The One hundred and forty-seventh Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

July 26, 2014. Laocoon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), one of Tolkien's favourite trees, lost two limbs. Subsequently, the Oxford Botanic Garden decided that the tree must be felled for safety reasons (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [thetolkienist.com (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]
July 27, 1972. Tolkien writes a certificate of authenticity (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for the sale of his desk (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
July 28, 1939. Tolkien performs Chaucer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)'s The Reeve's Tale (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at the 'Summer Diversions' - a festival of recitals, plays and ballet.
July 29, 1938. E.V. Gordon (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), a later colleague of Tolkien, dies.
July 30, 1955. Tolkien goes to Italy with Priscilla Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
July 31, 1969. Tolkien writes Letter 311 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), concerned with his health.
August 1, 1917. Tolkien writes Letter 128 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), on changing The Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), the continuance of the feud.

Tolkien fans reassured over cracks in statue (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [BBC]

Events & Shows

I have to admit I would never have expected UK football legend Wayne Rooney and ‘Lord of the Rings’ in the same sentence but here we go:
Wayne and Coleen Rooney made heroes of Lord of the Rings spoof (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [BBC | trailer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Youtube | Legend of Rooney’s Ring (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Liverpool Royal Court Theatre; started July 18]

Glorfyndels has the Tolkien Fandom Event Calendar 2025 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)¹ [tumblr]

Mónica Sanz Rodríguez² [Spanish Tolkien Society] will be talking about Tolkien and the First World War (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at Biblioteca Pública de Maó, Menorca. [July 29]

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

doubtfulsea has King Returns and Tax Returns? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Marie Bretagnolle has A Princess illustrates The Lord of the Rings: Ingahild Grathmer, Eric Fraser and the Folio Society — Oxonmoot 2022 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The “Diary of a City Guard” has reached part 16 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Andrew Higgins has O Naffarinos!!! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Adam Roberts has Goblins! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “Night Always Had Been, and Always Would Be, And Night Was All.” Frodo and Sam Enter Shelob’s Lair. The Dark Journeys of The Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Merchandise & Franchise

The Tolkien Library (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is moving to Norway. [Tolkien Guide]

Dutch Fairy Tale Park with Hobbit Houses? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [In Dutch]

Inter alia

How Chuck Tingle Went Legit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Slate]

Lewis & Tolkien Graphic Novel ‘Mythmakers’ to Receive Big-Screen Animated Adaptation (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Narniaweb]

What losing the Rivers of America will mean to Walt Disney World (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)³ [Youtube]

Existential Comics wins this comics’ week with Gollum, his riddles, and German philosopher Rudolf Carnap (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Fun Fact Carnap went to Jena University; Jena is the city I live in.

Thinking about starting a newsletter, podcast, Patreon, Substack etc.?

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Do use my invite link (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and start with three months fee-free.
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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).

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.

1. h/t Emerald (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Bluesky] ↩

2. Transparency note Mónica is a good friend of mine, a well-respected Tolkien scholar and translator from Spain. ↩

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