The One-hundredth Roving Ranger

There has been a break for some time with the Roving Ranger; it will continue on its bi-weekly basis from now on. Thank you for your patience.

Life and Works

May 5, 1977. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography (Abre numa nova janela) by Humphrey Carpenter is first published.
May 5, 2009. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (Abre numa nova janela) is first published.
May 9, 1957. Tolkien writes Letter 197 (Abre numa nova janela) - in answer to his publisher letting him know about the immense success of LotR.
May 10, 1966. Tolkien writes Letter 288 (Abre numa nova janela) - about the bronze bust that can today still be seen with the English Faculty in Oxford.
May 11, 1922. A Middle English Vocabulary (Abre numa nova janela), Tolkien's first book, is published.
May 13, 1964. Tolkien writes Letter 256 (Abre numa nova janela) - about The New Shadow.
May 15, 1945. Charles Williams (Abre numa nova janela) dies - see Tolkien’s Letter 99. (Abre numa nova janela)
May 17, 1954. Tolkien writes a letter to Henry Willink (Abre numa nova janela), stating that in a talk with C.S. Lewis he managed to convince him to accept the chair in Cambridge.

New translations: Romansh (Abre numa nova janela) (Hobbit) and Mongolian (Abre numa nova janela) (Lord of the Rings).

Book of the Year: Collected Poems (Abre numa nova janela) (Hammond / Scull);

Added to the Oxford DNB this year: Christopher Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela).

The Iron Room has published a piece on Barrow’s Stores (Abre numa nova janela) - see TCBS (Abre numa nova janela).
(Abre numa nova janela)

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

Events & Shows

The Tolkien 50th Anniversary Seminar Series is continuing (Abre numa nova janela) at Oxford.

I am not quite sure what a Spring Hobbit Hoedown entails but Larp Shire LLC (Abre numa nova janela) are definitely organising one in May (Abre numa nova janela) in Ohio. [Instagram; Eventbrite]

However, I am quite sure I have already mentioned the West Stow Anglo-Sacon Village & Country Park before (can there be a better Tolkien location? 🤩) They have been quietly running the Ring Quest for 22 years now (Abre numa nova janela) - and this video (Abre numa nova janela) will show you this seems to be a really fun event; you’ll have to wait for their 23rd edition, though. [Youtube]

The New York Tolkien Conference is gearing up nicely and offering suggestions for your visit (Abre numa nova janela) (guests so far include Donato Giancola, Kristine Larsen and Nicholas Birns). [June 15]

The incredibly successful third rendition of the Lord of the Rings musical (Abre numa nova janela) is obviously leaving its mark - by moving to Chicago (Abre numa nova janela). Tickets are already available (Abre numa nova janela). [What’s on Stage; Chicago Shakespeare Theater]

The Hobbit (Abre numa nova janela) is on in Pittsburgh (Abre numa nova janela) (Oct-Nov).

For all event (Abre numa nova janela)s (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

Oronzo Cilli, author of Tolkien’s Library and co-curator of the Italian Tolkien exhibition on tour right now, has a blog post on his recent unearthing (Abre numa nova janela) of the reading of Tolkien’s Notion Club Papers at Stonyhurst.

Another first generation Tolkienist has left us: Richard Plotz, founder of the Tolkien Society of America (Abre numa nova janela) in 1965, has passed away [Obituary (Abre numa nova janela); David Bratman (Abre numa nova janela)]

The Tolkien Society has announced another publication: Tolkien and the Gothic (Abre numa nova janela). [via Luna Press Publishing (Abre numa nova janela)] - and its award winners (Abre numa nova janela).

Germanic Heroes, Courage, and Fate: Northern Narratives of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium by Richard Z. Gallant is now available with Walking Tree Publishers (Abre numa nova janela).

John D. Rateliff has a few thoughts on invented languagues (Abre numa nova janela).

After a break of almost seven years Jason Fisher has reactivated his blog on Tolkien’s uncle Wilfred (Abre numa nova janela) [Lingwë - Musings of a Fish]

Another great blog has returned after more than two years: Hail and Farewell (Abre numa nova janela) [Too Many Books and Never Enough]

A topic and a response worth reading: Nine Tolkien Scholars Respond to Charles W. Mills’s “The Wretched of Middle-Earth: An Orkish Manifesto” (Abre numa nova janela)[Mythlore]

When the city of Prague was asking for suggestions on what street names to use for city development the Tolkien fans came to its aid - it was all about Rohan (Abre numa nova janela) - or rather, Rohanské nábřeží (Abre numa nova janela). [Google Translate] The petition is ongoing, h/t to the lovely people of Tolkien Con (Abre numa nova janela).

Research on sound aesthetics on conlangs is ongoing as well - and you can participate (Abre numa nova janela).

Stuart Lee’s chapter on the 1955-1956 radio dramatization of LotR is freely available (Abre numa nova janela) (first published in Great Tales Never End (Abre numa nova janela)).

Douglas A. Anderson has an interesting piece on Richard Adams on THE SILMARILLION (Abre numa nova janela).

David Bratman has a few choice things to say on Nick Groom, Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century: The Meaning of Middle-Earth Today (Abre numa nova janela).

Mirial Ellis has some thoughts on Éowyn, Faramir and the Houses That Healed Them (Abre numa nova janela).

The Tolkien Society Outstanding Contribution Award Winner, John D. Rateliff, gave his talk at last year’s Oxonmoot - Writing to Inklings (Abre numa nova janela) [Youtube]

According to some people Led Zeppelin seem to have been Middle-earth enthusiasts for quite some time during their career - and they frequently get it wrong. Like this one: The Story Behind “Over the Hills and Far Away” by Led Zeppelin and How It Was Inspired by a Tolkien Poem (Abre numa nova janela) [American Songwriter]
The poem was only published in 1983 with the Book of Last Tales, Part 1 (Abre numa nova janela), and unless you can show me proof Robert Plant was a close friend of CJRT this ain’t working.

Franchise and Merchandise

The King has died - Bernhard Hill passed away (Abre numa nova janela). [BBC]

The upcoming ‘cozy’ game Tales of the Shire has a trailer and a website (Abre numa nova janela).

The producer of the 1968 BBC Hobbit radio adaptation (Abre numa nova janela), John Powell, has passed away (Abre numa nova janela). [Guardian]

The Oxford Student has a piece on book’s covers and particularly The Lord of the Rings (Abre numa nova janela).

FYI:‘The Rings of Power’ Showrunners Sign New Amazon Deal, Begin Early Work on Season 3 (Abre numa nova janela) [Hollywood Reporter]; a great interview with Charlotte Brandström (Abre numa nova janela), lead director on season 2. [Drama Quarterly]

Embracer, the group that bought Middle-earth Enterprises (Abre numa nova janela), continues on its course of consolidation (Abre numa nova janela). [Game Informer]

The twenty year anniversary of Return of the King’s sweep at the Oscars has seen many posts, see: “Too Many Endings, Man”: How The Lord of the Rings Conquered the Oscars (Abre numa nova janela) [Vanity Fair]

Hobbiton’s Bagshot Row has won an architectural award (Abre numa nova janela). [NZ Herald]

You may have seen the Unexpected Parody (Abre numa nova janela) of the Hobbit film trilogy eleven years ago? The Hillywood Show recently published a Behind the Scenes (Abre numa nova janela).

Inter alia & Back in the day

You know that Tolkien has long since become mainstream when a Tory minister resigns using his words (Abre numa nova janela).

An excellent piece (Abre numa nova janela) on how censorship really works - and is, in fact, most of the times self-censorship (in connection with the Hugo Awards issue) [Reactor] See also David Bratman’s recollection of how the Hugo Awards worked thirty years ago (Abre numa nova janela).

An original model of the USS Enterprise has resurfaced (Abre numa nova janela). Even better, it has been authenticated by some of the best people behind the camera.

Left to right: Daren Dochterman (Abre numa nova janela), Gary Kerr (Abre numa nova janela), Mike Okuda (Abre numa nova janela), Denise Okuda (Abre numa nova janela), Doug Drexler (Abre numa nova janela), Jules Urbach (Abre numa nova janela), Rod Roddenberry (Abre numa nova janela), Gene Kozicki (Abre numa nova janela), John Goodson (Abre numa nova janela), and Brian Chanes (Abre numa nova janela). © Doug Drexler (Abre numa nova janela).

I do not mind at all that film memorabilia are being auctioned off decades after they have played any role, like an ‘unbound and incomplete’ manuscript of Star Wars IV left behind by Harrison Ford in a rental back then (Abre numa nova janela). But am I the only one who finds these Age of Celebrity statements creepy?

“It’s got his DNA on it. It might even have [Ford’s] sweat on it,” Sarah Torode, co-owner of Excalibur Auctions, said during the auction. [Source: Deadline (Abre numa nova janela)]

Way more entertaining to buy - imho - are some chicken stilts (Abre numa nova janela) used in Star Wars. And although I do not usually like to share trillion dollar companies, well, this fan-including video is pretty hilarious (Abre numa nova janela). A ‘Star Wars’ Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise (Abre numa nova janela)[Hollywood Reporter] And a lovely look back with Carrie Fisher (Abre numa nova janela) from the BBC.

An excellent interview with John Plotz “on Earthsea, Anarchism, and Ursula K. Le Guin (Abre numa nova janela)” [PublicBooks.org (Abre numa nova janela)] - and a great homage to her from The Itch (Abre numa nova janela).

If you are into weird af films - BORDERLANDS (Abre numa nova janela) seems to be a good fun fit [Youtube] (h/t to PhantaNews (Abre numa nova janela))

A very good write-up by Adam Whitehead on Marvel’s issues and plans (Abre numa nova janela) [The Wertzone]

Harry Potter fans will rejoice: all seven novels will be done as full-cast audio books (Abre numa nova janela). And this write-up on “Harry Pottourism” is quite excellent (Abre numa nova janela). Dennis Wise has the link to a review on two books discussing J.K. Rowling’s legacy (Abre numa nova janela). [Mythlore] The Warner Bros. Discovery CEO made clear that production of the Harry Potter series is aiming for a release in 2026 (Abre numa nova janela). [Hollywood Reporter]

Fans could have had three movies instead of thirteen episodes (Abre numa nova janela) for the end of Game of Thrones [Variety]

Neil Gaiman is auctioning off part of his collection - and an amazing 126 pieces of art these are (Abre numa nova janela). [Fine Books Magazine] These are the results (Abre numa nova janela). And Anthony Daniels is (Abre numa nova janela), too (C-3PO, that is). [Hollywood Reporter]

Star Trek’s Discovery has seen some special recognition: a Toronto production stage is now named after it (Abre numa nova janela). And Sweden played a Trek theme when joining NATO - there is a running gag involved, obviously (Abre numa nova janela).

It may sound like fun and giggles but medieval murders in Oxford (Abre numa nova janela) is an excellent example of showing you what really happened in 14th century Oxenforde.

A Pratchett / Discworld RPG is in the making (Abre numa nova janela) [TerryPratchett.com (Abre numa nova janela)] The inaugural Pratchett Prize (Abre numa nova janela) has been awarded - and a very special book is coming out in November (Abre numa nova janela).

Quite an interesting read, with a nod to Tolkien: Folklore is philosophy (Abre numa nova janela) [Aeon.co (Abre numa nova janela)] (h/t Taz Cooper)

Always good to see how relevant and important the support of children’s literature is: The Indigenous Literacy Foundation wins $725,000 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (Abre numa nova janela) [ABC.net.au (Abre numa nova janela)]

If you need more suggestions on what to read the New York Times has its best from 2000-2023 (Abre numa nova janela).

You may find this useful: A guide to finally getting into Brandon Sanderson books (Abre numa nova janela) [Polygon]

An outstanding career: John Williams Faces His Legacy: 54 Oscar Noms, ‘Star Wars’ Mistakes and Changing the Movies Forever (Abre numa nova janela) [Variety]

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