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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Western Michigan University; Jan 23]

Lord of the Rings Marathon Screening at Magdalen, Oxford (Si apre in una nuova finestra)¹ [Feb 7]

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has rescheduled one of their Tolkien Talks on Lichen and Rocks (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to [Jan 24]

Nominations open for Tolkien Society Awards 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [until Feb 1]

For all events check out the Tolkien Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

My podcast: A Talk with the Tolkienist [Spotify (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | YT (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | RSS feed (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Scholarship & Fandom

Available now: The Tolkien Books Database (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [A Digital Tolkien Project]

Hall of Beorn has Discussion: The Downfall of Númenor – Part 5 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Johan de Meij's Tolkien Symphonies: Symphony N°1 'The Lord Of The Rings' Vs. Symphony N°5 'Return To Middle-Earth' (Si apre in una nuova finestra)[JWFan]

doubtfulsea has Through a glass… (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Miriam Ellis has Sitting with Sam beneath the Shire Mallorn (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Glimpsing the Days of the King on the Shores of Lake Evendim (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Find out about the “Tolkien Hypthesis” in Castles, Battlefields, and Continents: A Dataset of Maps from Literature (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Anthology of Computers and the Humanities, PDF]

Insect Damage, Tolkien, and a Book of… Cheese? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Oxford Libraries Trainees]

Thoughts on Tolkien has Happy New Year! (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Abigail Nussbaum has The Great Tolkien Reread: The Shadow of the Past (Si apre in una nuova finestra).²

Matej Cadil has From Valkyries to Ancient Egypt: What did the Crown of Gondor look like? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Dimitra Fimi has A few gems from the Tolkien Family Album (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Vegetal Modes of Resistance: Arboreal Eco-Rebellion in The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Humanities; MDPI]

Transformations of oral and written narratives : the interdisciplinary approach (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Office Dog Games; see also Artist Spotlight with Elaine Ryan (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Lord Of The Rings ‘Extended-Extended Edition’ Mithril Cut Doesn’t Exist, Says Peter Jackson (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Empire]

‘Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy Earns $5 Million in Box Office Presales for Theatrical Re-Release (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Variety]

LotRO sent out a letter to players (Si apre in una nuova finestra) on upcoming plans.

Middle-earth Enterprises CEO Lee Guinchard has been named COO of the Embracer Group (Si apre in una nuova finestra)[press release]

Inter alia

I made a Wallace & Gromit contraption in real life! (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - Joseph's Machines³ [Youtube]

Betty Boop, Nancy Drew and the Maltese Falcon: Welcome to the Public Domain (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Internet Archive]

How to Radically Improve Your Attention (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [New Books Newsletter - Substack]

As mentioned before in this newsletter, here are the incredibly nonsensical 90 secs with Tolkien in Fackham Hall (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Youtube]

David Bratman has ubiquitous comic strips (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogspot]

Curating a Show on My Ineffable Mother, Ursula K. Le Guin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Hyperallergic]

Heavy Is the Crown: George R.R. Martin on His Triumphs and Torments (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Hollywood Reporter]

Record Profits, Record Output, Record Burnout: Inside Anime’s Quality Crisis (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Cartoon Brew]

Netflix is back as #1 in US streaming (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra), or Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Facebook (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Bluesky (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Instagram (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Threads (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Mastodon (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - and have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

2. h/t File770 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩

3. h/t File770 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩