The One hundred and forty-seventh Roving Ranger

-:- Strange as news from Bree -:-

Life and Works

July 26, 2014. Laocoon (Opens in a new window), one of Tolkien's favourite trees, lost two limbs. Subsequently, the Oxford Botanic Garden decided that the tree must be felled for safety reasons (Opens in a new window). [thetolkienist.com (Opens in a new window)]
July 27, 1972. Tolkien writes a certificate of authenticity (Opens in a new window) for the sale of his desk (Opens in a new window).
July 28, 1939. Tolkien performs Chaucer (Opens in a new window)'s The Reeve's Tale (Opens in a new window) at the 'Summer Diversions' - a festival of recitals, plays and ballet.
July 29, 1938. E.V. Gordon (Opens in a new window), a later colleague of Tolkien, dies.
July 30, 1955. Tolkien goes to Italy with Priscilla Tolkien (Opens in a new window).
July 31, 1969. Tolkien writes Letter 311 (Opens in a new window), concerned with his health.
August 1, 1917. Tolkien writes Letter 128 (Opens in a new window), on changing The Hobbit (Opens in a new window), the continuance of the feud.

Tolkien fans reassured over cracks in statue (Opens in a new window) [BBC]

Events & Shows

I have to admit I would never have expected UK football legend Wayne Rooney and ‘Lord of the Rings’ in the same sentence but here we go:
Wayne and Coleen Rooney made heroes of Lord of the Rings spoof (Opens in a new window) [BBC | trailer (Opens in a new window), Youtube | Legend of Rooney’s Ring (Opens in a new window), Liverpool Royal Court Theatre; started July 18]

Glorfyndels has the Tolkien Fandom Event Calendar 2025 (Opens in a new window)¹ [tumblr]

Mónica Sanz Rodríguez² [Spanish Tolkien Society] will be talking about Tolkien and the First World War (Opens in a new window) at Biblioteca Pública de Maó, Menorca. [July 29]

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Opens in a new window) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).

Scholarship & Fandom

doubtfulsea has King Returns and Tax Returns? (Opens in a new window)

Marie Bretagnolle has A Princess illustrates The Lord of the Rings: Ingahild Grathmer, Eric Fraser and the Folio Society — Oxonmoot 2022 (Opens in a new window).

The “Diary of a City Guard” has reached part 16 (Opens in a new window).

Andrew Higgins has O Naffarinos!!! (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Adam Roberts has Goblins! (Opens in a new window) [Substack]

Stephen C. Winter has “Night Always Had Been, and Always Would Be, And Night Was All.” Frodo and Sam Enter Shelob’s Lair. The Dark Journeys of The Lord of the Rings (Opens in a new window).

Merchandise & Franchise

The Tolkien Library (Opens in a new window) is moving to Norway. [Tolkien Guide]

Dutch Fairy Tale Park with Hobbit Houses? (Opens in a new window) [In Dutch]

Inter alia

How Chuck Tingle Went Legit (Opens in a new window) [Slate]

Lewis & Tolkien Graphic Novel ‘Mythmakers’ to Receive Big-Screen Animated Adaptation (Opens in a new window) [Narniaweb]

What losing the Rivers of America will mean to Walt Disney World (Opens in a new window)³ [Youtube]

Existential Comics wins this comics’ week with Gollum, his riddles, and German philosopher Rudolf Carnap (Opens in a new window).
Fun Fact Carnap went to Jena University; Jena is the city I live in.

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).

Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)

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 average time of curating this newsletter ranges from 12-16 hours for the bi-weekly edition and 6-8 hours for the weekly one.

1. h/t Emerald (Opens in a new window) [Bluesky] ↩

2. Transparency note Mónica is a good friend of mine, a well-respected Tolkien scholar and translator from Spain. ↩

3. h/t File 770 (Opens in a new window). ↩