The Twelfth Roving Ranger
Folks,
a warm welcome to this, the twelfth Roving Ranger newsletter!
Events
Hobbit Week 2020 is coming up, that is, the global celebrations of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins’ Birthday on September 22. I would highly suggest to you to look up the International Tolkien Fellowship Facebook group for Tolkien-inspired events the world over.
The Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow launched last night to great acclaim and applause and you can see the video, including the excellent Ellen Kushner’s keynote, over here.
TolkienGuide mentions a Ted Nasmith online gallery, go have a look.
Essays & Scholarship
Both David Bratman and John D. Rateliff have some lovely short insights into topics plaguing Tolkien criticism and fandom: Bratman talks about “The Inklings’ first names” and Rateliff about “A Warning to the source study-ist.”
It has been a while but I would like to mention Great-Granduncle Bullroarer by Edmund Weiner; entertainingly word-nerdy.
Reviews and Book News
The 2021 Beyond Bree Calendar has been announced by editor Jeremy Edmonds and is worth both your time and you buying it.
The Mythopoeic Press has announced a special sale on Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C. S. Lewis on their site.
And don’t forget Luna Press Publishing’s september deal, offering three of their Tolkien titles at a discount.
Other Stuff
A lovely anecdote told by Samuel Kay Keyser about how he met JRRT as a student.
If you are looking for Children of Húrin inspired music – Francisco Nogueiras has you covered.
I am not arguing for or against such things but I wanted to note that the Princess Bride cast reconvened for a Wisconsin Democrat get together. And yes, Mandy Pantikin has the sword. More on it with the hashtag #PrincessBrideReunion.
Film franchise, merchandise and Amazon series
The internet is the place where all the nonsense happens one is inclined to think when listening to Scatman Gollum.
The Budget Shed of the Year 2020 has been inspired by hobbit holes. Well.
In preparation for the Hobbit film trilogy by Peter Jackson New Zealand changed its labour laws to accommodate Hollywood film production company’s wishes. One of the few voices speaking up against this abuse has now spoken out, again, on this highly contentious topic amid a flurry of sexual harrassment allegations against Weta Workshop and Weta Digital.
Devoted Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien Will Love This House on the California Coast. Uhm, no? Only if I loved “aesthetically uninspired” and “you can’t buy taste, let’s see some proof”?
In other news
If you wanted to know how to create the hype for a blockbuster the recent official Dune trailer has much to offer. Looking forward to see what Denis Villeneuve will come up with.
George R.R. Martin evidently had plans to build a library in the form of one of his inventend buildings but according to building regulations in Santa Fe this is not going to work. An episode in the days of not much to report, even the New York Times felt it had to spend time and energy on it.
On a personal note
This issue of the Roving Ranger is the first to have more than 100 subscribers. Thank you all very much for your interest – and do keep sharing the word!
The Blog Roll
These are blogs you really should be following if you’re interested in Tolkien …
Some of these, you may find, are not as active as one would hope; but even if they have not posted anything new for a long time they are repositories of great essays and research on all things Tolkienian and always worth your time. The blog roll – and this very newsletter! – has been inspired by Troels Forchammer’s Parma-kenta and his excellent Tolkien Transactions he did for seven years – they are still sorely missed!
Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, ‘Too Many Books and Never Enough’
Dimitra Fimi, ‘Dr. Dimitra Fimi’
Jason Fisher, ‘Lingwë — Musings of a Fish’
Douglas A. Anderson, ‘Tolkien and Fantasy’
John D. Rateliff — ‘Sacnoth’s Scriptorium’
John Garth, ‘John Garth’
David Bratman, ‘Kalimac’s Journal’
Jenny Dolfen, ‘Jenny’s Sketchbook’
Andrew Higgens, ‘Wotan’s Musings’
Anna Smol, ‘A Single Leaf’
Edmund Weiner, ‘Philoloblog’
Robin Anne Reid, her blog
Annalisa Palmer, her blog
Various, The Mythopoeic Society
Various (Bradford Eden, ed.) Journal of Tolkien Research (JTR)
Various, The Tolkien Society (TS)
Southfarthing Mathom
Various, The Mythopoeic Society, ‘The Horn of Rohan Redux’
Sue Bridgwater, ‘Skorn’
Tom Hilman, ‘Alas, not me’
Michael Martinez, ‘Middle-earth’
Bruce Charlton, ‘Tolkien’s The Notion Club Papers’
Various, ‘Middle-earth News’
Jeffrey R. Hawboldt, ‘Expressions of Substance’
Ryszard Viajante Derdzinski, ‘Tolknięty’
Stephen C. Winter, ‘Wisdom from The Lord of the Rings’
Troels Forchhammer, ‘Parma-kenta‘
Marcel Aubron-Bülles, ‘The Tolkienist‘
Jeremy Edmonds, ‘Tolkien Collector’s Guide‘
Aubrey, ‘Diverse Tolkien‘
Elyanna, ‘itariilles‘
Picture credits: Bilbo Baggins and Smaug by Anke Eissmann. Please also visit her tumblr for a lot of Sherlock.
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