The One hundred and fiftieth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

August 19, 1916. Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and G.B. Smith (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) meet at Acheux.
August 20, 1981. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published.
August 22, 1944. Tolkien writes Letter 79 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
August 24, 1966. Tolkien lends Rayner Unwin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) a reading-copy of "The End of Bovadium (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)".
August 25, 1973. Tolkien writes a letter to Glyn Daniel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Looking Back/Looking Forward: The History of the English Faculty Library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Blogs at the Bodleian]

The Roving Ranger will be published every Monday at approximately 9 pm.
[I am at UTC+2 atm/ CEST].

This is a work in progress but here we are: The Roving Ranger with Spotify (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and with Youtube (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Events & Shows

The Stratford Festival has announced its 2026 schedul (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)e, including The Hobbit [Stratford, Ontario, Canada; Youtube trailer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

During the Wheaton College Family Weekend Open House on Nov 7-8 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) there will be a Storytime at the Wade presentation on Painting Wonder: How Pauline Baynes Illustrated the Worlds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

In a recent newsletter of the Cité internationale de la tapisserie Aubusson (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - where the Tolkien Tapestries (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (and two rugs!] werde made - it was noted that the Paris exhibition of their Tolkien-inspired work has drawn more than 50.000 visitors.¹

The Middle-earth CCG Worlds (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) happened last weekend in Montreal, Canada. [Council of Elrond]

Children’s Theater of Madison will be doing The Hobbit in February 2026 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Hobbit will be shown at the Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Heights, Ohio (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Dec ‘25-Jan26]

Alida Mau has a report of the Wynn Fonstad Middle-earth Map Exhibit At UW-Madison [TORn]

It is a pity but the revived Middle-earth Festival in Birmingham… has been cancelled (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Facebook]

Lord of the Rings Musical in Singapore - reviews: Straits Times (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | Bakchormeeboy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | Time Out (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | TatlerAsia (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

• Despite forgettable songs, Lord Of The Rings musical immerses fans with stagecraft [Straits Times]

• By the end of the long night, you may leave sore from the journey, but also with your heart full, reminded of the hope and imagination that have made Middle-earth endure for generations, and still persist even today. [Bakchormeeboy]

• For Tolkien diehards, it’s an intriguing – if imperfect – addition to the legendarium. For everyone else, it’s like being dropped into Mordor without so much as a map. [Time Out]

• One musical to rule them all? Not quite, but still a fun quest. [TatlerAsia]

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

Stephen C. Winter has “Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!” What did Frodo Say in Shelob’s Lair? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) as well as “None Could Rival Her, Shelob The Great, Last Child of Ungoliant to Trouble the Unhappy World.” We learn of the History of Shelob and Her Relationship with Sauron and with Gollum (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

doubtfulsea has Runing Things (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien Tuesday: Tolkien's Silmarillion "Beasts", Dinosaurs, and the Prehistoric Past (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Douglas A. Anderson has Tolkien Society Award and Oxonmoot 2025 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

James J. Schultz has Romanticism in Tolkien’s The Hobbit: Nature and Domestic Life as a Force for Good (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Robin Reid has "The Wife's Lament (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)" [Substack]

Giuseppe Pezzini has another book coming out: J.R.R. Tolkien and G.B. Smith: With Wind in our Ears. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Tolkien Guide]

Tom Hillman has "The Art of Mercy in Middle-earth: Paintings Inspired by Tolkien's Legendarium" -- by Miriam Ellis (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube]

Oronzo Cilli has Tolkien, Trains, and Two Discoveries: Meccano and Hornby (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and British Communists: Michael H. R. Tolkien’s letters to the Evening Despatch (1944) and the Catholic Herald (1948) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

One of the speakers at the New York Tolkien Conference (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) could not participate - and has made her talk available: Songs of Power in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

For those of you who have never read this classic: Why Gandalf never married (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - by Terry Pratchett. [Ansible]

Here is a 12-mile Middle Earth Hexmap (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).²

Merchandise & Franchise

More and more smaller and middle-sized companies are embracing the Middle-earth vibe.

• Hobbit Harvest Celebration and Afternoon Tea (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Sept 20; San Jose, CA, USA; Eventbrite]

• Hobbit Festival (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Sept 13; Valencia, PA (close to Pittburgh), USA; Eventbrite]

• The Party of Special Magnificence (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Sept 22; Anderson, SC, USA]

• Paints and Pints HOBBIT DAY at Nun Chuck's Brewing! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Sept 21; Lynnwood, WA, USA; Eventbrite]

How The Fellowship of the Ring explains post-9/11 America (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Vox; paywall; free to read with MSN (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)] Alternatively read Tom Emanuel’s The Lord of the Rings in a Post-9/11 World (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Substack]

10 Highest-Grossing Screenwriters Of All Time, Ranked (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Slash Film; both Boyens and Walsh are on it]

The Hero Complex Gallery had a SDCC release for this beauty by Stephen Andrade (Öffnet in neuem Fenster):

“We were doing back to back 100 hour weeks… the last days of Hobbit 3 we did 146 hours. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” [Working Class Audio; Youtube; on working conditions with the Hobbit film trilogy]

Fantasy or fraud: Viral hobbit hotel startup in Mass. raises $300K — but is it real? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Mass Live]

Ian McKellen Reveals Gandalf & Frodo Will Feature In Andy Serkis’ New ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Films (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Deadline]

Inter alia

The Oxford Sausage has a splendid post on map making in Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), contemporary to Tolkien.

After many years of a Tolkienian theme when landing in New Zealand: Wellington Airport unveils massive new sculpture in terminal (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Stuff NZ]

One Piece: Season 2 with Netflix has a trailer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The HUGO Awards have been announced (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [File770]

Will Sherwood has Romantic Transformations, Part 1: Romantic Authorship in Ex Machina (2015) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

A bright new chapter for Hobbit Preschool and Child Care Centre (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [NSW, Australia]

Christopher Lockett has an exceptional piece combining Pratchett, Tolkien, Eco and the beauty that is Labyrinth: [Substack]

Author K.A. Laity has a collection of UConn Medieval Plays as PDF (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) to download, now that UConn has shuttered the Medieval Studies Program (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Please note: Tolkien makes an appearance.

Elizabeth Bear (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has The Cozy/Grimdark/Heroic Fantasy Sine Wave and a bunch of stuff about villains (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Please note: Tolkien makes an appearance.

Schumer Mocked for Mentioning Imaginary Couple Hundreds of Times (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Daily Beast]

That is a J.R.R. Tolkien-level of gratuitous backstory, and I don’t say that lightly. John Oliver / Last Week Tonight [Youtube Shorts (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

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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 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. Aug 11, 2025. “Félicitations au Collège des Bernardins pour la réussite de cette exposition qui a accueilli plus de 50 000 visiteurs.” [See also LinkedIn post (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).] ↩

2. h/t Tolkien Gleanings #323 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩