The One hundred and seventieth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Events & Shows

The Forge of Friendship: J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis – Documentary Sneak Peek and Q&A (Abre numa nova janela) [Western Michigan University; Jan 23]

Lord of the Rings Marathon Screening at Magdalen, Oxford (Abre numa nova janela)¹ [Feb 7]

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has rescheduled one of their Tolkien Talks on Lichen and Rocks (Abre numa nova janela) to [Jan 24]

Nominations open for Tolkien Society Awards 2026 (Abre numa nova janela) [until Feb 1]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Abre numa nova janela).

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Abre numa nova janela) | YT (Abre numa nova janela) | RSS feed (Abre numa nova janela)]

Scholarship & Fandom

Available now: The Tolkien Books Database (Abre numa nova janela) [A Digital Tolkien Project]

Hall of Beorn has Discussion: The Downfall of Númenor – Part 5 (Abre numa nova janela).

Johan de Meij's Tolkien Symphonies: Symphony N°1 'The Lord Of The Rings' Vs. Symphony N°5 'Return To Middle-Earth' (Abre numa nova janela)[JWFan]

doubtfulsea has Through a glass… (Abre numa nova janela)

Miriam Ellis has Sitting with Sam beneath the Shire Mallorn (Abre numa nova janela) and Glimpsing the Days of the King on the Shores of Lake Evendim (Abre numa nova janela).

Find out about the “Tolkien Hypthesis” in Castles, Battlefields, and Continents: A Dataset of Maps from Literature (Abre numa nova janela) [Anthology of Computers and the Humanities, PDF]

Insect Damage, Tolkien, and a Book of… Cheese? (Abre numa nova janela) [Oxford Libraries Trainees]

Thoughts on Tolkien has Happy New Year! (Abre numa nova janela)

Stephen C. Winter has “For if We Fall, Who Shall Stand? And, Master Peregrin, Do You See Any Hope That We Shall Stand?” Beregond and Pippin on the Walls of Minas Tirith (Abre numa nova janela).

Abigail Nussbaum has The Great Tolkien Reread: The Shadow of the Past (Abre numa nova janela).²

Matej Cadil has From Valkyries to Ancient Egypt: What did the Crown of Gondor look like? (Abre numa nova janela) [Substack]

Dimitra Fimi has A few gems from the Tolkien Family Album (Abre numa nova janela) [Substack]

Vegetal Modes of Resistance: Arboreal Eco-Rebellion in The Lord of the Rings (Abre numa nova janela) [Humanities; MDPI]

Transformations of oral and written narratives : the interdisciplinary approach (Abre numa nova janela) [eds. Maciej Czeremski, Gregor Pobežin, Karol Zieliński; open access PDF; Tolkien features prominently and with Łukasz Neubauer’s ‘…Tolkien’s refashioning of the Völsung material in The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún…’]

Merchandise & Franchise

The Journey Continues with The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers™ Trick-Taking Game (Abre numa nova janela) [Office Dog Games; see also Artist Spotlight with Elaine Ryan (Abre numa nova janela)]

Lord Of The Rings ‘Extended-Extended Edition’ Mithril Cut Doesn’t Exist, Says Peter Jackson (Abre numa nova janela) [Empire]

‘Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy Earns $5 Million in Box Office Presales for Theatrical Re-Release (Abre numa nova janela) [Variety]

LotRO sent out a letter to players (Abre numa nova janela) on upcoming plans.

Middle-earth Enterprises CEO Lee Guinchard has been named COO of the Embracer Group (Abre numa nova janela)[press release]

Inter alia

I made a Wallace & Gromit contraption in real life! (Abre numa nova janela) - Joseph's Machines³ [Youtube]

Betty Boop, Nancy Drew and the Maltese Falcon: Welcome to the Public Domain (Abre numa nova janela) [Internet Archive]

How to Radically Improve Your Attention (Abre numa nova janela) [New Books Newsletter - Substack]

As mentioned before in this newsletter, here are the incredibly nonsensical 90 secs with Tolkien in Fackham Hall (Abre numa nova janela) [Youtube]

David Bratman has ubiquitous comic strips (Abre numa nova janela) [Blogspot]

Curating a Show on My Ineffable Mother, Ursula K. Le Guin (Abre numa nova janela) [Hyperallergic]

Heavy Is the Crown: George R.R. Martin on His Triumphs and Torments (Abre numa nova janela) [Hollywood Reporter]

Record Profits, Record Output, Record Burnout: Inside Anime’s Quality Crisis (Abre numa nova janela) [Cartoon Brew]

Netflix is back as #1 in US streaming (Abre numa nova janela) [File770 (10)]

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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 (Abre numa nova janela), Bookshop.org (Abre numa nova janela), or Genialokal (Abre numa nova janela), 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 (Abre numa nova janela) : Facebook (Abre numa nova janela) : Bluesky (Abre numa nova janela) : Instagram (Abre numa nova janela) : Threads (Abre numa nova janela) : Mastodon (Abre numa nova janela) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Abre numa nova janela)

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. h/t Tolkien Gleaning 374 (Abre numa nova janela). ↩

2. h/t File770 (Abre numa nova janela). ↩

3. h/t File770 (Abre numa nova janela). ↩