The One hundred and sixteenth Roving Ranger
Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)
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Events & Shows
The new Tolkien documentary is now online [I am also in it].
If it is not available to you I am sorry but the public broadcasting stations behind this do not have the money to license it worldwide. I have been told there are VPN addons for all browsers that should help you with this.
https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/115010-000-A/tolkien-the-true-story-of-the-rings/ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)The Tolkien Tapestries are finally leaving Aubusson for an exhibition in Paris (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
An exhibition in Alberta (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), Canada, has some lovely miniatures - and an unusual Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) one.
Do have a look at Christopher Tolkien at 100: A celebration (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) by the Bodleian Libraries [Youtube]
Glasgow has GIFCon 2025: Queering the Fantastic – Call for Papers (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Celebrating 30 years of Exeter’s organ: An evening of organ music inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), with Prof. Stuart Lee and Owen Chan [Feb 27, 2025]
For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Scholarship & Fandom
The Journal of Tolkien Research has put out a call for peer reviewers (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Robin Reid has Tolkien’s ‘Absent [Female] Characters’: How Christopher Tolkien Expanded Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [part of the CJRT Centenary (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)]; also Heritage Starts with HER: Women Writers Writing Back to Tolkien’s Legendarium (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [part of Tolkien as Heritage (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) seminar]
John D. Rateliff has Susanna Clarke's nod to Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
https://annasmol.net/2024/12/03/how-do-you-say-bandersnatch-in-old-english/ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)The team at the Tolkien Collectors’ Guide (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) has a guide to the Father Christmas Letters (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
Miriam Ellis has Frogmorton and the Magic of Names on Tolkien's Maps (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) and The Many Mercies of Bilbo Baggins (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
I have done a short piece on Tolkienian storm names (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
https://jefflasala.online/2024/12/01/the-brothers-hildebrandt/ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)My friend Katie, the community wizzzard over at the Prancing Pony Podcast (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), is starting a newsletter of her own called Bree Crossroads (Öffnet in neuem Fenster). Do subscribe and spread the word!
Merchandise & Franchise
Spotify has released its “Top 2024” figures and the “Fellowship of the Ring” audiobook is at #2 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
The Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power Season 3 - Confirmation, Cast, & Everything We Know (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Screen Rant] | Interview: Talking Season Two of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ With Showrunners J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Awards Radar]
Honest Trailers have done the 1977 Hobbit (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
LotR: Return of Moria is for free this week with EPIC. (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) It has sold one million copies (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) by now. [Business Wire]
The Creative Forces Behind ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ Reveal the Lore of Their New Take on Tolkien (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Animation Magazine] | Smite & Smite 2 (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) - a MOBA - now make use of War of the Rohirrim (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) | Warner Bros. Discovery Releases ‘Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim' Merch (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [License Global] | ‘Lord Of The Rings’: Philippa Boyens Says Ideas Exist For More Anime, Plus A Potential New Epic Trilogy (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Plist] | A ‘Lord of the Rings’ tradition turns small-scale in the anime ‘Rohirrim’ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [AP] |
War of the Rohirrim revives everything great about Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Polygon] | The animated Lord of the Rings is a rushed money-grab (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian] | A Beautiful But Off-Key Ballad (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)[Den of Geek] | More Franchises Should Take This Anime Film’s Example (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [ScreenRant] | Brian Cox in a Predictably Plotted but Sumptuously Animated Prequel (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter] | Have you ever wondered why they call Helm’s Deep Helm’s Deep? No? Well, too bad! (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [IGN] | Redundant, flavourless animation (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Guardian] | The War of the Rohirrim is a soulless return to Middle-earth (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Verge]
Inter alia & Back in the Day
The first essay with the new Ursula K. Le Guin journal is Weavers and Deceivers: Spiders in Le Guin’s Writings (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
A Hans Zimmer live concert is available with ARTE (Öffnet in neuem Fenster), including Dune, Pirates. Also Howard Shore (Öffnet in neuem Fenster).
https://www.dwell.com/article/how-star-trek-helped-make-midcentury-modern-the-signature-sci-fi-aesthetic-b9dccaad (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)Why George R.R. Martin Broke the “Cardinal Rule of Hollywood” for a Childhood Friend (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [Hollywood Reporter]
Renga in Blue has a lovely game called Firienwood (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) (1982).
Talking about a Gilmore Girls spin-off Lauren Graham said: “We’re talking about this as if it's like The Hobbit or something, which I’m not sure it is.” (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) [ENews]
https://xkcd.com/3022/ (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)Thinking about starting a newsletter, podcast, Patreon, Substack etc.?
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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.
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