The One hundred and eighty-second Roving Ranger

Life & Works

The Tolkien Society licensing bid for Sarehole Recreation Ground (Opens in a new window) [Yahoo News]

The Tolkienist’s Roving Ranger and more nominated for ‘Best Online Content’ with the Tolkien Society Awards | THANK YOU!

Events & Shows

As Michael Drout and Corey Olsen are involved I need to note Biblioventures | Tolkien, Beowulf, and Faerie (Opens in a new window) - but it costs $100 [May 4]

Matej Cadil has opened an exhibiton of his work (Opens in a new window) titled “Two Worlds with One Brush” [Church of St John the Baptist in Horní Žďár (Opens in a new window) near Trutnov (Opens in a new window); official communal note (Opens in a new window)]

A Tolkien Weekend is happening in Great Haywood (Opens in a new window) [July 11-12]

Please note I am the Guest of Honour of this year’s Lustrum of the Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor.

Registration is now open (Opens in a new window) for June 19-21, 2026.

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

Scholarship & Fandom

Six Damn Fine Degrees #282: The BBC Radio Lord Of The Rings Part Three: Stephen Oliver, The Composer For The King (Opens in a new window) [A Damn Fine Cup]

Stephen C. Winter has “This is An Evil Door”. Some Thoughts on The Dark Journeys of The Lord of the Rings as Aragorn and his Company Enter The Paths of the Dead (Opens in a new window).

The Journal of Inklings Studies Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Opens in a new window), has been published, with several articles with public access like Honegger’s review of Pezzini’s latest book (Opens in a new window).

doubtfulsea has Subterranean (Opens in a new window).

A thousand students from a school in Granada set a record reading The Hobbit (Opens in a new window) [Elfenomeno]

The Oxford Tolkien Network has shared more videos with Youtube (Opens in a new window) [check out the official website (Opens in a new window)]

My grand­father the pro­fessor, his friend JRR Tolkien, and a beloved island idyll (Opens in a new window) [Pressreader; Sunday Independent Ireland]

If you are more comfortable following me and my ventures via WhatsApp - here’s the Travelling Tolkienist Channel (Opens in a new window). 📝

Merchandise & Franchise

When someone at GameSpot notices a legendary scene from the film trilogy in Resident Evil: Requiem (Opens in a new window) - you check back with your girlfriend: It is true! (Opens in a new window)¹

It makes me - personally - incredibly happy that The Princess Bride has won out over The Return of the King (Opens in a new window) as the best literary film adaptation of the last fifty years [Literary Hub]

Gamegenic is going to release sleeves, playmats, deckboxes (Opens in a new window) for MTG: The Hobbit. [StarCityGames]

The third season of LotR: The Rings of Power is set to premiere later this year (Opens in a new window) [Hollywood Reporter; rumours go for a november release]

Among April’s Humble Bundle Choices (Opens in a new window) is LotR: Return to Moria.

There is also a Steam sale (Opens in a new window) happening for LotR: Return to Moria until May 2nd.²

The Connecticut Renaissance Faire has added a themed weekend for September: ShireFolk (Opens in a new window).

TheOneRing.net’s Merchandise March Madness 2026 had Geek Orthodox’ stained glass (Opens in a new window) win out over the film trilogy’s DVD Argonath edition.

Inter alia

Close to Cumberland in British Columbia (Opens in a new window) (Canada) the Cumberland Community Forest Society is trying to save… Middle Earth (Opens in a new window).

You may never have noticed you crossed paths with John Baskerville but this research project will tell you about it: The Baskerville Punches (Opens in a new window) [The Iron Room, Library of Birmingham]

With this year’s Doc Edge film festival in New Zealand Royd Tolkien can finally show There’s a Hole in my Bucket (Opens in a new window).

These 6 book cover designs show what Gen Z actually wants to buy (Opens in a new window) [Creative Boom]

Christopher Lockett has On Bookmarks (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

xkcd is always right.

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

Then do consider using Steady (Opens in a new window) - it is an exceptionally easy to use option for all needs. Built originally for an independent journalists’ collective, Krautreporter (Opens in a new window), it is run by creative minds for creative minds. Think Patreon, just better. It is based in Germany, free of enshittification (Opens in a new window) and nazis.

Do use my invite link (Opens in a new window) and start with three months fee-free.
[Transparency note: I get a small referral bonus with no extra costs to you.]

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. my girl Susi (Opens in a new window) ❤️ and me were recently watching German YT gaming legend Gronkh’s walkthrough of Resi: Requiem and she confirmed it! Thank you, love 🤩 ↩

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