The One hundred and fourteenth Roving Ranger
Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Abre numa nova janela)
Life and Works
Nov 15, 1892. Arthur (Abre numa nova janela), Mabel (Abre numa nova janela), two household servants, and the nurse holding Ronald pose for a picture in the garden at Bank House. The photograph is used in Tolkien Christmas cards sent to family and friends. The image is reproduced in J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (Abre numa nova janela) and The Tolkien Family Album (Abre numa nova janela).
Nov 16, 1917. The Tolkiens’ first child is born, John (Abre numa nova janela).
Nov 18, 1916. The Battle of the Somme (Abre numa nova janela) ends. Neither side wins. Tolkien is officially stricken off as a casualty by his battalion.
Nov 19, 1913. The Exeter College Smoker (Abre numa nova janela) happens, with an illustration by Tolkien.
Nov 21, 1924. Christopher (Abre numa nova janela) is born.
Nov 22, 1962. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (Abre numa nova janela) are published.
Nov 24, 1964. Robert Graves, Oxford's Professor of Poetry, introduces Tolkien to Ava Gardner (Abre numa nova janela). They had never heard of one another, and both did not know why the other was famous.
Nov 25, 1951. Tolkien writes a letter to Iona and Peter Opie (Abre numa nova janela).
Nov 26, 1963. Tolkien, Dundas-Grant (Abre numa nova janela), Havard (Abre numa nova janela), Barfield (Abre numa nova janela) and Christopher attend the funeral of C.S. Lewis (Abre numa nova janela).
Nov 27, 1914. Tolkien reads The Voyage of Eärendel the Evening Star (Abre numa nova janela) at a poorly attended meeting of Exeter College (Abre numa nova janela)'s Essay Club.
Nov 29, 1971. Edith Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela) dies after a short but severe illness.
Both Parma Eldalamberon 23 and 22 are now available with Barnes & Noble (Abre numa nova janela).
The Eagle & Child (Abre numa nova janela) in Oxford is one of the places with a strong Tolkien connection; renovations are happening as we speak. [Oxford Mail]
The Folio Society is doing another limited edition, this time on the Hobbit (Abre numa nova janela).
If you feel like buying the The Tolkien - Donald Swann Archive you should have more than half a million pounds (Abre numa nova janela) at the ready.
The Roving Ranger and other of my ventures are reader-supported publications. To receive additional posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Events & Shows
The Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference (Abre numa nova janela) [Nov 23-24; full programme (Abre numa nova janela)]
The Koninklijke Oude Harmonie van Eijsden (Abre numa nova janela) will do a jubilee concert in Maastricht, including parts of Johan de Meji’s Lord of the Rings symphony. [Instagram]
Waynesville’s Lord of the Rings Festival Brings Middle-Earth To Ohio (Abre numa nova janela) [Columbus Navigator]
Philippa Boyens will be at Merton College in Oxford (Abre numa nova janela).
The Lure of Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) has a very special guest for its 25th Anniversary (March 2025): Ted Nasmith.
For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Abre numa nova janela) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Abre numa nova janela).
Scholarship & Fandom
Robin Reid has Queen Berúthiel is a Childless Cat Lady! (Abre numa nova janela)
An obituary of Greg Hildebrandt (Abre numa nova janela), legendary illustrator [also Legacy (Abre numa nova janela); Hollywood Reporter (Abre numa nova janela); Locus (Abre numa nova janela); PPP interview (Abre numa nova janela)]
Call for Papers: Tolkien & War (Abre numa nova janela) [via Anna Smol; h/t Tolkien in Vermont]
Putri Prihatini has Rivendell and Śrīksetra Garden: A Tale of Two Sanctuaries. (Abre numa nova janela)
In a recent edition of GEO (Abre numa nova janela) in France statements were made on behalf of French publishing house Christian Bourgeois Éditeur (Abre numa nova janela) that more or less negated twenty years of work leading scholar Vincent Ferré has put into making Tolkien in France possible. He has written a public rebuttal (Abre numa nova janela) of this; legal proceedings are ongoing as the changes of ownership (Abre numa nova janela) of the publishing house in recent years has been causing issues. There is a petition (Abre numa nova janela) with Avaaz to show your solidarity with Vincent Ferré, signed by leading French Tolkien scholars.
Gabriel Schenk has C.S. Lewis in Addison's Walk.
https://youtu.be/MB195JszDbA?si=BEUkgnexBTO5w8t2 (Abre numa nova janela)Dennis Wilson Wise has “The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: The Norse Connection and JRR Tolkien (Part I+II - The Career) (Abre numa nova janela)” as well as parts III (Abre numa nova janela) (the Skald) and IV (Abre numa nova janela) (The Hitches) [Stratofanatic]
Thus Tolkien is the ultimate model, the undisputed Lord of Alliterative Meters. The one person in whom technical skill and scholarly erudition have combined with sheer productivity to yield an astounding corpus of modern poetry in old, archaic alliterative traditions. [Stratofanatic]
The Literary Review has We Shall Fight in the Buttery (Abre numa nova janela) [Oxford’s War 1939–1945], a book certainly mentioning Tolkien.
doubtfulsea has Paleo-Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela).
Get your Beyond Bree Calendar (Abre numa nova janela) for 2025 as long as they are still available.
One of the leading artists with Tolkien-inspired renditions, Donato Giancola, has some very choice words to say: MTG Artist Donato Giancola Reveals Wizards’ “Take It Or Leave It” Contract Policy (Abre numa nova janela). [DraftsIM]
Kili from Happy Hobbit (Abre numa nova janela) has talked to some Tolkien artists at NYCC. [TORn]
I am counting his visit to Oxford as a ‘fandom tour’: A Stop at Oxford (Abre numa nova janela) [Not a Blog by GRRM]
David Bratman has a review of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination (Abre numa nova janela).
Merchandise & Franchise
Games Workshop is ramping up its pre-War of the Rohirrim product line (Abre numa nova janela) , including people like Shank, Wrot and the Snow-Troll (Abre numa nova janela).
Fellowship: Tolkien & Lewis (Abre numa nova janela), the film, is set for Winter 2025.
A number of guild screenings are happening for LotR: WotR (Abre numa nova janela). [WarnerBros]
Also, a song from the film with scenes included has been published: The Rider (Abre numa nova janela) by Paris Paloma [Youtube]
‘Lord Of The Rings’ Owner Embracer Sees Entertainment Sales Fall 10% In “Slow” Quarter (Abre numa nova janela) [Deadline; ‘Tolkien IP’ is blamed (Abre numa nova janela) (Variety)]
Inter alia & Back in the Day
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett to become a Penguin Modern Classic (Abre numa nova janela) [TP.com]
Tad Williams’ new book, The Navigator’s Children, has come out Nov 12th (Abre numa nova janela).
Jeri Taylor has passed away (Abre numa nova janela) [StarTrek.com; Legacy (Abre numa nova janela); TrekMovie.com (Abre numa nova janela)]
The NFL does have its share of fans of movie Aragorn (Abre numa nova janela). [Athlon Sports]
After more than twenty years… WoW offers housing (Abre numa nova janela). [Youtube]
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If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
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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.
