The One hundred and fourteenth Roving Ranger
Have a look at all Roving Rangers published so far. (Opens in a new window)
Life and Works
Nov 15, 1892. Arthur (Opens in a new window), Mabel (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window) and The Tolkien Family Album (Opens in a new window).
Nov 16, 1917. The Tolkiens’ first child is born, John (Opens in a new window).
Nov 18, 1916. The Battle of the Somme (Opens in a new window) ends. Neither side wins. Tolkien is officially stricken off as a casualty by his battalion.
Nov 19, 1913. The Exeter College Smoker (Opens in a new window) happens, with an illustration by Tolkien.
Nov 21, 1924. Christopher (Opens in a new window) is born.
Nov 22, 1962. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (Opens in a new window) are published.
Nov 24, 1964. Robert Graves, Oxford's Professor of Poetry, introduces Tolkien to Ava Gardner (Opens in a new window). 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 (Opens in a new window).
Nov 26, 1963. Tolkien, Dundas-Grant (Opens in a new window), Havard (Opens in a new window), Barfield (Opens in a new window) and Christopher attend the funeral of C.S. Lewis (Opens in a new window).
Nov 27, 1914. Tolkien reads The Voyage of Eärendel the Evening Star (Opens in a new window) at a poorly attended meeting of Exeter College (Opens in a new window)'s Essay Club.
Nov 29, 1971. Edith Tolkien (Opens in a new window) dies after a short but severe illness.
Both Parma Eldalamberon 23 and 22 are now available with Barnes & Noble (Opens in a new window).
The Eagle & Child (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window).
If you feel like buying the The Tolkien - Donald Swann Archive you should have more than half a million pounds (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) [Nov 23-24; full programme (Opens in a new window)]
The Koninklijke Oude Harmonie van Eijsden (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) [Columbus Navigator]
Philippa Boyens will be at Merton College in Oxford (Opens in a new window).
The Lure of Middle-earth (Opens in a new window) has a very special guest for its 25th Anniversary (March 2025): Ted Nasmith.
For all events check out the International Tolkien Fellowship (Opens in a new window) [FB] and the Tolkien Guide Calendar (Opens in a new window).
Scholarship & Fandom
Robin Reid has Queen Berúthiel is a Childless Cat Lady! (Opens in a new window)
An obituary of Greg Hildebrandt (Opens in a new window), legendary illustrator [also Legacy (Opens in a new window); Hollywood Reporter (Opens in a new window); Locus (Opens in a new window); PPP interview (Opens in a new window)]
Call for Papers: Tolkien & War (Opens in a new window) [via Anna Smol; h/t Tolkien in Vermont]
Putri Prihatini has Rivendell and Śrīksetra Garden: A Tale of Two Sanctuaries. (Opens in a new window)
In a recent edition of GEO (Opens in a new window) in France statements were made on behalf of French publishing house Christian Bourgeois Éditeur (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window) of this; legal proceedings are ongoing as the changes of ownership (Opens in a new window) of the publishing house in recent years has been causing issues. There is a petition (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window)Dennis Wilson Wise has “The New Poets of Rum-Ram-Ruf: The Norse Connection and JRR Tolkien (Part I+II - The Career) (Opens in a new window)” as well as parts III (Opens in a new window) (the Skald) and IV (Opens in a new window) (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 (Opens in a new window) [Oxford’s War 1939–1945], a book certainly mentioning Tolkien.
doubtfulsea has Paleo-Tolkien (Opens in a new window).
Get your Beyond Bree Calendar (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window). [DraftsIM]
Kili from Happy Hobbit (Opens in a new window) has talked to some Tolkien artists at NYCC. [TORn]
I am counting his visit to Oxford as a ‘fandom tour’: A Stop at Oxford (Opens in a new window) [Not a Blog by GRRM]
David Bratman has a review of Fantasy: Realms of Imagination (Opens in a new window).
Merchandise & Franchise
Games Workshop is ramping up its pre-War of the Rohirrim product line (Opens in a new window) , including people like Shank, Wrot and the Snow-Troll (Opens in a new window).
Fellowship: Tolkien & Lewis (Opens in a new window), the film, is set for Winter 2025.
A number of guild screenings are happening for LotR: WotR (Opens in a new window). [WarnerBros]
Also, a song from the film with scenes included has been published: The Rider (Opens in a new window) by Paris Paloma [Youtube]
‘Lord Of The Rings’ Owner Embracer Sees Entertainment Sales Fall 10% In “Slow” Quarter (Opens in a new window) [Deadline; ‘Tolkien IP’ is blamed (Opens in a new window) (Variety)]
Inter alia & Back in the Day
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett to become a Penguin Modern Classic (Opens in a new window) [TP.com]
Tad Williams’ new book, The Navigator’s Children, has come out Nov 12th (Opens in a new window).
Jeri Taylor has passed away (Opens in a new window) [StarTrek.com; Legacy (Opens in a new window); TrekMovie.com (Opens in a new window)]
The NFL does have its share of fans of movie Aragorn (Opens in a new window). [Athlon Sports]
After more than twenty years… WoW offers housing (Opens in a new window). [Youtube]
Thinking about starting a newsletter, podcast, Patreon, Substack etc.?
Then do consider using Steady (Opens in a new window) - it is an exceptionally easy to use option for all needs. Built originally for an independent journalists’ collective, Krautreporter (Opens in a new window), it is run by creative minds for creative minds. Think Patreon, just better. Do use my invite link (Opens in a new window) 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 (Opens in a new window), Bookshop.org (Opens in a new window), or Genialokal (Opens in a new window), 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 (Opens in a new window) : Facebook (Opens in a new window) : Bluesky (Opens in a new window) : Instagram (Opens in a new window) : Threads (Opens in a new window) : Mastodon (Opens in a new window).
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.
