The One-hundred and seventh Roving Ranger
Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)
Events & Shows
You can have a quick look at scenes (Opens in a new window) from the Chicago version of the musical. [TheaterMania] | See also this Chicago Tribune review (Opens in a new window) [region-walled]
The Exeter Phoenix and Exeter City of Literature will celebrate both book and films on August 17 (Opens in a new window). And you can still vote (Opens in a new window) for The Lord of the Rings as Exeter‘s favourite book.
A number of Tolkien-inspired events (Opens in a new window) are up with the Story Museum in Oxford.
The Marquette exhibition and research project Affirmation/Transformation: Fandom Created (Opens in a new window) is on-going at the Haggerty Museum and online.
You can now have a look at this year’s Oxonmoot’s schedue with Sched.com (Opens in a new window).
An exhibition on Sir Gawain & the Green Knight (Opens in a new window) is on in Wirral, UK. (h/t Tim Bolton (Opens in a new window))
For all events (Opens in a new window) check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Opens in a new window) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).
Scholarship & Fandom
Women In Middle-earth SDCC 2024 Panel ft EA, Magic, Weta, Middle-earth Ent & more [Youtube (Opens in a new window); TORn]
The 2024 Mythopoeic Awards (Opens in a new window). [File 770]
Jeff LaSala has Van Helsing and The Rings of Power (Opens in a new window).
A lovely chat with collector Trotter (Opens in a new window) via Tolkien Talk [Youtube]
The latest version of cite.tolkien (Opens in a new window) is out.
A review of the Aubusson exhibition catalogue (Opens in a new window) [in French; Tolkiendil]
Spanish football players have been known to be Tolkien fans; there is now another (Opens in a new window). [Twitter]
Tolkien scholar Douglas A. Anderson spotted one of his books (Opens in a new window).
Bulgarian LotR translator Lyubomir Nikolov has passed away. (Opens in a new window)
Given the political situation in the US right now and the fact that ‘Tolkienian rhetorics’ have become part of everyday political interaction here are a few links.
MAGA misunderstands the fellowship of the ring (Opens in a new window) [New York Times] | Reaction No Surprise, David French Completely Botches J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings (Opens in a new window) [Federalist]
Whose ‘Lord of the Rings’ is it anyway? (Opens in a new window) [Boston Globe]; If ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Is a Cautionary Tale, It Was Lost on JD Vance (Opens in a new window) [New York Times; paywall]
Peter Thiel’s influence over a network of Lord of the Rings-inspired companies (Opens in a new window)[Disconnect Blog]; JD Vance’s investments reveal potential contradictions with his political persona (Opens in a new window) [Guardian]
Franchise and Merchandise
Cate Blanchett Says ‘No One Got Paid Anything’ to Film ‘Lord of the Rings’: ‘I Basically Got Free Sandwiches’ (Opens in a new window)[Variety; Youtube] Please note: This is NOT a surprise, see Kristin Thompson’s ”The Frodo Franchise”.
New Edition of Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game Coming Soon (Opens in a new window) [Warhammer Community]
A LotR:RoP featurette (Opens in a new window) makes the - certainly not new - connection between heavy metal and the series. [Youtube]
Lord of the Rings: Online takes you on a stroll through Mordor (Opens in a new window). [Youtube]
Interested in buying Tolkien items? Have a look at some amazing specimens with Bayliss Rare Books (Opens in a new window).
This is one of the most hilarious examples (Opens in a new window)for auction site abuse you will ever find. PSA: Please inform yourself on reliable sites like TolkienGuide.com (Opens in a new window) whether the things you want you buy are genuine.
Inter alia & Back in the Day
Ellen Kushner noted in her recent newsletter:
I Bear Witness to an Ancient Time. It is the time that Fantasy as a Genre was invented, actually. Before LOTR had become a massive enough hit to engender an entire commercial genre of fantasy novels for Not Children, virtually all contemporary fantasy was published as Children’s Books. [Substack (Opens in a new window)]
Is romantasy killing Australian literature? (Opens in a new window)[Arts Hub]
Princess Leia’s Star Wars gold bikini fetches $175,000 at auction (Opens in a new window)[Guardian]
If you feel like using legendary WordStar to write your books - it’s online now (Opens in a new window).
Tiny arm bone unlocks mystery of Indonesia's extinct 'Hobbit' people (Opens in a new window) [Reuters]
The Micro Golden Age of Mid Eighties Fantasy Films (Opens in a new window) [Arts’ Desk]
‘Inside Out 2’ is a blockbuster. It doesn’t solve the animation business’ biggest problem (Opens in a new window) [L.A. Times]
Ansible 445 has been published (Opens in a new window).
A new game with an interesting background - Tales from the Mabinogion (Opens in a new window) - has a reveal trailer. The BBC and others are using a supposed Tolkien link, i.e. Sindarin, in reporting.
D23 2024: First Look at Skeleton Crew, News on The Mandalorian and Grogu, and More (Opens in a new window) [Star Wars]
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 (Opens in a new window) or Bookshop.org (Opens in a new window), the bookshops of my personal trust.
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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.