The One hundred and sixty-sixth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Dec 8, 1955. Tolkien writes letters 176 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and 177 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), mostly about The Lord of the Rings (1955 radio series) (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Dec 9, 1959. Tolkien writes Letter 222 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), promising to work on translations of two poems for publication. Note The translations of these two poems, plus Sir Orfeo (Si apre in una nuova finestra), were not published until 1975, after Tolkien's death.
Dec 10, 1944. Tolkien writes letter 91c (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on World War II.
Dec 12, 1955. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) writes Letter 178 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on the inspiration for the Shire (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Dec 13, 1967. Margaret Carroux (Si apre in una nuova finestra) comes to meet Tolkien in Oxford (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to talk about her German translation.
Dec 14, 1955. Tolkien makes a a speech at the opening of the new Deddington Library (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Copies of Tolkien’s correspondence with the county librarian are to be found at the library (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Dec 15, 1937. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) writes a letter to Arthur Ransome (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

• Third Age, (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 3018 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Frodo (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and Samwise (Si apre in una nuova finestra) rest in Rivendell (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and prepare for their quest to destroy the One Ring (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [until Dec 25]

It’s the time of the year - and you can help me continue offering the Roving Ranger and all the other things I am working on by gifting a membership (Si apre in una nuova finestra) or two to friends and family. Thank you! 🤩

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)]

Events & Shows

Next year’s Inspiring Oxford summer school programme will set bank your account quite a bit - but it’s a week with John Garth: Tolkien. The Great War and the Beginnings of Middle-Earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [July 2026]

Photos of The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) at Dobama Theatre, Cleveland, US.

A member of the Tolkien Society has donated her collection to the cause - these items are now up for auction (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

‘Lord of the Rings’ lands at the Philadelphia Orchestra, but the magic remained in the music (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [conductor: Ludwig Wicki; Inquirer]

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

Scholarship & Fandom

The community stalwart, Bard of Arda, has had a terrible accident - and the community is doing a fundraiser (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to cover his medical costs, among other things. Please chip in, if you can.

In sixty years of publication the most successful title with Kent State University Press is Bandersnatch (Si apre in una nuova finestra) by Diana Glyer.

Get it with [Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

[I am so glad to have backed the audio edition back in the day 🔉👍]

Miriam Ellis has Something wonderful I noticed while painting Professor and Mrs. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Tom Hillman has The Last Word of Tolkien's Teacher, Joseph Wrigh (Si apre in una nuova finestra)t.

Karen Pollock has Trauma Therapy for Orcs: A Psychotherapeutic Consideration of Orcs in Tolkien's Legendarium (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Dimitra Fimi will be doing something special for this December (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack[

Brenton Dickieson has Let’s Talk About Samwise Gamgee: Tolkien’s Greatest Characters on the Plunge Podcast with Derek Holser (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Stephen C. Winter has “Pippin Perceived That Gandalf Had The Greater Power, and a Deeper Wisdom, and a Majesty That Was Veiled.” Pippin Begins to Ask The Question, “What Was Gandalf?” (Si apre in una nuova finestra)

Tolkien’s character or place names - cretic, yes or no? (Si apre in una nuova finestra)[Bluesky; with James Tauber]

Merchandise & Franchise

Office Dog Games have a few Tolkien-inspired games (Si apre in una nuova finestra) on offer for the holiday season.

If you feel like knowing how the developers of The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and the recent trick games look like you can simply hop over to Matt Leacock’s report from Spiel Essen (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (among other things). [Substack]

The NYT Strands theme for Dec 6, 2025 was ‘Tolkien’s World (Si apre in una nuova finestra).’ [Economic Times]

Buying Warner Bros. Discovery Just Gave Netflix a Ticket Into the Theme Park Wars Against Disney and Universal (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Inside the Magic; see also Cartoon Brew, (Si apre in una nuova finestra) Hollywood Reporter (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Fortune (Si apre in una nuova finestra), press release (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

‘Lord of the Rings’ Extended Editions Return to Theaters as ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ Turns 25 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Variety]

As a former, long-time World of Warcraft player seeing housing used to build hobbit holes (Si apre in una nuova finestra)… is satisfying. [Youtube; more info on early housing with MMORPG (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Mondo's New Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Posters Bring Beautiful Battles (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Slash Film]

Lord of the Rings Online launches its Kingdoms of Harad expansion (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Massively OP]

Former Weta Workshop Senior Concept Artist Paul Tobin Joins Chaosium (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Tech Raptor]

New LORD OF THE RINGS Funko Pops Will Take You Back to Middle earth (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [GeekTyrant]

Tom Henderson: Eidos Montreal cancelled a Lord of the Rings card game with a Telltale story-spin on it (Si apre in una nuova finestra)¹ [Youtube]

Books you might like to buy…

This is a perfectly random and incomplete list of Tolkienian publications I appreciate and you might like to get for yourself or for someone you’d like to present a gift to at the end of 2025.

Please do support independent bookstores wherever and whenever possible - thank you. At the end of this newsletter you’ll find the reasons why I am supporting these three bookshops.

[Blackwell’s & Genialokal for the EU etc.; Bookshop for the US etc.]

A Real Taste for Fairy-Stories Essays by Verlyn Flieger
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Proceedings of the Tolkien 2019 Conference
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)| Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
The Art of Mercy in Middle-Earth
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
The Hobbit Graphic Novel (revised and expanded)
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Queer Approaches to Tolkien
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
Doomed to Die. An A-Z of Death in Tolkien
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra)| Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]
The Tower & the Ruin
[Blackwell’s (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bookshop.org (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Genialokal (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

With thanks to Tim Bolton’s 2025 & 2026 Upcoming Tolkien-related books list (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Inter alia

Angoulême 2026 is cancelled - these are the reasons (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [France24; Youtube]

The SFE has Transgressive Embedment (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

Alan Rickman's Die Hard and Harry Potter Scripts and Personal Books to Auction (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Fine Books Magazine]

Opinion: LEGO is sinking further into the moral abyss by partnering with FIFA (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Brick Fanatics]

With thanks to Troels Forchhammer - this one’s hilarious, again.

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

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

Do use my invite link (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (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 reddit (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩