The Eighty-seventh Roving Ranger

Life and Works

May 27, 1930. OUP sends Tolkien (Opens in a new window) a copy of the 1919 Middle English Reader.
May 27, 1958. Tolkien writes to Nancy Smith (Opens in a new window) on the LotR index.
May 27, 1964. Tree and Leaf (Opens in a new window) is first published.
May 31, 1944. Tolkien writes Letter 72 (Opens in a new window), mentioning Lewis had been moved to tears by 'The Choices of Master Samwise.'
June 1, 2017. Beren and Lúthien (Opens in a new window) is published.
June 4, 1949. Tolkien writes to Pauline Baynes (Opens in a new window), thanking her for Farmer Giles.
June 5, 1959. Tolkien delivers Valedictory Adress (Opens in a new window) to the University of Oxford.
June 7, 1955. Tolkien writes Letter 163, offering W.H. Auden talking points (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) - at #5. Do also have a look at #45.

Events & Shows

The recording of the Tolkien Lecture is available (Opens in a new window).

The largest volunteer-run Tolkien-centred event in the world (afaik!) is coming up soon - the Tolkien Days (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) with the support of the Cité internationale de la Tapisserie (Opens in a new window), starting June 3rd.

For all events 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

The excellent Allan Turner has provided John Garth with a guest post (Opens in a new window).

The Mythopoeic Society has announced its awards' finalists (Opens in a new window).

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

Volante Opera announced on Twitter (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window).

John D. Rateliff has a few notes on this year's Tolkien at Kalamazoo (Opens in a new window).

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

Rather important if not truly noticed: iron gall ink (Opens in a new window).

Franchise and Merchandise

The Hollywood Reporter is having a paid partnership with Prime in this Rings of Power (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) and why WB thinks (Opens in a new window) they are trying to cash in on LotR (Opens in a new window). The game came out in 2014 and the sequel is expected this year. [Bloomsberg Law]

When it comes to legal issues, MTG (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) on the future of LotRO. Amazon Games' VP certainly belittled their work (Opens in a new window) - 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 (Opens in a new window)]

Do not forget - their first attempt at a LotR MMO was cancelled in 2021 (Opens in a new window).

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 (Opens in a new window). [BNN Bloomberg]

The racist backlash (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window). [Variety]

HarperCollins UK announced a new Silmarillion audiobook on Twitter (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window) (2/ 5 stars). The review with The Gamer (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window).

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

You should probably try to be in Annecy in June for the pre-view of War of the Rohirrim (Opens in a new window).

A short review of the One Ring RPG Starter set (Opens in a new window).

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 (Opens in a new window). [tumblr]

Star Trek: Resurgence (Opens in a new window) has a launch trailer (Opens in a new window).

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

Patrick Rothfuss has announced a new novella (Opens in a new window) - but not Doors of Stone.

The Nebula Awards for 2022 have been announced (Opens in a new window).

In case you would like a single minute of explanation: what is machine learning (Opens in a new window)? 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 (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window)' [I am not saying this proudly as a German Tolkienist 😄] [BGG]

Disney's Galactic Starcruiser is closing for business (Opens in a new window). [New York Times]

xkcd has something for all wizard fans (Opens in a new window).

Ansible 430 (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) : Facebook (Opens in a new window) : Twitter (Opens in a new window) : Instagram (Opens in a new window) : Tolkien-Discord (Opens in a new window) [de/en]

Additional news provided in recent weeks to my members at Steady

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