The One-hundred and second Roving Ranger
Life and Works
June 1, 2018. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (Opens in a new window) and Tolkien: Treasures are published, accompanying the exhibition "Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (Opens in a new window)."
June 4, 1938. Tolkien writes Letter 28 (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window).
June 8, 1961. Tolkien writes Letter 230 (Opens in a new window), explaining: “Mae govannen means 'well met.'“
June 14, 1973. Tolkien writes a letter to Bruce Charlton (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window) [William A. Strutz library, (Opens in a new window)Heritage Auctions (Opens in a new window)]
Coming up soon - the catalogue on the exceptional tapestries (Opens in a new window).
All dates are taken from Tolkien Gateway (Opens in a new window).
Events & Shows
Neil Gaiman will give this year’s Tolkien Lecture (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) mention as there will not be a 2024 (Opens in a new window) return event, either. [Facebook]
If you can’t make it in person the Tolkien Society Hybrid Seminar 2024 – Tolkien’s Romantic Resonances (Opens in a new window) offers you online choices. [July 6th]
A Tolkien Mini Film Festival (Opens in a new window) will happen June 1st in Billings, MT, run by the Council of Westmarch (Opens in a new window).
Symbol or Substance (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) will happen in June, including Tom Shippey and Donato Giancola.
The Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim has issued an invitation for its 54 year jubilee (Opens in a new window) in 2026.
The New York Tolkien Conference (Opens in a new window) is on at June 15, with Baruch College, NYC.
The Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor, has its Slotfeest in June (Opens in a new window).
For all events (Opens in a new window) check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Opens in a new window) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).
Scholarship and Fandom
Wayne Hammand and Christina Scull have bindings and boxes on Collected Poems (Opens in a new window).
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. (Opens in a new window)
John D. Rateliff has an interesting note on Tolkien - who did not like to read books repeatedly (Opens in a new window).
Robin Reid has some excellent thoughts on adaptations of Tolkien’s works (Opens in a new window).
Kevin Corcoran does a quick comparison: Asimov and Tolkein - Intelligence vs Wisdom (Opens in a new window) [Yes, I love the Tolkein in the title!]
Some people might argue that Mr. Bean in Middle-earth (Opens in a new window) 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? (Opens in a new window) [NZ Herald]
A new bakery is coming to Brunswick, Maine: Elevenses. [Website (Opens in a new window); Instagram (Opens in a new window)]
A comment: Embracer's talk about The Lord of the Rings says one thing: 'Fly, you fools!' (Opens in a new window) [PC Gamer]; Variety gives insights into Embracer (Opens in a new window) profits.
A recent Kickstarter on a new documentary was successful: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE (Opens in a new window). TORn invited the director for a chat (Opens in a new window).
The Guardian offers this opinion: Hol (Opens in a new window)lywood should look beyond Star Wars and Lord of the Rings retreads for sequels (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window). [Vanity Fair] | [TheOneRing.net (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window)]
Podcasts really have come into their own - being financially successful - so you can book your Theology Camp: The Return of the God-Pods (Opens in a new window) ticket for October. [Eventbrite]
EA has shut down LotR: Heroes of Middle-earth on May 25 (Opens in a new window) after only a year of operation. [GameRant]
Viggo Mortensen mentioned the fact (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) is only that popular thanks to Ursula K. Le Guin (Opens in a new window)? [Physics World] And do have a look at UKL’s answer to How to Become a Writer (Opens in a new window)[LitHub]
First photos and info on Momo (Opens in a new window), another adaptation of Michael Ende’s classic. [Deadline] Please note that there was a very succesful German adaptation (Opens in a new window) of it in 1986.
William Shatner Has Questions for Neil deGrasse Tyson (Opens in a new window) [Youtube]
Peter S. Beagle on his new novel (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window), should you wish to relax. And this seems to be a thing now, given the Hobbit Infinity Pool (Opens in a new window) [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' (Opens in a new window). George Lucas has been outspoken in his criticism on Disney’s treatment of Star Wars (Opens in a new window). [Hollywood Reporter]. 25 years after its premiere, Disney recently published Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | Remastered Trailer (Opens in a new window) [Youtube]. And there is more on the failed Star Wars hotel (Opens in a new window) [Polygon]. Do watch the 4-hrs-YT-doc (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window).”
Star Trek: Discovery is coming to an end and this is the trailer (Opens in a new window). [Youtube] Jonathan Frakes has many thoughts on this (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) [Forbes] Oddly enough, the New Scientist published Our writers pick their favourite science fiction books of all time (Opens in a new window) at about the same time.
John Scalzi truly writes the essential posts: How to Make a Schadenfreude Pie (Opens in a new window).
A scathing criticism: Grinding our bums, flashing our boobs: the internet is making juveniles of us all (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]
If you feel like owning the first ever HUGO to be awarded (Opens in a new window)… [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.
