The One hundred and seventy-fifth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

February 17, 1894. Hilary Tolkien (Opens in a new window), J.R.R. Tolkien's brother, is born.
February 18, 1857. Arthur Tolkien (Opens in a new window) is born on Handsworth, Staffordshire, England.
February 20, 1938. In response to an article (Opens in a new window) in the Observer, a letter (Opens in a new window) by Tolkien is published, explaining the name and inception of the intriguing hero, which would, according to the Observer, "save many research students so very much trouble in the generations to come."
February 21, 1958. Tolkien writes Letter 205 (Opens in a new window), on Christopher's lecture presentation at Oxford.
February 22, 1964. Jane Neave (Opens in a new window), aunt of Tolkien, dies.
February 23, 1945. A letter by Tolkien, "The Name Coventry (Opens in a new window)", is published in the Catholic Herald (Opens in a new window).

• Third Age (Opens in a new window), 301 (Opens in a new window)9: The Fellowship is ambushed near Sarn Gebir (Opens in a new window) at night. A frightened Gollum (Opens in a new window) flees to the eastern bank and hides in the Emyn Muil (Opens in a new window). A flying shadow approaches but Legolas shoots it with the bow of Galadriel. [Feb 23]

Events & Shows

Meet the Tolkien Society (Opens in a new window) at William & Mary College (Opens in a new window).

Daniel Hubin will give his talk A Long Defeat: Tolkien's Vision of History in The Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window) [Pusey House, Oxford, Feb 24]

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

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Opens in a new window) | YT (Opens in a new window) | RSS feed (Opens in a new window)]

Scholarship & Fandom

#TolkienTrewsday (Opens in a new window) - which took up my idea of #TolkienTuesday on Xitter, inspired by #FolkloreThursday - is celebrating its Three Years Anniversary this week. [Bluesky]

Abigail Nussbaum has The Great Tolkien Reread: The Old Forest (Opens in a new window) [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

doubtfulsea has Do You Speak Villain? (2) (Opens in a new window)

Miriam Ellis has So special a gift: The tender bond between J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkien (Opens in a new window) and Tolkien's Sweetest Love Story: Sam Gamgee and Rose Cotton (Opens in a new window).

Edinburgh University Press made sure to mention the Journal of Inklings Studies (Opens in a new window) (vol 15, issue 2) again, including John Garth’s Revealed: Tolkien's 1939 Lecture on Fairy-stories (Opens in a new window) (free to read online).

Nicholas Birns has The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Creation (2025) (Opens in a new window) by Michael D.C. Drout [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Janet Croft shared Volume 37, Number 3 Mythlore At 50: A Celebration (2026) (Opens in a new window).

Robert S. Blackham who had published several books on Tolkien’s life (Opens in a new window) has passed away.¹

Stephen C. Winter has “As a Father You Shall Be to Me.” Thoughts on Fathers and Sons as Merry Lays His Sword on Théoden’s Lap (Opens in a new window).

Merchandise & Franchise

Lord of the Rings Online explains why its world is an ‘ecosystem’ rather than a themepark (Opens in a new window) [MMORPG]

Hasbro Reveals Three MTG Set Release Dates to Complete 2026 Calendar (Opens in a new window) [MTGRocks; Hobbit is coming Aug 14]

Concept Art from Eidos-Montréal’s LOTR Game [MP1st; project cancelled (Opens in a new window)]

Leibniz, Tolkien et Wilde : les rois des enchères en 2025 (Opens in a new window) [Actualitté]

Inter alia

George R.R. Martin has The Dreaming Spires (Opens in a new window).

The illustrated edition (Jim Kay) of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Opens in a new window) may have appeared in 2019 - but it is only now that a fan noticed Ron Weasley reading Tolkien? (Opens in a new window) [reddit]

Podcast Octothorpe’s 153rd episode (Opens in a new window) has cover art titled “Alison the White” [by Alison Scott]

Online comic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal has a statement on Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Opens in a new window) (and Disney) Tolkien might have agreed with, despite its ramifications (Opens in a new window).

The Wade has the manuscript of Gaudy Night (Opens in a new window) [Youtube]

10 Thoughts On “AI, (Opens in a new window)” February 2026 Edition [John Scalzi]

David Bratman has museum report: A Larger Reality, Ursula K. Le Guin (Opens in a new window) [Blogspot]

Good Omens will release May 13 (Opens in a new window) [File 770]

British Library celebrates fairy tales (Opens in a new window) in a major new exhibition² [March 27 ff.]

Onodrim Industries Raises €40 Million in Seed Funding (Opens in a new window) to Accelerate Europe's Defence & Industrial Technology Renaissance [Yahoo Finance]

Palantir CEO Alex Karp Recorded a Video About ICE for His Employees [Wired; potential paywall]

Palantir leadership sometimes refers to employees as “hobbits,” after the fictional Lord of the Rings characters.

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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 (Opens in a new window), Bookshop.org (Opens in a new window), or Genialokal (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window) : Facebook (Opens in a new window) : Bluesky (Opens in a new window) : Instagram (Opens in a new window) : Threads (Opens in a new window) : Mastodon (Opens in a new window) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)

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. Family note on Linkedin (Opens in a new window). ↩

2. h/t File 770 (Opens in a new window). ↩