The Ninety-eighth Roving Ranger
Life and Works
February 4, 1937. Tolkien's poem "The Dragon's Visit (Abre numa nova janela)" is published in The Oxford Magazine.
February 5, 1968. The first day of filming for the documentary Tolkien in Oxford (Abre numa nova janela).
February 6, 1972. Tolkien writes a letter to Vera Chapman and the Tolkien Society (Abre numa nova janela); for the birthday gift see this (Abre numa nova janela).
February 8, 1964. Tolkien writes Letter 294 (Abre numa nova janela); if you ever wanted to get an idea how bad interviews can turn out, this one is for you.
February 10, 1966. Tolkien writes a letter to Donald A. Wollheim (Abre numa nova janela) (of the Ace Books (Abre numa nova janela) controversy.)
February 11, 1945. Tolkien writes Letter 97 (Abre numa nova janela)(one my all-time favourite entries with Tolkien Gateway: Etymological exasperation). ☺️
February 13, 1923. Tolkien writes Letter 6 (Abre numa nova janela) to Elizabeth Mary Wright (Abre numa nova janela), thanking her for the article by her husband (Abre numa nova janela) she had sent to him.
February 14, 1896. Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela) dictates a letter to his father (Abre numa nova janela), aged three.
“"I am so glad I am coming back to see you it is such a long time since we came away from you I hope the ship will bring us all back to you Mamie and Baby and me…”
February 15, 1896. Arthur Tolkien (Abre numa nova janela), Tolkien's father, dies.
If you ever need a really short biography of Tolkien have a look at this (Abre numa nova janela).
HarperCollins have released the covers for the UK History of Middle-earth paperbacks coming out - see all of them and the discussion (Abre numa nova janela) with TolkienGuide.com.
Events & Shows (Abre numa nova janela)
Now, this is a little difficult to describe but this year’s Gulf Wars (Abre numa nova janela)The Known World Party’s theme will be Gondor. Master Kat the Strange (Abre numa nova janela) published this with the Kingdom of Gleann Abhann (Abre numa nova janela) Facebook group, a a part of the Society for Creative Anachronism (Abre numa nova janela) (March 9-17). [Facebook]
Registration for MythCon 53 is open now (Abre numa nova janela) (August 2024).
Lure of Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) has anncounced its schedule for the February festivities at Castle Stahleck (fan organised con for Middle-earth CCG and LotR LCG).
The Canadian Children’s Opera Company in Toronto will be doing The Hobbit (Abre numa nova janela)from May to June.
The Lord of the Rings musical version with the Watermill Theatre (Abre numa nova janela) seems to have been not only a smash hit for the theatre but has also won nine awards recently (Abre numa nova janela). Even theBBC (Abre numa nova janela) noted:
A venue that staged a Lord of the Rings musical after losing its arts funding has won theatre of the year at a national awards ceremony.
Norwegian composer and long-time Tolkien enthusiast Martin Romberg has his Elven Songs nominated at the Norwegian Music Publishers Award (Abre numa nova janela). (Listen to his rendition of A Elbereth Gilthoniel (Abre numa nova janela). [Youtube]
There are two slots this year to see some of the Tolkien manuscripts (Abre numa nova janela) at Marquette University (March and September).
The upcoming New York Tolkien Conference is looking for volunteers (Abre numa nova janela).
The French convention Sur les Terres de l’Unique (Abre numa nova janela) is moving to Plestin les Grèves (Abre numa nova janela), Brittany. [Facebook; September 28-29]
The eighth Convegno Internazionale di «Poetica & Cristianesimo» at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Abre numa nova janela) in Rome has Tolkien as a topic (Abre numa nova janela). [April 18-19]
The Department of English and American Studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (Abre numa nova janela), Slovakia, invites you to Emotions in Middle-earth (Abre numa nova janela) [Call for Papers; event happens March 22, in person & online]
For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Abre numa nova janela) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Abre numa nova janela).
Scholarship and Fandom
John Garth has this: Queen of the Rings: Did Tolkien help Margrethe of Denmark abdicate? (Abre numa nova janela), with David Bratman commenting (Abre numa nova janela).
Douglas A. Anderson has Fairy-tale Versions of Beowulf (Abre numa nova janela).
My short review of the LPBD edition of Tolkien is listed with Tolkien Gleanings (Abre numa nova janela) - so here is a shoutout to David Haden for his excellent Tolkien-related listings you can subscribe to as well.
The Wonder of the Wade series has Laura Schmidt Stanifer (Abre numa nova janela), the Wade (Abre numa nova janela) archivist, talk about its Hobbit first edition. Really, anything Laura has to say on Tolkien should catch your attention. [Youtube]
Have a look at the Tolkien sessions (Abre numa nova janela) at the International Medieval Congress (Abre numa nova janela) (h/t Andrew Higgins (Abre numa nova janela)).
Anna Smol has some thoughts on John Howe, J.R.R. Tolkien and art: Drawing your way into a fantasy landscape (Abre numa nova janela).
Richard Gray has some thoughts (Abre numa nova janela) on the new Letters edition.
Please note: Whenever you need to know anything about Tolkien’s letters visit the TCG Guide to Tolkien’s Letters (Abre numa nova janela).
A lovely story that happened recently: When the Peruvian Tolkien Society (Abre numa nova janela) did a Zoom call (Abre numa nova janela) talking about the History of the Hobbit they had a surprise guest - none other than author John D. Rateliff, thanks to the intervention of Erik Mueller-Harder (Abre numa nova janela). [Facebook; Sacnoth’s Scriptorium]
Bruce Charlton has some thoughts on Tolkien’s poetry and particularly The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (Abre numa nova janela).
I am happy to present another amazing artist in my “Tolkien Travel Poster” series, Danielle Sylvan (Abre numa nova janela). [thetolkienist.com (Abre numa nova janela)]
Stephen C. Winter has another interesting piece: “There Are Dead Things, Dead Faces in The Water.” Frodo and Sam Cross The Dead Marshes.” (Abre numa nova janela)
Seldom have I read a poem with more pleasure than Dear Tolkien Estate (Abre numa nova janela). [Tales after Tolkien Society]
Would you have expected these keywords when talking about Gimli - “Neotropical, Zalmoxoidea, relict, sexual dimorphism, cave-dwellers”? Well, then you probably are a scientist finding spiders in the dark (Abre numa nova janela) and naming them.
Check out Myla Malinalda’s rainbow series with Instagram (Abre numa nova janela).
Franchise and Merchandise
The Hobbit Hole (Abre numa nova janela), a game shop opened in September 2014 in Catteris, Cambridgeshire, is closing in March (Abre numa nova janela); if you feel like taking it over, do talk to the owner (Abre numa nova janela). [Cambridgeshire Live, Facebook]
Some background information on the casting for (Abre numa nova janela)Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power from Emmy winner Theo Park (Abre numa nova janela) [Casting Network]
Games Workshop has published information (Abre numa nova janela) on what lies in store for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game community in 2024. My favourite? The ME Hobby Bingo (Abre numa nova janela) [PDF download].
An interesting with the Bookseller explains marketing in modern terms, using the recent example of Sarah J Maas: Understanding fandom (Abre numa nova janela).
I know, I do have to share it: Margot Robbie’s greatest film crush (Abre numa nova janela) was Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn (Abre numa nova janela). [W Magazine; Youtube] My favourite: Ryan Gosling asking first: “Wait, from the book?”
Available now and until #RovingRanger100 on March 1st: trial memberships with the Tolkienist at Steady
Alan Sisto of the Prancing Pony Podcast, John Garth, members of the Tolkien Guide team and one of the world's leading Tolkien linguists have already joined my in my Steady adventure 🤩
Inter alia & Back in the day
Ah, a different Leia would have made for a different film - Jodie Foster (Abre numa nova janela). [Guardian]
An insightful essay on C.S. Lewis as a poet: Dennis Wilson Wise, "The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: C. S. Lewis, The Nameless Isle" (Abre numa nova janela).
The WorldCon (Abre numa nova janela) in Chengdu has been criticised ever since the vote decided on China. Now, according to reports, some writers were excluded for no apparent reason from the Hugo awards (Abre numa nova janela); File770 has more (Abre numa nova janela) on this. [Guardian]
I know, there really isn’t that much to connect them (yet) to Tolkien but twin brothers that share a birthday with Frodo and Bilbo (Abre numa nova janela) and are planning on turning “a meadow higher up on their property into the Flathead Shire with some Hobbiton-style in-ground homes”, well, that’s worth a mention. [Flathead Beacon, Montana]
The new edition of Letters is already being put to use: Tolkien on Loyalty to the Church (Abre numa nova janela) [Where Peter is].
The Star Trek franchise might change owners (Abre numa nova janela), again. [TrekMovie]
Fandom finds many ways to express itself - like a Choc’lit Throne (Abre numa nova janela) for GRRM.
You will find a lot of material right now on the anniversary for D&D - do have a look at: Happy 50th Birthday to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and the tabletop roleplaying genre (Abre numa nova janela) [Wertzone]
It is not much of a surprise that music super stars like Ed Sheeran pay quite a bit of tax (Abre numa nova janela) but some fantasy authors really are up there in the UK. [Independent]
And yes, Harry Potter (Abre numa nova janela) will get a “decade-long” series - and more (Abre numa nova janela). [Variety; Inside the Magic]
That certainly was not the headline I thought I would add to this newsletter: YouTube, Discord, and Lord of the Rings Led Police to a Teen Accused of a US Swatting Spree (Abre numa nova janela). [Wired; limited free reading]
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 (Abre numa nova janela) : Facebook (Abre numa nova janela) : Bluesky (Abre numa nova janela) : Instagram (Abre numa nova janela) : Mastodon (Abre numa nova janela) : Xitter (Abre numa nova janela)
You can support me by becoming a member with my Steady page (Abre numa nova janela).
If you happen to use Feedly (Abre numa nova janela) - why not subscribe to one of their most popular Tolkien blogs: thetolkienist.com ☺️
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.
