The One-hundred and second Roving Ranger

Life and Works

June 1, 2018. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and Tolkien: Treasures are published, accompanying the exhibition "Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)."
June 4, 1938. Tolkien writes Letter 28 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), stating on the early LotR chapters: “The trouble is that 'hobbit talk' amuses me privately (and to a certain degree also my boy Christopher) more than adventures…”
June 5, 1959. Tolkien delivers the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
June 8, 1961. Tolkien writes Letter 230 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), explaining: “Mae govannen means 'well met.'“
June 14, 1973. Tolkien writes a letter to Bruce Charlton (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), stating:

THE SILMARILLION is far from complete and I have not looked at it for some considerable time. Therefore I regret that I cannot predict when it will see the light of day.

We have reached the point where bidding on a first edition Hobbit starts at $100K (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [William A. Strutz library, (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)Heritage Auctions (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Coming up soon - the catalogue on the exceptional tapestries (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

All dates are taken from Tolkien Gateway (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Events & Shows

Neil Gaiman will give this year’s Tolkien Lecture (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Oxford [tickets sold out; waitlist. June 12th]

The long gone Middle-earth Festival (formerly held at Sarehole Mill, Birmingham) even gets an Ansible 443 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) mention as there will not be a 2024 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) return event, either. [Facebook]

If you can’t make it in person the Tolkien Society Hybrid Seminar 2024 – Tolkien’s Romantic Resonances (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) offers you online choices. [July 6th]

A Tolkien Mini Film Festival (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) will happen June 1st in Billings, MT, run by the Council of Westmarch (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Symbol or Substance (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) will be shown in Akron, OH, in June: A dramatic reading of a dialog on the eucharist between Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien, by Peter Kreeft.

Mythmoot XI (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) will happen in June, including Tom Shippey and Donato Giancola.

The Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim has issued an invitation for its 54 year jubilee (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in 2026.

The New York Tolkien Conference (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is on at June 15, with Baruch College, NYC.

The Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor, has its Slotfeest in June (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

For all events (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Scholarship and Fandom

Wayne Hammand and Christina Scull have bindings and boxes on Collected Poems (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Stephen C. Winter has another piece: “We Are a Failing People, a Springless Autumn.” Faramir Tells Frodo and Sam of The History of Gondor and of His Loss of Hope. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

John D. Rateliff has an interesting note on Tolkien - who did not like to read books repeatedly (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Robin Reid has some excellent thoughts on adaptations of Tolkien’s works (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Kevin Corcoran does a quick comparison: Asimov and Tolkein - Intelligence vs Wisdom (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Yes, I love the Tolkein in the title!]

Some people might argue that Mr. Bean in Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is a most excellent ‘adaptation’. [Youtube]

Franchise and Merchandise

Some people in New Zealand are asking the question: Is a return to Lord of the Rings the best or worst thing for Wellington? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [NZ Herald]

A new bakery is coming to Brunswick, Maine: Elevenses. [Website (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

A comment: Embracer's talk about The Lord of the Rings says one thing: 'Fly, you fools!' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [PC Gamer]; Variety gives insights into Embracer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) profits.

A recent Kickstarter on a new documentary was successful: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). TORn invited the director for a chat (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Guardian offers this opinion: Hol (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)lywood should look beyond Star Wars and Lord of the Rings retreads for sequels (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), including this line:

“…a feature length adaptation of The Scouring of the Shire (the amusing but slightly superfluous bit at the end where the Hobbits return to the Shire and banish a diminished Saruman from Bag End). It goes without saying that there’s a reason this stuff was left out of the movies.”

LotR: RoP will bring Tom Bombadil into the second season (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Vanity Fair] | [TheOneRing.net (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) reaction]

George R.R. Martin’s comments in a recent blog post touch on the ‘adaptation’ issue - noting the only good example he’s seen recently is SHOGUN:

No matter how major a writer it is, no matter how great the book, there always seems to be someone on hand who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and “improve” on it. [Source: Not a Blog (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Podcasts really have come into their own - being financially successful - so you can book your Theology Camp: The Return of the God-Pods (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) ticket for October. [Eventbrite]

EA has shut down LotR: Heroes of Middle-earth on May 25 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) after only a year of operation. [GameRant]

Viggo Mortensen mentioned the fact (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in a recent GQ interview that Andúril has made it into another film - and that, depending on the script, he might consider returning for LotR: Hunt for Gollum. Let’s keep in mind: the ‘original’ Hunt for Gollum (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) was blocked for a day thanks to Warner Bros. [Variety]

Inter alia & Back in the day

Did you know that the truly ubiquitous Schrödinger’s cat (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is only that popular thanks to Ursula K. Le Guin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)? [Physics World] And do have a look at UKL’s answer to How to Become a Writer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[LitHub]

First photos and info on Momo (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), another adaptation of Michael Ende’s classic. [Deadline] Please note that there was a very succesful German adaptation (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) of it in 1986.

William Shatner Has Questions for Neil deGrasse Tyson (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube]

Peter S. Beagle on his new novel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), the hero's journey, and why villains talk so much [NPR]

The Youtube channel Frosty’s Kitchen has several Cozy Hobbit Houses on a Rainy Day (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), should you wish to relax. And this seems to be a thing now, given the Hobbit Infinity Pool (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [both Youtube]

People has this: Carrie Fisher Faced 'Pressure to Be Thin' for Star Wars Before Her Death, Says James Blunt: She Was 'Mistreating Her Body' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). George Lucas has been outspoken in his criticism on Disney’s treatment of Star Wars (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Hollywood Reporter]. 25 years after its premiere, Disney recently published Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | Remastered Trailer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Youtube]. And there is more on the failed Star Wars hotel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Polygon]. Do watch the 4-hrs-YT-doc (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on this, it is hilarious.

“Once you've done themed environments, themed food, themed clothing, the only way to take it further is to move all the way into LARP (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).”

Star Trek: Discovery is coming to an end and this is the trailer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Youtube] Jonathan Frakes has many thoughts on this (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) with [Indiewire].

I am always wary when sharing “X of all time” lists but here you are: The 30 Greatest Dystopian Books Of All Time (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Forbes] Oddly enough, the New Scientist published Our writers pick their favourite science fiction books of all time (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at about the same time.

John Scalzi truly writes the essential posts: How to Make a Schadenfreude Pie (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

A scathing criticism: Grinding our bums, flashing our boobs: the internet is making juveniles of us all (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian]

If you feel like owning the first ever HUGO to be awarded (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)… [Hindman Auctions]

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As this is 2024 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.