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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Also, if you happen to have Dorothy L. Sayers' personal copy (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra), 'an exhibition of local artists works inspired by The Lord of the Rings.'

The No Strings Marionette Company (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is bringing The Hobbit to life in October (Si apre in una nuova finestra) in New York at the Doctorow Center.

Profs and Pints DC is bringing Peter Grybauskas (Si apre in una nuova finestra) (ed. to Battle of Maldon) to Washington, DC.

For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Scholarship and Fandom

Tweaking Things a Little (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra)' to commemorate his passing fifty years ago.

Franchise and Merchandise

Alan Lee is the artist for the upcoming 2024 Tolkien Calendar (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) - due to that one One Ring card having been handled at $2+ million (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Polygon; WSJ (paywall)] P.S. Someone in Toronto (Si apre in una nuova finestra) found it. [CBC]

On a more positive note, the head designer (Si apre in una nuova finestra) for this version of MTG, Mark Rosewater (Si apre in una nuova finestra), has been given one of the industry's major honours.

And hilariously enough, Bakshi's LotR film (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [Artdaily].

The actress playing Galadriel with the LotR musical at the Watermill (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra); the one in which he compares himself to a hobbit went for $20,000; more background info (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Fine Books Magazine]

Paramount+ axed a number of shows, including Star Trek: Prodigy (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Variety] Engadget notes this happens for a tax-write-off (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

The Writers' Strike (Si apre in una nuova finestra) 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 (Si apre in una nuova finestra) but not the more important ones. [Hollywood Reporter]

The Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has announced this year's shortlist (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [Locus]

AHSOKA (Si apre in una nuova finestra)'s offical trailer is out (let's be honest, it is all about Thrawn!)

Nice to listen to GRRM talking about Zelazny (Si apre in una nuova finestra) etc.

It is often the ingenuity of one person that makes a book a bestseller - for France this was Christine Baker (Si apre in una nuova finestra) who bought the rights to Harry Potter and several Tolkien publications for Gallimard Jeunesse (Si apre in una nuova finestra). [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:
The Tolkienist Blog (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Facebook (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Twitter (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Instagram (Si apre in una nuova finestra) : Tolkien-Discord (Si apre in una nuova finestra) [de/en]