Hot from #Tolkien at Kalamazoo 2026 my round up on live sessions open.substack.com/pub/drandrew...

FYI: @ashiggins.bsky.social @dimitrafimi.bsky.social

Eglerio! And thats a wrap to #Tolkien at Kalamazoo 2026 - excellent papers, great sessions and good book room activity. Will be posting a Wrap Up to my Substack soon, #KZoo2026

In July IWM London opens Childhood in War. This free exhibition shares children's view of war from more than 100 years. 450 million children live in conflict zones worldwide; their stories have never been more important. Read more here: www.iwm.org.uk/events/child...

Eglerio! It is Day One of the International Medieval Conference at @wmuhumanities.bsky.social and #Tolkien at #Kalamazoo 2026 and I will report later on my Substack on the sessions, book room wanderings and general discussions #Kzoo2026

“The unpayable debt that I owe to him was not influence but sheer encouragement..." #Tolkien on #Lewis. 100th Anniversary 📖 #OTD in #History 11 May 1926, future #fantasy masters #JRRTolkien and #CSLewis first met at a Merton College English Faculty meeting at the #UniversityofOxford.

Long before Comic-Con! Report from possibly the First Sci Fi Convention from Punch Magazine in 1891 “revelled at the Albert Hall, which last week was given up to a festival called “The Coming Race.” open.substack.com/pub/drandrew...

open.substack.com/pub/drandrew... #conlangs

I did a basic introduction to stress and tone for a class a few years back and just posted the video: youtu.be/RDl8texptro #conlang #language #linguistics

Interesting antigonejournal.com/2026/05/inte...

My five star review of Professor @wmarybeard.bsky.social excellent new Talking Classics:The Shock of the Old has been posted to #Amazon #marybeard #TalkingClassics #books

On 1 May T.A. 3019 in #Tolkien's works: Aragorn is crowned as King Elessar. "Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta!" #booksky #lotr

On doormats today and news stands soon, the May issue of The Critic with my review of Imperial War Museum's excellent "Beauty and Destruction".

Great #fundraising event “Rethinking the Ask” at the Moco Museum last night in London which has an excellent exhibition of #KeithHaring art. #museums

Another feature in the new issue of Forgotten Ground Regained is @denniswise.bsky.social's article on Pat Masson. She was one of the best alliterative poets of the 20th century. That's directly comparing her w/ Lewis and Tolkien. alliteration.net/info/the-new... #alliterative #poet #tolkien #lewis

Gratias tibi ago Professor @MaryBeard for this brilliant book. Here is my five star review of it on GoodReads goodreads.com/review/show/85…#marybeardr#classicscs

Are you looking for a collaborative #PhD that combines the study of algorithmic life with experience in the museums/heritage sector? Our collaborative doctoral partnership with #ImperialwarMuseums could be for you. Closing date 28 May 2026 www.iwm.org.uk/sites/defaul...

Tolkien built his own world, complete with languages, mythology, and a cosmology explaining the creation of his world, ALL without relying on a massively exploitative machine that generates derivatives of pre-existing creations.

Westmoot 2026 - a convention all about Tolkien! This Tolkien Society event will see hundreds of Tolkien fans come together in Minneapolis from May 22 to May 24 to learn about Tolkien and celebrate together. Sign up at westmoot.org

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... An Instant Classics (sort of) two-parter. Here Charlotte and I talk about my book on the excitement of Classics. Next time Grayson Perry on why he hates classical civ!

Astonished to learn that ‘Silence of the Gods’ sold nearly 3k copies in the second half of 2025. These are numbers I'm not used to seeing 😮

www.sciencenews.org/article/conl... #conlang

The Vale of York Cup - Part of a 10th century hoard discovered by two metal-detectorists in a field between York and Harrogate in 2007. The Viking Age hoard is now part of the collections at the Yorkshire Museum in York. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #YorkshireMuseum

Born on this day: Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, or Margrethe II, is the former queen regnant of Denmark (1972–2024). She is also an artist who has illustrated British and Danish editions of The Lord of the Rings. FROM tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Margret...

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien) This is Tolkien's adaptation/telling of the matter of the Volsungs and the aftermath with the Huns, to bridge a most unhappy lacuna in the main source text for the Icelandic […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

Wonderful to visit The Imperial War Museum 'Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art' with Jessica Douthwaite. We also caught a brilliant talk by volunteer Charles on Laura Knight's painting of the Nuremberg trial.

"Beautiful Place because Trees are Loved" is the title of Tolkien's letter to The Daily Telegraph (4 July 1972) A response to an article that used the phrase "Tolkien gloom" for trees, he insisted that he's always on the side of trees against their enemies. 1/4 #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday

Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: Visit the Tolkien bust; Barth & Tolkien; PA 16 available again; Tolkien & childhood; Bilbo's Long Shadow; Hunt for Gollum news; hobbit home for $50?; Tehran Argonath?; GNU Moo says Tolkien and much more..

Thinking of #JonathanFrid on the anniversary of his passing whose portrayal of the vampire Barnabas Collins on #DarkShadows will never be forgotten here is one of my fav scenes w/ him and his nemesis Burke Devlin a masterclass in acting youtu.be/Sk9XIq8Ud2I?si…

Arrived today two new excellent volumes from @UppsalaBooks - which should I dig into first? #books #medieval

New #Parsifal coming to @royaloperahouse.bsky.social next season! www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a... #wagner 🦢

Greeks and Romans had their own favorites among Homeric heroes, but Odysseus was always beloved. Archaeologists at sites on Ithaca have found centuries of offerings incised with dedications to him. archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2026/collection/hometown-hero/the-unexpected-world-of-the-odyssey/

We're currently recruiting for five (yes five!) Collaborative Doctoral Partnership awards at IWM See the full list of projects and partners here, with further details of how to apply: www.iwm.org.uk/research/doc...

Incredible performance of #Mayerling last night at @royaloperahouse.bsky.social my fav ballet in an excellent production #MatthewBall was incredibly moving as Crown Prince Rudolph whose tomb I remember standing by in #Vienna. #ballet #rbo

A rare volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s poetry, believed to be only one of three copies in private ownership, is up for sale by a Wallingford book dealer. ‘Songs for the Philologists’ was printed by students at UCL but hastily withdrawn when their tutor realised Tolkien had not given permission.

🚨🎓Funded #PhD opportunity: AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) studentship - ‘𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗿’, with Imperial War Museums (IWM) & University of Glasgow @glasgow.ac.uk. Supervised by Tim Peacock, Matt Barr & Ian Kikuchi. Apply by Friday 22 May, 5pm. October 2026 start. Details in next post.

Every day, I think: there’s no possible way it can get dumber and more embarrassing. And then Trump does something like this. And yes, this is real. It is all too real.

Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: I am nominated for the TS Awards; Brandywine going UK; Sarehole returning; Tapestries at Angers; Songs for 65k; LEGO Smaug; upcoming films & games etc... steady.page/en/bd48e165-...

Congrats to @felixjrt.bsky.social finished this over Easter break.Excellent exploration of The Golden Dawn members including Yeats, Arthur Machen and #Inkling Charles Williams. Specially interested now in Dion Fortune. Very well researched and great bibliography. www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

Seen What's Inside The Imperial War Museum?

Don’t forget, tomorrow, Monday, April 6, is the first session of the @tolkiensociety.org’s Big Read with @clarelmoore.bsky.social and @erikjampa.bsky.social! It is free for Tolkien Society members, and the syllabus looks fantastic!✨ Check out Erik’s post- erikjampa.substack.com/p/tolkien-so...

Finished. A timely and brilliant exploration into the origins of #Easter another excellent volume from @uppsalabooks www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...

For today’s annual #Karfeitag listening #wagner #parsifal

The @tolkiensociety.org's 2026 award nominations have just been published. Delighted that Our Guide to the Letters of J.R.R. #Tolkien has been nominated for best online content among many other worthy nominees in all categories. If you are a member then please vote in the awards this year.

I'M NOT CRYING, YOU ARE CRYING! 😭😢🤩🤓😅 THE ROVING RANGER HAS BEEN NOMINATED 😎🤩🤗 Thank you so much for this incredible honour and to be among such admirable folk - good luck to my fellow nominees 👍🤞💪

My (free) Journal of Tolkien Research article, "The Tides of Time, the Tides of Fate, and the Power of Song," has been shortlisted for Best Article in the 2026 @tolkiensociety.org awards. Thank you for this unexpected honor. Best of luck to everyone shortlisted. @ksupress.bsky.social #Tolkien

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... Antigone the heroine? Take a look/listen at our new episode of Instant Classice

"Humanity's next great voyage begins" #Artemis

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... Latest episode of Instant classics is on Antigone: the young woman who stood up to tyranny and paid with her life. Or is there more to it?