The One hundred and sixteenth Roving Ranger
Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Abre numa nova janela)
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 new Tolkien documentary is now online [I am also in it].
If it is not available to you I am sorry but the public broadcasting stations behind this do not have the money to license it worldwide. I have been told there are VPN addons for all browsers that should help you with this.
https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/115010-000-A/tolkien-the-true-story-of-the-rings/ (Abre numa nova janela)The Tolkien Tapestries are finally leaving Aubusson for an exhibition in Paris (Abre numa nova janela).
An exhibition in Alberta (Abre numa nova janela), Canada, has some lovely miniatures - and an unusual Hobbit (Abre numa nova janela) one.
Do have a look at Christopher Tolkien at 100: A celebration (Abre numa nova janela) by the Bodleian Libraries [Youtube]
Glasgow has GIFCon 2025: Queering the Fantastic – Call for Papers (Abre numa nova janela).
Celebrating 30 years of Exeter’s organ: An evening of organ music inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela), with Prof. Stuart Lee and Owen Chan [Feb 27, 2025]
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
The Journal of Tolkien Research has put out a call for peer reviewers (Abre numa nova janela).
Robin Reid has Tolkien’s ‘Absent [Female] Characters’: How Christopher Tolkien Expanded Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) [part of the CJRT Centenary (Abre numa nova janela)]; also Heritage Starts with HER: Women Writers Writing Back to Tolkien’s Legendarium (Abre numa nova janela) [part of Tolkien as Heritage (Abre numa nova janela) seminar]
John D. Rateliff has Susanna Clarke's nod to Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela).
https://annasmol.net/2024/12/03/how-do-you-say-bandersnatch-in-old-english/ (Abre numa nova janela)The team at the Tolkien Collectors’ Guide (Abre numa nova janela) has a guide to the Father Christmas Letters (Abre numa nova janela).
Miriam Ellis has Frogmorton and the Magic of Names on Tolkien's Maps (Abre numa nova janela) and The Many Mercies of Bilbo Baggins (Abre numa nova janela).
I have done a short piece on Tolkienian storm names (Abre numa nova janela).
https://jefflasala.online/2024/12/01/the-brothers-hildebrandt/ (Abre numa nova janela)My friend Katie, the community wizzzard over at the Prancing Pony Podcast (Abre numa nova janela), is starting a newsletter of her own called Bree Crossroads (Abre numa nova janela). Do subscribe and spread the word!
Merchandise & Franchise
Spotify has released its “Top 2024” figures and the “Fellowship of the Ring” audiobook is at #2 (Abre numa nova janela).
The Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power Season 3 - Confirmation, Cast, & Everything We Know (Abre numa nova janela) [Screen Rant] | Interview: Talking Season Two of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ With Showrunners J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay (Abre numa nova janela) [Awards Radar]
Honest Trailers have done the 1977 Hobbit (Abre numa nova janela).
LotR: Return of Moria is for free this week with EPIC. (Abre numa nova janela) It has sold one million copies (Abre numa nova janela) by now. [Business Wire]
The Creative Forces Behind ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ Reveal the Lore of Their New Take on Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela) [Animation Magazine] | Smite & Smite 2 (Abre numa nova janela) - a MOBA - now make use of War of the Rohirrim (Abre numa nova janela) | Warner Bros. Discovery Releases ‘Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim' Merch (Abre numa nova janela) [License Global] | ‘Lord Of The Rings’: Philippa Boyens Says Ideas Exist For More Anime, Plus A Potential New Epic Trilogy (Abre numa nova janela) [Plist] | A ‘Lord of the Rings’ tradition turns small-scale in the anime ‘Rohirrim’ (Abre numa nova janela) [AP] |
War of the Rohirrim revives everything great about Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings (Abre numa nova janela) [Polygon] | The animated Lord of the Rings is a rushed money-grab (Abre numa nova janela) [Guardian] | A Beautiful But Off-Key Ballad (Abre numa nova janela)[Den of Geek] | More Franchises Should Take This Anime Film’s Example (Abre numa nova janela) [ScreenRant] | Brian Cox in a Predictably Plotted but Sumptuously Animated Prequel (Abre numa nova janela) [Hollywood Reporter] | Have you ever wondered why they call Helm’s Deep Helm’s Deep? No? Well, too bad! (Abre numa nova janela) [IGN] | Redundant, flavourless animation (Abre numa nova janela) [Guardian] | The War of the Rohirrim is a soulless return to Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) [Verge]
Inter alia & Back in the Day
The first essay with the new Ursula K. Le Guin journal is Weavers and Deceivers: Spiders in Le Guin’s Writings (Abre numa nova janela).
A Hans Zimmer live concert is available with ARTE (Abre numa nova janela), including Dune, Pirates. Also Howard Shore (Abre numa nova janela).
https://www.dwell.com/article/how-star-trek-helped-make-midcentury-modern-the-signature-sci-fi-aesthetic-b9dccaad (Abre numa nova janela)Why George R.R. Martin Broke the “Cardinal Rule of Hollywood” for a Childhood Friend (Abre numa nova janela) [Hollywood Reporter]
Renga in Blue has a lovely game called Firienwood (Abre numa nova janela) (1982).
Talking about a Gilmore Girls spin-off Lauren Graham said: “We’re talking about this as if it's like The Hobbit or something, which I’m not sure it is.” (Abre numa nova janela) [ENews]
https://xkcd.com/3022/ (Abre numa nova janela)Thinking about starting a newsletter, podcast, Patreon, Substack etc.?
Then do consider using Steady (Abre numa nova janela) - it is an exceptionally easy to use option for all needs. Built originally for an independent journalists’ collective, Krautreporter (Abre numa nova janela), it is run by creative minds for creative minds. Think Patreon, just better.
Do use my invite link (Abre numa nova janela) and start with three months fee-free.
[Transparency note: I get a small referral bonus with no extra costs to you.]
According to German law I have to inform you all links to enterprises, artists, products etc. are [unpaid advertisements.] Some purchase links may earn me a small commission from Blackwell's (Abre numa nova janela), Bookshop.org (Abre numa nova janela), or Genialokal (Abre numa nova janela), the (independent) bookshops of my personal trust (one with a Tolkien connection!)
If you are interested in my other Tolkien-related work please have a look:
The Tolkienist Blog (Abre numa nova janela) : Facebook (Abre numa nova janela) : Bluesky (Abre numa nova janela) : Instagram (Abre numa nova janela) : Threads (Abre numa nova janela) : Mastodon (Abre numa nova janela).
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.
Do you still need a last minute gift for someone you really like? ... and that person happens to like Tolkien? Look no further 😁🥳
I have gift plans for a Steady membership with 300+ posts, rants, reviews, event reports, Fingolfin's Findings, Boromir's Bloggish Bebotherments and more...
https://steadyhq.com/en/thetolkienist/gift_plans (Abre numa nova janela)