Life and Works

Another scientific find has been named after a Tolkien character - Bolg amondol (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Phys.org; see original research article (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).]

Events & Shows

‘The Uses of Fantasy’–Zen Cho Lecture Recording now availabl (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)e [Tolkien Lecture, Oxford]

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Scholarship & Fandom

Dimitra Fimi has J.R.R. Tolkien and James Joyce (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Doubtfulsea has To horse! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

David Bratman has a few thoughts (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on Sørina Higgins’ Mythbusters.

Stephen C. Winter has “I Wonder What Sort of a Tale We’ve Fallen Into?” Sam Gamgee Continues to Think About His and Frodo’s Experience (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Robin Reid has the Studies in Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) flyer for the upcoming series. [Substack]

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings Online announces the full closure of its old 32-bit worlds at the end of August (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Massively OP]

The Mount Vernon Merchants’ Association (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is using Bilbo Baggins’ Birthday (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) to drum up business. [Facebook]

Elevenses in Maine (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) might actually be opening. [Instagram]

New Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum film will be shot in NZ, set for 2027 release (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [NZ Herald; paywall]

Inter alia

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is getting a fifth and final season (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [The Verge]

Someone turned (almost) all of Terry Pratchett’s stories into a rotating book (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube]

The 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has announced its shortlist (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part I (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Bret Devereaux]

Andrew Higgins has Ghor: A New Star Wars Art-Language (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Substack]

How to Market a Genre that Doesn't Exist: Simak's THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE TALISMAN (1978) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Stratofanatic]

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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).

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

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 average time of curating this newsletter ranges from 12-16 hours for the bi-weekly edition and 6-8 hours for the weekly one.