The Ninety-seventh Roving Ranger
Life and Works
January 20, 1982. Finn and Hengest (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published posthumously, edited by Alan Bliss.
January 21, 1889. Edith Bratt (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is born.
January 22, 1928. Tolkien reads a paper, The Chill Barbarians of the North (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), at a meeting of the Newman Society (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), in Oxford.
January 24, 1972. Tolkien writes Letter 332 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) to his son Michael on moving to Merton.
January 26, 1925. Tolkien writes a letter to Professor Joseph Wright (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on the occasion of his retirement.
January 28, 1982. The Old English Exodus (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) us published posthumously, edited by Joan Turville-Petre (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
January 29, 1968. Tolkien writes a letter to Ken Jackson (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) concerning “Bag End”.
January 30, 1914. The Chequers Clubbe (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), founded by Tolkien, is given permission to organize dinners.
February 2, 1939. J.R.R. Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) writes Letter 35 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), asking “Could you give me any idea of the latest date by which the completed MSS. ought to reach you?” ☺️
There is a very decent-looking piece with video recordings of Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (h/t Michael Flowers) [Youtube]
Events & Shows
Some amazing talks are coming up (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at the University of Oxford as part of the Tolkien 50th Anniversary Seminar series (h/t to Garth).
The New York Tolkien Conference is returning this year (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (and reminding me to do my write-up of the 2019 one I participated in!)
Alan Sisto had Tom Hillman over at the Tolkien Times (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for a chat about Pity, Power, and Tolkien’s Ring (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Starting in August Tampere, Finland, will have a Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) show - again, based on the 2018 adaptation.
This unique production combines unforgettable theatre, original music composed by Tuomas Kantelinen and played by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as amazing circus performances by Sorin Sirkus.
For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Scholarship and Fandom
A ‘Call for Papers’ from the University of Freiburg has been published: Arcastar Lerinosse: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Arda (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (deadline: Feb 16).
Glaurung, Heir of Fáfnir: Tolkien’s Reading of Old Norse Dragon Myth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
For a list of the translations of The History of Middle-earth see this Tolkien Guide forum post (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Congrats to Spain for being the only country so far to have them all translated. France, Poland, Hungary, Brazil and Italy are working on getting there (damn you, Germany!)
Now, this is largely conjecture but I love how both Anglo-saxon history as well as the history of early European Christendom are tied into Tolkien: Elrond, Bilbo, Colmcille and King Alfred (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). (I really need to write something about my all-time favourite, Alcuin.)
John McLaughlin is providing an amazing service with his site tolkientranslations.com (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
DIARY OF A CITY GUARD – PART 1 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is a hilarious report on what a friend of mine needed to do to become a part of Rings of Power - and what happened.
Brian Sibley has noted with Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) that a new edition of The Maps of Middle-earth: From Númenor and Beleriand to Wilderland and Middle-earth is coming out in April (order with Blackwell’s (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)).
I've revised the text and added a new Preface telling the story of how (thirty years ago, in 1994) John Howe and I began collaborating on a series of little books devoted to Middle-earth cartography. This edition (now uniform with all the other Tolkien titles) contains dozens of new pencil drawings by John and (tucked inside the front and back covers) his four original colour maps ready to be displayed.
If only a tenth of Clifford’s speculations in this TORn post prove to be true then we are certainly in for a wild ride: Analysis: New “Rings of Power” Rumors Tease Unhinged Season 2 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
The German Tolkien Society has announced its Call for Papers (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for this year’s Seminar, “Tolkien and his editors.”
Franchise and Merchandise
Amazon is learning the hard way that paying billions for content might not work: Amazon to lay off several hundred staff in Prime Video, Studios (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Reuters]
Despite its big budgets and buzzy programming, it can be difficult to truly gauge the success of Amazon’s entertainment business because it does not report separate financial results for the division.
Hobbits and Jack Daniel’s: can men’s wedding rings become ‘manlier’? (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian]
Lord of the Rings: Online is moving towards its 17th birthday and has announced some of the festivities (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and the game’s roadmap.
The Elevenses Bakery in Tampa, Florida, is celebrating its first birthday with a week of Tolkien-inspired sweets (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Instagram; also Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]
Now, this is top tier merchandise (don’t forget the artisan keycaps): The Lord of the Rings™ Rohan (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) keyboard by Drop.
You can have a virtual look (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) at the “Magic in Middle-earth” exhibition that has been on tour for some time. It is now at Barnsley where the “Experience … Museum is looking for Britain’s Best Tolkien Memorabilia” (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), an online event on February, 21st.
Inter alia & Back in the day
Lynch could have done a Dune II - “half a script” has been found (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Wired]
‘Game of Thrones’ Creators’ Wild Road to Their Biggest Gamble Yet: Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter]
‘Impossible’ to create AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), OpenAI says. [Guardian]
Syndetics Unbound always does an annual chart race of books Popular in Libraries (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [LibraryThing; for the US] Would you have guessed that Lessons in Chemistry (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) by Bonnie Garmus (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) was the most beloved library book in 2023?
If you want your version of Wikipedia to become a propaganda tool - simply copy the existing version and remove everything that is contrary to your view: Ruwiki (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Very decent list: Every Star Wars Movie That Allegedly Is or Isn’t Happening (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Vulture]
'Star Trek' on Mars? Curiosity rover spots Starfleet symbol on Red Planet (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Space.com (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)] Also a fairly decent write-up on the issues of Star Trek reboot #4 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
2024 seems to be good for surprises: Keanu Reeves and China Miéville to collaborate on new novel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Wertzone]
According to German law I have to infom you all links to enterprises, artists, products etc. are [unpaid advertisements.] Some purchase links may earn me a small commission from Blackwell's, the bookshop of my personal trust.
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