The Eighty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life and Works

May 27, 1930. OUP sends Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) a copy of the 1919 Middle English Reader.
May 27, 1958. Tolkien writes to Nancy Smith (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on the LotR index.
May 27, 1964. Tree and Leaf (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is first published.
May 31, 1944. Tolkien writes Letter 72 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), mentioning Lewis had been moved to tears by 'The Choices of Master Samwise.'
June 1, 2017. Beren and Lúthien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is published.
June 4, 1949. Tolkien writes to Pauline Baynes (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), thanking her for Farmer Giles.
June 5, 1959. Tolkien delivers Valedictory Adress (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) to the University of Oxford.
June 7, 1955. Tolkien writes Letter 163, offering W.H. Auden talking points (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on LotR and himself for BBC Third Programme.

It gives me great pleasure to share the news that The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is among the top ten in the BBC 100 Greatest Children's Book list (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - at #5. Do also have a look at #45.

Events & Shows

The recording of the Tolkien Lecture is available (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The largest volunteer-run Tolkien-centred event in the world (afaik!) is coming up soon - the Tolkien Days (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in Germany.
- [I'll be co-hosting the podcast sessions as well as delivering a lecture on RoP. ]

The castle at Saumur has a Tolkien exhibition (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) with the support of the Cité internationale de la Tapisserie (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), starting June 3rd.

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

The excellent Allan Turner has provided John Garth with a guest post (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Mythopoeic Society has announced its awards' finalists (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Teen Titans (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) artist Hayk Manukyan (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is repeating the ever silly "why didn't they fly the Ring to Mordor?" nonsense but these animations are fun (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Volante Opera announced on Twitter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) that the full operatic cycle on thr Silmarillion by Paul Corfield Godfrey will be available on June 23rd as one box.

Tom Hillman has some thoughts on Frodo's threat outside the Black Gate (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

John D. Rateliff has a few notes on this year's Tolkien at Kalamazoo (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Interestingly enough, there is now a full reading of Tolkien's On Fairy-Stories (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on Youtube via Catholic Culture Audiobooks.

Rather important if not truly noticed: iron gall ink (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Franchise and Merchandise

The Hollywood Reporter is having a paid partnership with Prime in this Rings of Power (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) special, including the music of the series.

In case you were wondering who might be suing people over 'Tolkien' - this usually comes via Middle-earth Enterprises and, more recently, Warner Bros. You can ask Polish game developers C.I. Games about their Lords of the Fallen (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and why WB thinks (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) they are trying to cash in on LotR (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). The game came out in 2014 and the sequel is expected this year. [Bloomsberg Law]

When it comes to legal issues, MTG (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) knows its fair share - right now leaks seem to be their biggest problem, revealing game mechanisms before release on their LotR: Tales of Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) set. [Please note: this might be a fake; it is all rather absurd.]

The fact that Amazon have announced another MMO set in Middle-earth forced Standing Stone Games to say a few calming words (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) on the future of LotRO. Amazon Games' VP certainly belittled their work (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - and made sure to mention 'it's still very important that it's first a game, and then a reflection of the books second.' [GamesIndustry.biz (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]

Do not forget - their first attempt at a LotR MMO was cancelled in 2021 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Interestingly enough new Third Age rights' owners - via Middle-earth Enterprises -, the Swedish Embracer Group, mentioned in a conference call that a strategic partnership of six years fell through only a few days later (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [BNN Bloomberg]

The racist backlash (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) against LotR:RoP was so dire that the production team had to hire on-set therapists. [Variety] This should come as no surprise as the actors had talked about it on several occasions before like this interview at Lucca (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Variety]

HarperCollins UK announced a new Silmarillion audiobook on Twitter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), read by Andy Serkis.

Richard Armitage made clear that: "I think after maybe two and a half years of Middle-earth, I’m not drawn to fantasy so much anymore. I’ve seen [it], I’ve done it, it’s not my thing." [Radio Times (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 3:30 mark]

The early reviews on LotR: Gollum are in and things are not looking good. A rather decent sounding one is with Slant Magazine (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (2/ 5 stars). The review with The Gamer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) offers a one-liner that says a lot:

(...) Let it be known that this game didn’t fail because it took risks with its interpretations of Tolkien, it failed because it’s boring, glitchy, and a decade behind the times. Ben Sledge, The Gamer

And just to let you know what the Guardian had to offer: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum review - boil it, mash it, stick it in the bin (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Star Entertainment GmbH (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) global concerts supposedly based on LotR, Hobbit, and RoP are taking ever more flak for being a disaster (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

You should probably try to be in Annecy in June for the pre-view of War of the Rohirrim (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

A short review of the One Ring RPG Starter set (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Inter alia & Back in the day

In case you were wondering whether some people get roles because of their 'connections', Neil Gaiman had a few things to say on the castings for Good Omens 2 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [tumblr]

Star Trek: Resurgence (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has a launch trailer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Folio Society has published the long list to its annual Illustration Award (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), based on Ursula K. LeGuin's The Fliers of Gy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Patrick Rothfuss has announced a new novella (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - but not Doors of Stone.

The Nebula Awards for 2022 have been announced (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

In case you would like a single minute of explanation: what is machine learning (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)? Given the fact that all things fantasy have been written by humans - so far - this might make for massive changes in the future.

The nominations for the Spiel des Jahres (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) awards (Game of the Year in Germany) are out - don't forget the best sold game in 2022 in Germay was the exit game 'Shadows over Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)' [I am not saying this proudly as a German Tolkienist 😄] [BGG]

Disney's Galactic Starcruiser is closing for business (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [New York Times]

xkcd has something for all wizard fans (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Ansible 430 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has been published.

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.

If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Facebook (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Twitter (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Instagram (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) : Tolkien-Discord (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [de/en]

Additional news provided in recent weeks to my members at Steady

RR+: Tolkien Lectures - and yes, two of them (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)
RR+: LotR: Gollum has a Precious Edition (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)
RR+: The Bod is archiving tweets (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - including me 🤩
RR+: Tolkien Society Awards (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - vote now open!
RR+: 70 years after (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - Tolkien's lecture on Sir Gawain in Glasgow
RR+: Tolkien and Smith Conference (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Corpus Christi College, Oxford
RR+: 'Lord of the Rings' (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) musical tickets now available
RR+: New Illustrated Edition (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) of 'The Hobbit' Announced
RR+: "Tolkien letters (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) shine new light on writer’s life and work"

What to look forward to in 2023 if you like Tolkien and all things Tolkienian

Meet and greet with the Tolkienist in 2023