The One hundred and fifty-seventh Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

Oct 6/11, 2006. The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is published.
Oct 8, 1937. C.S. Lewis (Si apre in una nuova finestra) reviews The Hobbit (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in The Times.
Oct 9, 1953. Tolkien writes Letter 141 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), about the problems with maps for The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Oct 10, 1936. Stanley Unwin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) reads the typescript of The Hobbit.
Oct 11, 1918. Tolkien writes Letter 103 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), with first impressions of Merton College (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
Oct 12, 1944. Tolkien writes Letter 84 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), on his trouble while writing The Lord of the Rings (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Leaf by Niggle (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

• Third Age, 3018. The camp under Weathertop is raided at night, and Frodo (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is attacked by the Witch-king (Si apre in una nuova finestra) who attempts to hit his heart with a Morgul blade that will make him a wraith. Frodo wears the Ring and is wounded on the shoulder. [Oct 6]

John Garth has Lord of the ring road — JRR Tolkien’s war against the motor ca (Si apre in una nuova finestra)r [The Times; paywall. A slight variant of this is available at Steady (Si apre in una nuova finestra) should you be interested in supporting his work.]

See also the review with TolkienGuide (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and their interview with Richard Ovenden (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Youtube], the Bodley’s Librarian (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Wikipedia]. There is also a piece with the Torygraph that -imho- is not worth your time.

I was today years old (Si apre in una nuova finestra) when I finally realised that Schrödinger’s Cat (Si apre in una nuova finestra) lived only two doors down from the Tolkiens in Oxford (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Could Tevildo (Si apre in una nuova finestra) please say something about this?
And P.S. This is written tongue-in-cheek!

Events & Shows

The German Tolkien Society’s seminar is Tolkien’s Works on the Book Market (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Oct 31- Nov 2; hybrid, online registration free]

The Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Ohio, USA is staging The Hobbit [Dec 4 - Jan 4]

The Hobbit will aso be playing at St Margaret of Scotland (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Michigan, USA [Nov 14-16; Broadway World]

Hobbit Halloween (Si apre in una nuova finestra) will be happening at Tillis’ Boardgaming Café in Jena [Oct 31; Facebook]

Do register for the Prancing Pony Podcast Moot (Si apre in una nuova finestra)at Dallas Fort Worth Airport, USA [Dec 18-21; hybrid]

The Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (yes, Florida, USA) is doing Legends, Laughter, and Lightning aka film scores, including LotR [Oct 19, tickets (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Scholarship & Fandom

doubtfulsea has The Voices in His Head (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Stephen C. Winter has “I Can’t Be Their Ring-bearer. Not Without Mr. Frodo.” The Orcs of Cirith Ungol Take Frodo’s Body and Sam Decides to Follow Them (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Journal of Tolkien Research has added three more papers to its vol. 22, issue 22: Proceedings of the Tolkien 2019 Conference (2025), edited by Will Sherwood (Si apre in una nuova finestra); The Mismeasure of Orcs: A Critical Reassessment of Tolkien’s Demonized Creatures (2025), by Robert T. Tally, Jr. (Si apre in una nuova finestra), and "Cold Words, Heartless and Miserable": Tolkien's Approach to Supernatural Horror (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Robin Reid has the CFP for Music, Dance, and Theatre In Fantasy Worlds (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

Merchandise & Franchise

Amazon's Rings of Power filming at scenic coastline (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [BBC; see also TORn (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

Amazon TV Trapped in ‘Lord of the Rings’ Nightmare, Exec Palace Intrigue (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Ankler (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

The first film trilogy made it a legend, now… Sir Peter Jackson to force closure of popular Chocolate Fish Café (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [RNZ]

Tolkien scholar Dr. Helmut Pesch has been working long on the revised second edition of his bestseller, Das Große Elbisch-Buch (‘The Great Book on the Elvish Languages’). Published on Oct 31st (Si apre in una nuova finestra), its 976 pages make it unique worldwide on Tolkien’s invented languages. [Luebbe; in German]

Inter alia

Dimitra Fimi has Terry Pratchett, Magpies, and Folklore (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

The Maps of Ursula K. Le Guin Explored in New Exhibition and Book (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Fine Books Magazine]

Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Preps for Closure (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Flying]

Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN has a trailer. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Youtube]

Legendary film poster artist Renato Casaro has died (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Deadline]

In this post with Michael Whelan’s art you (Si apre in una nuova finestra) might find a Gollum somewhere. [Substack]

The Algorithmic Archive (Si apre in una nuova finestra): a project overview [Bodleian Libraries; please note the Mellon Foundation (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has nothing to do with Tolkien!]

‘Steven Universe’ Creator Rebecca Sugar To Helm ‘Moomin’ Animated Feature For Annapurna (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Cartoon Brew]

Go through the amazing Voyager at 50 online exhibition (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Digital Heritage Lab, Liverpool]

There may finally be an explanation (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for Will-o’-the-wisps. [PNAS; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.]

One of the things you may notice when visiting Oxford: Checking out: The varying performance of high streets across the country (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Centre for Cities]

Dungeons & Dragons: The First 50 Years of Storytelling (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is a major piece with Arts & Culture at Google.

Libraries Can’t Get Their Loaned Books Back Because of Trump’s Tariffs (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [404 Media]

Ansible 459 has been published (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

xkcd (again) cutting to the (proverbial) quick.

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