The One-hundred and second Roving Ranger

Life and Works

June 1, 2018. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) and Tolkien: Treasures are published, accompanying the exhibition "Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela)."
June 4, 1938. Tolkien writes Letter 28 (Abre numa nova janela), 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 (Abre numa nova janela).
June 8, 1961. Tolkien writes Letter 230 (Abre numa nova janela), explaining: “Mae govannen means 'well met.'“
June 14, 1973. Tolkien writes a letter to Bruce Charlton (Abre numa nova janela), 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 (Abre numa nova janela) [William A. Strutz library, (Abre numa nova janela)Heritage Auctions (Abre numa nova janela)]

Coming up soon - the catalogue on the exceptional tapestries (Abre numa nova janela).

All dates are taken from Tolkien Gateway (Abre numa nova janela).

Events & Shows

Neil Gaiman will give this year’s Tolkien Lecture (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela) mention as there will not be a 2024 (Abre numa nova janela) return event, either. [Facebook]

If you can’t make it in person the Tolkien Society Hybrid Seminar 2024 – Tolkien’s Romantic Resonances (Abre numa nova janela) offers you online choices. [July 6th]

A Tolkien Mini Film Festival (Abre numa nova janela) will happen June 1st in Billings, MT, run by the Council of Westmarch (Abre numa nova janela).

Symbol or Substance (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela) will happen in June, including Tom Shippey and Donato Giancola.

The Swedish Tolkien Society Forodrim has issued an invitation for its 54 year jubilee (Abre numa nova janela) in 2026.

The New York Tolkien Conference (Abre numa nova janela) is on at June 15, with Baruch College, NYC.

The Dutch Tolkien Society, Unquendor, has its Slotfeest in June (Abre numa nova janela).

For all events (Abre numa nova janela) check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Abre numa nova janela) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Abre numa nova janela).

Scholarship and Fandom

Wayne Hammand and Christina Scull have bindings and boxes on Collected Poems (Abre numa nova janela).

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. (Abre numa nova janela)

John D. Rateliff has an interesting note on Tolkien - who did not like to read books repeatedly (Abre numa nova janela).

Robin Reid has some excellent thoughts on adaptations of Tolkien’s works (Abre numa nova janela).

Kevin Corcoran does a quick comparison: Asimov and Tolkein - Intelligence vs Wisdom (Abre numa nova janela) [Yes, I love the Tolkein in the title!]

Some people might argue that Mr. Bean in Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) 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? (Abre numa nova janela) [NZ Herald]

A new bakery is coming to Brunswick, Maine: Elevenses. [Website (Abre numa nova janela); Instagram (Abre numa nova janela)]

A comment: Embracer's talk about The Lord of the Rings says one thing: 'Fly, you fools!' (Abre numa nova janela) [PC Gamer]; Variety gives insights into Embracer (Abre numa nova janela) profits.

A recent Kickstarter on a new documentary was successful: THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE (Abre numa nova janela). TORn invited the director for a chat (Abre numa nova janela).

The Guardian offers this opinion: Hol (Abre numa nova janela)lywood should look beyond Star Wars and Lord of the Rings retreads for sequels (Abre numa nova janela), 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 (Abre numa nova janela). [Vanity Fair] | [TheOneRing.net (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela)]

Podcasts really have come into their own - being financially successful - so you can book your Theology Camp: The Return of the God-Pods (Abre numa nova janela) ticket for October. [Eventbrite]

EA has shut down LotR: Heroes of Middle-earth on May 25 (Abre numa nova janela) after only a year of operation. [GameRant]

Viggo Mortensen mentioned the fact (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela) is only that popular thanks to Ursula K. Le Guin (Abre numa nova janela)? [Physics World] And do have a look at UKL’s answer to How to Become a Writer (Abre numa nova janela)[LitHub]

First photos and info on Momo (Abre numa nova janela), another adaptation of Michael Ende’s classic. [Deadline] Please note that there was a very succesful German adaptation (Abre numa nova janela) of it in 1986.

William Shatner Has Questions for Neil deGrasse Tyson (Abre numa nova janela) [Youtube]

Peter S. Beagle on his new novel (Abre numa nova janela), 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 (Abre numa nova janela), should you wish to relax. And this seems to be a thing now, given the Hobbit Infinity Pool (Abre numa nova janela) [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' (Abre numa nova janela). George Lucas has been outspoken in his criticism on Disney’s treatment of Star Wars (Abre numa nova janela). [Hollywood Reporter]. 25 years after its premiere, Disney recently published Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | Remastered Trailer (Abre numa nova janela) [Youtube]. And there is more on the failed Star Wars hotel (Abre numa nova janela) [Polygon]. Do watch the 4-hrs-YT-doc (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela).”

Star Trek: Discovery is coming to an end and this is the trailer (Abre numa nova janela). [Youtube] Jonathan Frakes has many thoughts on this (Abre numa nova janela) 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 (Abre numa nova janela) [Forbes] Oddly enough, the New Scientist published Our writers pick their favourite science fiction books of all time (Abre numa nova janela) at about the same time.

John Scalzi truly writes the essential posts: How to Make a Schadenfreude Pie (Abre numa nova janela).

A scathing criticism: Grinding our bums, flashing our boobs: the internet is making juveniles of us all (Abre numa nova janela) [Guardian]

If you feel like owning the first ever HUGO to be awarded (Abre numa nova janela)… [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.