The One hundred and fiftieth Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

August 19, 1916. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and G.B. Smith (Si apre in una nuova finestra) meet at Acheux.
August 20, 1981. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is published.
August 22, 1944. Tolkien writes Letter 79 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).
August 24, 1966. Tolkien lends Rayner Unwin (Si apre in una nuova finestra) a reading-copy of "The End of Bovadium (Si apre in una nuova finestra)".
August 25, 1973. Tolkien writes a letter to Glyn Daniel (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Looking Back/Looking Forward: The History of the English Faculty Library (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Blogs at the Bodleian]

The Roving Ranger will be published every Monday at approximately 9 pm.
[I am at UTC+2 atm/ CEST].

This is a work in progress but here we are: The Roving Ranger with Spotify (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and with Youtube (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Events & Shows

The Stratford Festival has announced its 2026 schedul (Si apre in una nuova finestra)e, including The Hobbit [Stratford, Ontario, Canada; Youtube trailer (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

During the Wheaton College Family Weekend Open House on Nov 7-8 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) there will be a Storytime at the Wade presentation on Painting Wonder: How Pauline Baynes Illustrated the Worlds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

In a recent newsletter of the Cité internationale de la tapisserie Aubusson (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - where the Tolkien Tapestries (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (and two rugs!] werde made - it was noted that the Paris exhibition of their Tolkien-inspired work has drawn more than 50.000 visitors.¹

The Middle-earth CCG Worlds (Si apre in una nuova finestra) happened last weekend in Montreal, Canada. [Council of Elrond]

Children’s Theater of Madison will be doing The Hobbit in February 2026 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Hobbit will be shown at the Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Heights, Ohio (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Dec ‘25-Jan26]

Alida Mau has a report of the Wynn Fonstad Middle-earth Map Exhibit At UW-Madison [TORn]

It is a pity but the revived Middle-earth Festival in Birmingham… has been cancelled (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Facebook]

Lord of the Rings Musical in Singapore - reviews: Straits Times (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Bakchormeeboy (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | Time Out (Si apre in una nuova finestra) | TatlerAsia (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

• Despite forgettable songs, Lord Of The Rings musical immerses fans with stagecraft [Straits Times]

• By the end of the long night, you may leave sore from the journey, but also with your heart full, reminded of the hope and imagination that have made Middle-earth endure for generations, and still persist even today. [Bakchormeeboy]

• For Tolkien diehards, it’s an intriguing – if imperfect – addition to the legendarium. For everyone else, it’s like being dropped into Mordor without so much as a map. [Time Out]

• One musical to rule them all? Not quite, but still a fun quest. [TatlerAsia]

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

Stephen C. Winter has “Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!” What did Frodo Say in Shelob’s Lair? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) as well as “None Could Rival Her, Shelob The Great, Last Child of Ungoliant to Trouble the Unhappy World.” We learn of the History of Shelob and Her Relationship with Sauron and with Gollum (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

doubtfulsea has Runing Things (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Dimitra Fimi has Tolkien Tuesday: Tolkien's Silmarillion "Beasts", Dinosaurs, and the Prehistoric Past (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Substack]

Douglas A. Anderson has Tolkien Society Award and Oxonmoot 2025 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

James J. Schultz has Romanticism in Tolkien’s The Hobbit: Nature and Domestic Life as a Force for Good (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Journal of Tolkien Research]

Robin Reid has "The Wife's Lament (Si apre in una nuova finestra)" [Substack]

Giuseppe Pezzini has another book coming out: J.R.R. Tolkien and G.B. Smith: With Wind in our Ears. (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Tolkien Guide]

Tom Hillman has "The Art of Mercy in Middle-earth: Paintings Inspired by Tolkien's Legendarium" -- by Miriam Ellis (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Youtube]

Oronzo Cilli has Tolkien, Trains, and Two Discoveries: Meccano and Hornby (Si apre in una nuova finestra) and British Communists: Michael H. R. Tolkien’s letters to the Evening Despatch (1944) and the Catholic Herald (1948) (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

One of the speakers at the New York Tolkien Conference (Si apre in una nuova finestra) could not participate - and has made her talk available: Songs of Power in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

For those of you who have never read this classic: Why Gandalf never married (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - by Terry Pratchett. [Ansible]

Here is a 12-mile Middle Earth Hexmap (Si apre in una nuova finestra).²

Merchandise & Franchise

More and more smaller and middle-sized companies are embracing the Middle-earth vibe.

• Hobbit Harvest Celebration and Afternoon Tea (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Sept 20; San Jose, CA, USA; Eventbrite]

• Hobbit Festival (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Sept 13; Valencia, PA (close to Pittburgh), USA; Eventbrite]

• The Party of Special Magnificence (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Sept 22; Anderson, SC, USA]

• Paints and Pints HOBBIT DAY at Nun Chuck's Brewing! (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Sept 21; Lynnwood, WA, USA; Eventbrite]

How The Fellowship of the Ring explains post-9/11 America (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Vox; paywall; free to read with MSN (Si apre in una nuova finestra)] Alternatively read Tom Emanuel’s The Lord of the Rings in a Post-9/11 World (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Substack]

10 Highest-Grossing Screenwriters Of All Time, Ranked (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Slash Film; both Boyens and Walsh are on it]

The Hero Complex Gallery had a SDCC release for this beauty by Stephen Andrade (Si apre in una nuova finestra):

“We were doing back to back 100 hour weeks… the last days of Hobbit 3 we did 146 hours. (Si apre in una nuova finestra)” [Working Class Audio; Youtube; on working conditions with the Hobbit film trilogy]

Fantasy or fraud: Viral hobbit hotel startup in Mass. raises $300K — but is it real? (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Mass Live]

Ian McKellen Reveals Gandalf & Frodo Will Feature In Andy Serkis’ New ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Films (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Deadline]

Inter alia

The Oxford Sausage has a splendid post on map making in Oxford (Si apre in una nuova finestra), contemporary to Tolkien.

After many years of a Tolkienian theme when landing in New Zealand: Wellington Airport unveils massive new sculpture in terminal (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Stuff NZ]

One Piece: Season 2 with Netflix has a trailer (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The HUGO Awards have been announced (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [File770]

Will Sherwood has Romantic Transformations, Part 1: Romantic Authorship in Ex Machina (2015) (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

A bright new chapter for Hobbit Preschool and Child Care Centre (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [NSW, Australia]

Christopher Lockett has an exceptional piece combining Pratchett, Tolkien, Eco and the beauty that is Labyrinth: [Substack]

Author K.A. Laity has a collection of UConn Medieval Plays as PDF (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to download, now that UConn has shuttered the Medieval Studies Program (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Please note: Tolkien makes an appearance.

Elizabeth Bear (Si apre in una nuova finestra) has The Cozy/Grimdark/Heroic Fantasy Sine Wave and a bunch of stuff about villains (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Please note: Tolkien makes an appearance.

Schumer Mocked for Mentioning Imaginary Couple Hundreds of Times (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Daily Beast]

That is a J.R.R. Tolkien-level of gratuitous backstory, and I don’t say that lightly. John Oliver / Last Week Tonight [Youtube Shorts (Si apre in una nuova finestra)]

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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
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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. Aug 11, 2025. “Félicitations au Collège des Bernardins pour la réussite de cette exposition qui a accueilli plus de 50 000 visiteurs.” [See also LinkedIn post (Si apre in una nuova finestra).] ↩

2. h/t Tolkien Gleanings #323 (Si apre in una nuova finestra). ↩