The Ninetieth Roving Ranger

Life and Works

Don't forget - if you happen to find a Hobbit first edition it may get you £10,000 like this Dundee charity shop copy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

Also, if you happen to have Dorothy L. Sayers' personal copy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) of the publication Tolkien was first ever published in - it will definitely go to auction.

Events & Shows

People in Augusta, Georgia, can visit The Art of the Rings at Le Chat Noir (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), 'an exhibition of local artists works inspired by The Lord of the Rings.'

The No Strings Marionette Company (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is bringing The Hobbit to life in October (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) in New York at the Doctorow Center.

Profs and Pints DC is bringing Peter Grybauskas (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (ed. to Battle of Maldon) to Washington, DC.

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

Tweaking Things a Little (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) by Honegger and Larrington is out on July 19th.

The Museum of the Great War at Meaux is having guided tours and talks in July 'in the footsteps of Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)' to commemorate his passing fifty years ago.

Franchise and Merchandise

Alan Lee is the artist for the upcoming 2024 Tolkien Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The moment collectible card games arrived on the fantasy and science fiction market with Magic: The Gathering back in the 1990s huge parts of fandom changed. It is not surprising that collectors' boxes prices are soaring (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - due to that one One Ring card having been handled at $2+ million (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Polygon; WSJ (paywall)] P.S. Someone in Toronto (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) found it. [CBC]

On a more positive note, the head designer (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) for this version of MTG, Mark Rosewater (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), has been given one of the industry's major honours.

And hilariously enough, Bakshi's LotR film (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is part of this MTG edition.

If you feel like investing some of your money Tolkien's letters are an excellent option - at a recent auction they were sold well above asking price (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Artdaily].

The actress playing Galadriel with the LotR musical at the Watermill (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has given an interview. [Westend Best Friend]

Inter alia & Back in the day

A set of signed Tolkien letters was auctioned off well above estimate prices (Öffnet in neuem Fenster); the one in which he compares himself to a hobbit went for $20,000; more background info (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Fine Books Magazine]

Paramount+ axed a number of shows, including Star Trek: Prodigy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Variety] Engadget notes this happens for a tax-write-off (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).

The Writers' Strike (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) is now getting bigger with the actors and actresses joining in - because studios now suggested scanning performers as 3d models once, paying them for a day, and then owning their image 'for the rest of eternity'. [Vulture]

Rings of Power did get Emmy nominations (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) but not the more important ones. [Hollywood Reporter]

The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has announced this year's shortlist (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Locus]

AHSOKA (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)'s offical trailer is out (let's be honest, it is all about Thrawn!)

Nice to listen to GRRM talking about Zelazny (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) etc.

It is often the ingenuity of one person that makes a book a bestseller - for France this was Christine Baker (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) who bought the rights to Harry Potter and several Tolkien publications for Gallimard Jeunesse (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). [Guardian]

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:
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