Dr Andrew Higgins

Additions made by Tolkien in later editions to correct visual depictions of Gollum like Tove Jansson's.

Last chance to pre-order our Verlyn Flieger documentary! The Stories That Come to Us offers a warm, at-home conversation with one of Tolkien studies’ great scholars, reflecting on her life, work, and the stories that have shaped them. Watch the 20 minute preview here: www.youtube.com/watc...

Man, I’m like a hour away rn from a museum that has the first print of Lord of the Rings. But I wont have time to go see it 😭💔 www.folger.edu/explore/the-...

I would love to believe that Amazon MGM Studios have adapted their schedule so I can include things from them with the Roving Ranger but... 😆😅 Roving Ranger out last night, full of games, kickstarters, events, media, and amazing scholarship from all over the world! steady.page/en/thetolkie...

Not every day that a professional classicist wins the Nobel Prize for Literature (last one was Th. Mommsen in 1902). We investigate Anne Carson's Classics here on Instant Classics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6k...

The 3rd Series of Prime Video's 'The Rings Of Power' is released in less than 3 weeks. How do you feel about it? Will it encourage more people to read the book and bring a younger audience to the world of Tolkien? What are you interested to see brought to life on film? #Tolkien #TheRingsOfPower

Excellent! Putting on the Xmas Present for myself list! #ancientgreek #linearb www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Line...

#TolkienTrewsday I did a paper ‘Four Brethren Heroes of the Gondothlim - Egalmoth, Ecthelion, Glorfindel and Legolas : A mythic and linguistic exploration’ which can be found in The Proceedings of the Tolkien 2019 Conference www.tolkiensociety.org/2025/01/new-... #Tolkien @TolkienTrewsDay

Had a fantastic time presenting at the German Tolkien Society seminar this morning! This post is the text from my paper, complete with references for folks who want to go quote-hunting :D ethnobotanistinarda.ghost.io/names-knowle...

#OnThisDay in 1940, #Tolkien writes to Christopher Tolkien. Tolkien hopes that Christopher has not had air raids recently. He notes that he is very lonely without him close to home. Tolkien has been busy with term, but has no actual news. He says there were bombs on Friday night, but

Faramir, Smooth Operator, Shows his Quality tomhillman3.substack.com/p/faramir-sm...

Before Sauron there was Tevildo Prince of Cats! Meet him here in this great espisode of @prancingponypod.bsky.social #tolkien podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

71 years ago, on the 20th of October 1955, the final volume of the Lord Of the Rings was published. It was titled ‘The Return of the King’ by publisher Rayner Unwin. Author J.R.R. Tolkien felt the title revealed too much of the story and preferred the title ‘The War of the Ring’. #otd #history 🗃️

My Inaugural Professorial Lecture at @glasgow.ac.uk has been announced: “A kind of elvish craft”: In conversation with Prof. Tolkien Myth, folklore, fairy-story, fantasy + the traditions behind the stories we tell. 9 Nov, 5pm. Book here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/critical-s... @uofgartshums.bsky.social

#OnThisDay in 1954, #Tolkien writes to Rector of the University of Liège. Tolkien sends his gratitude for his honorary doctorate at the University of Liège on October 2nd, 1954.

Roman cancel culture? What did the Romans do with politicians they wanted to forget. We explore the options on Instant Classics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiMK...

Shorter even than a Scaramucci share.google/9PXBvb9icVJw...

“Fiction is a good way to instil empathy. So that when [children] meet people who have suffered war or see war on their screens, they will understand better its dreadful impact.” Author #TomPalmer joins the Big Story Festival at the Imperial War Museum: southlondonnews.co.uk/national/hea...

The online membership is £30 a year, with digital Amon Hen and Mallorn, plus member discounts, including £25 off Oxonmoot. It practically pays for itself. Join now: www.tolkiensociety.org/join/ #Tolkien

Roman cancel culture? How, why and when did Romans erase names, smash statues, condemn memory etc. On Instant Classics podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...

I will *not* be dressing up as a Python for my course starting tomorrow!

I don’t know what kind of lectures you’re attending today, wherever you are in the world, but I’m pretty sure your lecturer didn’t show up dressed as a hobbit, with a pipe instead of a laser pointer! 🧙‍♂️ Yes, this is the first lecture of Digital Tolkien, taught by @jtauber.com.

Another edition of the Tolkien newsletter, the Roving Ranger, has just been sent to its subscribers. Including: Oxford Oratory to be restored; Oxford's historic growth; Lamb & Flag's new sign; LotR musical (?); Hobbit(s) on stage; posts galore... steady.page/en/thetolkie...

Why can’t the Borrowers live in a doll’s house? A teacup is the size of a mixing bowl. The stove looks lovely but doesn’t work. The lamps give no light. My new essay on scale, status and beautiful things: dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/why-cant-t...

Look what the 🦅 🦅 🦅 brought today - congrats @grahascheper.bsky.social for this excellent volume from @UppsalaBooks with a forward by Tom Shippey - looking forward to digging into the works of The Venerable Bede in #English and #Latin

Interesting! Roman fort found in Wales could prove myth of emperor’s camp is real www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Great episode Shout out for Tinfang Warble #Tolkien podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t... @prancingponypod.bsky.social

Join The Man of the West and The Shieldmaiden of Rohan as we begin our long look at the oldest version of the story of Beren and Lúthien, known as The Tale of Tinúviel.

Excellent! Just finished "Orator: The Life of Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic" by Catharine Edwards

A huge shoutout to all the Trekkies in here - and if you happen to have access to early (TOS) fandom and this particular letter writing campaign (MAKE SPOCK ZE ARAGORN!!!) 😇 your help is greatly appreciated. steady.page/en/thetolkie...

Being a great cultural institution, the Imperial War Museum gets its share of brickbats. Here's what I learned in eight years on the board markurban.substack.com/p/secrets-of...

The people followed law-wise Moses from the land; the sea burst apart before the staff; that was accomplished on a Sunday. The heathen people rushed with valour onto the ocean’s paths; quickly the ugly sea brought about a loss of life for Pharaoh.

Fylgði lýðr af láði lagavísum Móísi; sundr sprakk vágr fyr vendi; vas þat sunnudag unnit. Þusti hafs með hreysti heiðit folk á leiðir; brátt vann lǫgr inn ljóti líftjón Pharaóni. Anon Leið 18

Oxford Tolkien Network has a new URL: tolkien-network.ox.ac.uk

For #TolkienTrewsday theme of "bows", I present the Beautiful Bare-chested Brown Bard aiming his arrow at green Smaug from the 1979 cover of Indonesian The Hobbit, drawn by Setyo Sudhiarto. Translated by A. Adiwiyoto, it used "orang bajang" for Dwarves instead of "kurcaci" like in the new version.

#OnThisDay in 1948, #Tolkien writes to Ronald Eames. Tolkien sends his spare copy of Farmer Giles of Ham, which is uncorrected, to Ronald Eames. This copy is to be sent on to the illustrator Pauline Baynes. He believes that it will serve her in preparation for illustrating the book.

Enjoy our live show from Oxonmoot! The slides are SO FUNNY! Sara and Kristine and truly the Meme Queens! 👑Don’t sleep on the slides! youtu.be/1HUBvRazbKU

Eglerio! and Congrats to the @digitaltolkien.com team for this excellent and very helpful chronology of the narrative frame in #Tolkien’s Book of Lost Tales which was the subject of my Phd thesis and I am currently re-reading for an upcoming new paper. home.digitaltolkien.com/frame-timeli...

New article! annotations.digitaltolkien.com/articles/upd...

We have a look (not literally!) at the emperor Galba's hernia, and Augustus' teeth. Instant Classics explores what Roman emperors really looked like. podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/w...

Out now - a quick note on the Tolkien Guide 20th Anniversary celebrations! The live stream has been made available so you can look it up - with amazing talks and presentations and maybe some shenanigans by a certain giddy Tolkienist 😅 Worth watching! steady.page/en/thetolkie...

AI Lessons from your affectionate uncle, SCREWTAPE as.ft.com/r/22fd925a-3...

"Large language models offer the same temptation when it comes to gathering knowledge. A superficial survey becomes effortless. Do we let it catalyse deeper research and understanding? Or replace it?" Was having a discussion with colleagues about this--the risk that people will choose the easy path

Harold Rex Interfectus est. Charlotte and I take a look at the (very easy) Latin on the Bayeux tapestry and we wonder about whether you can see a bit of Virgil behind it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yjW...

Have been preparing a revision to the base text of The Hobbit we use. Only a handful of very minor changes made but we've cross-checked about 24 discrepancies in five e-books with another eight print books. Article coming on annotations.digitaltolkien.com later this week.

Brilliant episode podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t... @prancingponypod.bsky.social #tolkien #berenandluthien

THIS MONDAY 👇🏻