The One hundred and thirty-fifth Roving Ranger

Life and Works

A posthumous edition of one of Tolkien’s works by his son Christopher has been listed with several serices: The Bovadium Fragments: Together with The Origins of Bovadium (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [h/t Carl Hostetter]. More on this with Tolkiengateway (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

First Gaelic translation of The Hobbit published (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [University of Aberdeen]

Events & Shows

‘A Long-expected Party’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Kentucky is open for registration. [Sept 24-28]

The Gamer’s Keep Tavern close to Seattle is offering a Second Breakfast (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [May 25, Facebook]

GIFCon 2025 is happening May 7-9 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

John Garth is on tour in Ireland (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Facebook]

The New York Tolkien Conference has announced Nicholas Birns as speaker (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Laura Martin-Gomez is giving a talk in Belgium: De la science en fantasy : lectures scientifiques de l’œuvre de Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [May 6]

Anke Eissmann’s art exhibition can be visited until autumn (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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

The Tolkien Society has announced its award’s winners (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

John D. Rateliff has Tolkien and Wartime Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The people at the Tolkien Guide have interviewed Dutch Tolkien scholar and owner of the Tolkien Shop, the only brick-and-mortar store specialised in Middle-earth, René van Rossenberg (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Miriam Ellis has Now Available: The Art of Mercy in Middle-earth! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Andymation is making the One Flipbook to Rule them All (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Youtube]

The Journal of Tolkien Research vol 21, issue 1, is filling up nicely (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Bruce Charlton has Charles Williams Did influence JRR Tolkien's writing - The Place of the Lion and The Notion Club Papers. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien's earliest "fairy" poem: Wood-Sunshine (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “Luck Served You There; but You Seized Your Chance With Both Hands One Might Say.” Some more thoughts on the empty Morgul Vale that Frodo and Sam will walk through (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Other Minds issue 28 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is available for download.

The purpose of this publication is to provide Tolkien-related content of interest to Tolkien enthusiasts of all kinds and more specifically, information usable by those who love to use role playing games to enjoy the many facets of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginary universe.

Mythic Capital. How Tolkien is whispering in the ears of America’s most powerful men (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [ARC magazine]

Merchandise & Franchise

Experts say Monolith's patented Nemesis System doesn't have to die with its Lord of the Rings games (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Games Radar]

Meet The Fellowship Behind Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Nintendo Insider]

The calligraphy Kickstarter by Ferris Wheel Press is followed by an Indiegogo campaign (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

In Australia the LotR musical tour has:

Inter alia

Martin Freeman says he confronts ‘annoying’ fans who follow him around (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Independent]

Ansible 454 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has been published.

Paul Kidby will be exhibited at the Weston Museum (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) following May 28.

Fantastic Fiction: Elric of Melniboné: Tortured Elf Emperor with a Cursed Sword (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Seattle WorldCon; on whether Elric has pointy ears!]

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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.