The One hundred and seventy-fifth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

February 17, 1894. Hilary Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), J.R.R. Tolkien's brother, is born.
February 18, 1857. Arthur Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is born on Handsworth, Staffordshire, England.
February 20, 1938. In response to an article (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in the Observer, a letter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on Christopher's lecture presentation at Oxford.
February 22, 1964. Jane Neave (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), aunt of Tolkien, dies.
February 23, 1945. A letter by Tolkien, "The Name Coventry (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)", is published in the Catholic Herald (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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

Events & Shows

Meet the Tolkien Society (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at William & Mary College (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | YT (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | RSS feed (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Scholarship & Fandom

#TolkienTrewsday (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

doubtfulsea has Do You Speak Villain? (2) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

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

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

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

Janet Croft shared Volume 37, Number 3 Mythlore At 50: A Celebration (2026) (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Robert S. Blackham who had published several books on Tolkien’s life (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Merchandise & Franchise

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

Hasbro Reveals Three MTG Set Release Dates to Complete 2026 Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [MTGRocks; Hobbit is coming Aug 14]

Concept Art from Eidos-Montréal’s LOTR Game [MP1st; project cancelled (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Leibniz, Tolkien et Wilde : les rois des enchères en 2025 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Actualitté]

Inter alia

George R.R. Martin has The Dreaming Spires (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

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

Podcast Octothorpe’s 153rd episode (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has cover art titled “Alison the White” [by Alison Scott]

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

The Wade has the manuscript of Gaudy Night (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube]

10 Thoughts On “AI, (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” February 2026 Edition [John Scalzi]

David Bratman has museum report: A Larger Reality, Ursula K. Le Guin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Blogspot]

Good Omens will release May 13 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [File 770]

British Library celebrates fairy tales (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in a major new exhibition² [March 27 ff.]

Onodrim Industries Raises €40 Million in Seed Funding (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) 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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Bookshop.org (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), or Genialokal (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 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 (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) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

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 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩

2. h/t File 770 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). ↩