The One hundred and sixty-first Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Nov 3, 1913. Tolkien writes to Edith (Opens in a new window) about registering as a reader at the Bodleian Library.
Nov 4, 1961. Tolkien writes Letter 232 (Opens in a new window), on his aunt and the long-ago trip through Switzerland.
Nov 5, 1956. Tolkien writes a letter to Mr Britten (Opens in a new window), starting an exchange on questions about the Silmarillion etc.
Nov 6, 1969. Informal date of foundation of The Tolkien Society (Opens in a new window).
Nov 7, 1944. Tolkien starts writing Letter 89 (Opens in a new window), on religious matters, eucatastrophe, and local news.
Nov 8, 1971. Tolkien writes letter 330a (Opens in a new window), on unfinished works, and film rights.
Nov 9, 1933. Tolkien's poem "Errantry (Opens in a new window)" is published in The Oxford Magazine.
Nov 19, 1943. Tolkien writes Letter 51b (Opens in a new window), on work and visiting Charles Williams (Opens in a new window).

• Third Age, 2994. Balin (Opens in a new window), Lord of Moria (Opens in a new window), is killed by an Orc archer as he stood to watch in Mirrormere (Opens in a new window). [Nov 10]

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Events & Shows

Michael Tolkien will be speaking in Oxford about Eden, Fall, Exile and Beyond in the History of Middle Earth (Opens in a new window) [Dec 5]

Come write at the Lamb & Flag in Oxford (Opens in a new window) [Every Sunday in November; Instagram]

UK blues rock group Ten Years After (Opens in a new window) uploaded their song The Hobbit from a live concert in Helsinki (Opens in a new window) in 1969 [Youtube]

The Prancing Pony Podcast has put out a Call for Papers (Opens in a new window) - for both papers as well as activities and entertainments - for this year’s Moot. [Instagram]

My local regulars’ table - in Jena, Germany - celebrated another edition of Hobbit Halloween (Opens in a new window) (including Thuringwethil, Annatar, and other creatures of the night) [Instagram]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).

Scholarship & Fandom

I may have done something silly.

Too Many Books and Never Enough has Wonder and Imagination (Opens in a new window).

Tom Hillman has From a Gift in Death to the Gift of Death: Túrin and the Doom of Men (Opens in a new window).

Holly Ordway has The Doctor of the Church and the Maker of Middle-earth: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Newman Connections (Opens in a new window). [Word on Fire]

Miriam Ellis has Savoring the Hobbit Mushroom Habit (Opens in a new window).

Stratofanatic has Analyzing the Mistakes in Grokipedia's Entry for Alliterative Verse (Opens in a new window).

Stephen C. Winter has “Whatever Betide, You Have Come to the End of The Gondor That You Have Known.” Gandalf Enters the Gates of Minas Tirith and Declares Its Doom (Opens in a new window).

The Making of The Fellowship – Catching up with Cathedral of Bricks (Opens in a new window) [Brothers Brick, on a new LEGO build]

Kaitlyn’s (Tea with Tolkien (Opens in a new window)) book is up for pre-order: Into the Heart of Middle-earth (Opens in a new window). [Ave Maria Press]

Merchandise & Franchise

New Immersive Soundscape Released For Silmarillion Audiobook (Opens in a new window) [TORn]

Irish harpist Joy Shannon unveils “Grey Havens” from new Tolkien-inspired album (Opens in a new window) [Moshville Times, UK; Ruth Tolkien (Opens in a new window), JRRT’s great-granddaughter, is providing backing vocals and can be seen in the video]

Olga Kann releases music video for “Echoes from the Barrow-Downs” (Opens in a new window) [Chaoszine]

Elijah Wood crashes Lord of the Rings-themed wedding held at the Shire: 'Oh my God' (Opens in a new window)[Entertainment Weekly]

Amazon Scales Back Gaming Ambitions Amid 14,000 Layoffs (Opens in a new window) [Kotaku; the planned LotR MMO might be cancelled] See also GamesRadar (Opens in a new window), Verge (Opens in a new window), and Reuters (Opens in a new window).

LotR:RoP is now free to stream with German television channel ZDFNeo (Opens in a new window) - in both English & German.

The Two Towers Trick-Taking Game Prerelease Events: Your Journey Continues Here! (Opens in a new window) [Office Dog Games]

Syzygy Forge Announces Licensing Partnership with Middle-earth Enterprises (Opens in a new window) [Youtube; don’t forget to look at the Shadow and Flame Pepper Bourbon Whiskey coming soon]

A German Army brigade stationed in Lithuania is promoting its ‘readiness’ with an unfortunate soundtrack and an impressive level of historical amnesia: the Nazgûl theme (Opens in a new window). [taz, in German]

Inter alia

If you ever wanted to know how collections should be properly stored - the Library of Birmingham’s Iron Room has you covered (Opens in a new window).

28 Years Later, One Star Wars Leak Confirms What Fans Have Wanted All Along (Opens in a new window) [Inverse; the original Star Wars might return to theatres in 2027]

We’re in a Book Affordability Crisis (Opens in a new window) [BookRiot]

Elon Musk Really Doesn't Get The Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window) [Wired; one article free, otherwise paywall]

The right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings. But they don’t understand it. (Opens in a new window) [Yahoo; originally Vox]

Ansible 460 (Opens in a new window) has been published.

2025 World Fantasy Awards have been presented (Opens in a new window), the British Fantasy Awards (Opens in a new window) as well.[File770]

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Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)

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