Dr Andrew Higgins
@ashiggins.bsky.social
Director of Development at Imperial War Museums. Tolkien Scholar and author Live in Balham London 🏳️🌈
Brilliant performance of Handel’s Ariodante last night at @royaloperahouse.bsky.social with excellent cast including mezzo Grace Durham who replaced Emily D’Angelo and brought down the house with her moving Scherza Infidia. #opera #Handel #Roh
December 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Brilliant performance of Handel’s Ariodante last night at @royaloperahouse.bsky.social with excellent cast including mezzo Grace Durham who replaced Emily D’Angelo and brought down the house with her moving Scherza Infidia. #opera #Handel #Roh
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
December 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers.
Including:
Visit John Howe; PPP Moot; bomber crashs and Tolkien; Tower & the Ruin; walk down into Hobbiton; the road goes ever on; Immeasurable Halls; Tower & Ruins; NZ prime minister wanted to be hobbit and more...
Including:
Visit John Howe; PPP Moot; bomber crashs and Tolkien; Tower & the Ruin; walk down into Hobbiton; the road goes ever on; Immeasurable Halls; Tower & Ruins; NZ prime minister wanted to be hobbit and more...
The One hundred and sixty-seventh Roving Ranger
The Roving Ranger #167 brings you all the interesting things Tolkienian of the last week and the weeks upcoming, curated by the Tolkienist.
steady.page
December 17, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers.
Including:
Visit John Howe; PPP Moot; bomber crashs and Tolkien; Tower & the Ruin; walk down into Hobbiton; the road goes ever on; Immeasurable Halls; Tower & Ruins; NZ prime minister wanted to be hobbit and more...
Including:
Visit John Howe; PPP Moot; bomber crashs and Tolkien; Tower & the Ruin; walk down into Hobbiton; the road goes ever on; Immeasurable Halls; Tower & Ruins; NZ prime minister wanted to be hobbit and more...
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
What made the Romans crack up??? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (or did it?)
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 11/12/2025 · 42m
podcasts.apple.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:52 AM
What made the Romans crack up??? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
Thank you @unamccormack.bsky.social it was fun to research and more on #languageinvention for fiction to come!
Beautiful piece by @ashiggins.bsky.social on language invention in Le Guin's Always Coming Home #UrsulaLeGuin
drandrewhiggins.substack.com/p/world-buil...
drandrewhiggins.substack.com/p/world-buil...
World Building and Language Invention In Focus
"Mythology is Language and Language is Mythology" Listening to Future Voices: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Kesh Language.
drandrewhiggins.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Thank you @unamccormack.bsky.social it was fun to research and more on #languageinvention for fiction to come!
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
Fabric prints inspired by Imperial War Museum's collection of art created by people imprisoned during conflicts
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe launches Liberty fabric to symbolise detention | The National
www.thenationalnews.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Fabric prints inspired by Imperial War Museum's collection of art created by people imprisoned during conflicts
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
The latest editions of our magazine Amon Hen and our journal Mallorn are landing with our members. A Christmas treat!
Get yours too by joining the Society as a member at www.tolkiensociety.org/join. Print and digital options available, and we ship worldwide! #Tolkien #BookSky
Get yours too by joining the Society as a member at www.tolkiensociety.org/join. Print and digital options available, and we ship worldwide! #Tolkien #BookSky
December 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
The latest editions of our magazine Amon Hen and our journal Mallorn are landing with our members. A Christmas treat!
Get yours too by joining the Society as a member at www.tolkiensociety.org/join. Print and digital options available, and we ship worldwide! #Tolkien #BookSky
Get yours too by joining the Society as a member at www.tolkiensociety.org/join. Print and digital options available, and we ship worldwide! #Tolkien #BookSky
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
The Tolkien Society is hosting an auction of books and collectibles!
The items were donated to the Society in a member's will. Some we have retained, but the rest will hopefully make someone's Christmas! All money raised will go back in the Society.
Please share! charityauction.bid/tolkiensociety
The items were donated to the Society in a member's will. Some we have retained, but the rest will hopefully make someone's Christmas! All money raised will go back in the Society.
Please share! charityauction.bid/tolkiensociety
Auctria
charityauction.bid
December 6, 2025 at 8:36 PM
The Tolkien Society is hosting an auction of books and collectibles!
The items were donated to the Society in a member's will. Some we have retained, but the rest will hopefully make someone's Christmas! All money raised will go back in the Society.
Please share! charityauction.bid/tolkiensociety
The items were donated to the Society in a member's will. Some we have retained, but the rest will hopefully make someone's Christmas! All money raised will go back in the Society.
Please share! charityauction.bid/tolkiensociety
Congrats @joelmerriner.bsky.social really enjoyed this and for me the works of Alexander Koritch and Ukrainian artist Sergei Iukhimov stand out. Highly recommend another great volume from the #Bloomsbury Perspectives on Fantasy Series www.bloomsbury.com/uk/illustrat... #tolkien #art
December 6, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Congrats @joelmerriner.bsky.social really enjoyed this and for me the works of Alexander Koritch and Ukrainian artist Sergei Iukhimov stand out. Highly recommend another great volume from the #Bloomsbury Perspectives on Fantasy Series www.bloomsbury.com/uk/illustrat... #tolkien #art
Was so cool to attend the live recording of this @instantclassicspod.bsky.social episode with the classics dynamic duo of Dame @wmarybeard.bsky.social and Charlotte Higgins in the Roman Amphitheater below #Guildhall in #London
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
Life, Death and Gladiators in Roman London
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 04/12/2025 · 1h 2m
podcasts.apple.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Was so cool to attend the live recording of this @instantclassicspod.bsky.social episode with the classics dynamic duo of Dame @wmarybeard.bsky.social and Charlotte Higgins in the Roman Amphitheater below #Guildhall in #London
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
Eglerio! I first heard Professor #MichaelDCDrout talk about the idea for this book at a conference in Dublin in 2010 and now the 🦅🦅 have delivered his new #Tolkien book! Can’t wait to read!
December 2, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Eglerio! I first heard Professor #MichaelDCDrout talk about the idea for this book at a conference in Dublin in 2010 and now the 🦅🦅 have delivered his new #Tolkien book! Can’t wait to read!
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
⭐ Discover our #ExhibitionoftheWeek!
🕵️ Dive into espionage, hidden messages, and daring missions at “Spies, Lies and Deception” at IWM North. Visit for free starting 29 November!
buff.ly/5KbHkQb
#IWMNorth #SpiesLiesAndDeception
🕵️ Dive into espionage, hidden messages, and daring missions at “Spies, Lies and Deception” at IWM North. Visit for free starting 29 November!
buff.ly/5KbHkQb
#IWMNorth #SpiesLiesAndDeception
Spies, Lies and Deception
Discover over 100 years of intrigue, deceit and real-life secret agents.Spies, Lies and Deception is a free, family-friendly exhibition at IWM North about deception and espionage from the First World…
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 12:00 PM
⭐ Discover our #ExhibitionoftheWeek!
🕵️ Dive into espionage, hidden messages, and daring missions at “Spies, Lies and Deception” at IWM North. Visit for free starting 29 November!
buff.ly/5KbHkQb
#IWMNorth #SpiesLiesAndDeception
🕵️ Dive into espionage, hidden messages, and daring missions at “Spies, Lies and Deception” at IWM North. Visit for free starting 29 November!
buff.ly/5KbHkQb
#IWMNorth #SpiesLiesAndDeception
For those who have heard me gone about it - I did manage to find a Pumpkin Pie in London last night for mini-Thanksgiving festivities- quite good #thanksgiving
November 28, 2025 at 7:10 AM
For those who have heard me gone about it - I did manage to find a Pumpkin Pie in London last night for mini-Thanksgiving festivities- quite good #thanksgiving
Great to be back in Manchester for opening of IWM North Spies Lies and Deception last night this a family focused look at the role of spying espionage from WW1to Modern Day including Operation Mincemeat! Please come and bring the family! #iwm #immnorth #spies #museums www.iwm.org.uk/events/spies...
November 27, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Great to be back in Manchester for opening of IWM North Spies Lies and Deception last night this a family focused look at the role of spying espionage from WW1to Modern Day including Operation Mincemeat! Please come and bring the family! #iwm #immnorth #spies #museums www.iwm.org.uk/events/spies...
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
Added Chapter Pages and P-Text Visualization for HoMe 05: home.digitaltolkien.com/volume/05/
05 The Lost Road and other writings | Volume | HoMe Base
home.digitaltolkien.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Added Chapter Pages and P-Text Visualization for HoMe 05: home.digitaltolkien.com/volume/05/
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
what is a god? On Instant Classics we have a go at trying to understand Athena, much more than a 'goddess of wisdom' podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Athena: Private Life of a Greek Goddess
Podcast Episode · Instant Classics · 27/11/2025 · 44m
podcasts.apple.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:21 AM
what is a god? On Instant Classics we have a go at trying to understand Athena, much more than a 'goddess of wisdom' podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Attended a live recording of the excellent new podcast @instantclassicspod.bsky.social
hosted by Dame @wmarybeard.bsky.social and Charlotte Higgins in the ruins of the Roman amphitheater under #Guildhall - good timing as I tackle #Tacitus #Agricola podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... #classics
hosted by Dame @wmarybeard.bsky.social and Charlotte Higgins in the ruins of the Roman amphitheater under #Guildhall - good timing as I tackle #Tacitus #Agricola podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... #classics
November 26, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Attended a live recording of the excellent new podcast @instantclassicspod.bsky.social
hosted by Dame @wmarybeard.bsky.social and Charlotte Higgins in the ruins of the Roman amphitheater under #Guildhall - good timing as I tackle #Tacitus #Agricola podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... #classics
hosted by Dame @wmarybeard.bsky.social and Charlotte Higgins in the ruins of the Roman amphitheater under #Guildhall - good timing as I tackle #Tacitus #Agricola podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i... #classics
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
A new episode of Instant Classics Bookclub has dropped. We're reading the Odyssey & have reached Book 4. Helen 'of Troy' is back in Sparta with Menelaus whom she abandoned so causing the Trojan War. Domestic bliss? Join the Bookclub with access to back episodes too: instantclassics.supportingcast.fm
Instant Classics | Instant Classics
instantclassics.supportingcast.fm
November 25, 2025 at 7:20 AM
A new episode of Instant Classics Bookclub has dropped. We're reading the Odyssey & have reached Book 4. Helen 'of Troy' is back in Sparta with Menelaus whom she abandoned so causing the Trojan War. Domestic bliss? Join the Bookclub with access to back episodes too: instantclassics.supportingcast.fm
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
Tolkien isn't in the business of giving final answers. If he was, he would've written a systematic theology, not a legendarium. His work is one giant thought experiment, a space where he—and we—can grapple with our biggest questions. If theology is Job's friends, Middle-earth is Job.
Death as the Gift of Men is so obviously Tolkien trying to square the brutal reality of loss with his Christian belief in Death as the wages of sin. For 60 years he wrestled with what might be humanity's greatest existential problem. He offers back, not a religious answer, but a religious question.
November 22, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Tolkien isn't in the business of giving final answers. If he was, he would've written a systematic theology, not a legendarium. His work is one giant thought experiment, a space where he—and we—can grapple with our biggest questions. If theology is Job's friends, Middle-earth is Job.
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
Back when I worked at Time magazine I wrote a piece calling George R.R. Martin “the American Tolkien.” Is it true? Who knows. WHAT AFTER ALL IS TRUTH REALLY.
But in my house, when I was a kid, the American Tolkien was Fritz Leiber. substack.com/home/post/p-...
But in my house, when I was a kid, the American Tolkien was Fritz Leiber. substack.com/home/post/p-...
That Other American Tolkien
When I was a child, the novels of Fritz Leiber were way more important to me than The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. If anything Tolkien was the British Leiber
substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Back when I worked at Time magazine I wrote a piece calling George R.R. Martin “the American Tolkien.” Is it true? Who knows. WHAT AFTER ALL IS TRUTH REALLY.
But in my house, when I was a kid, the American Tolkien was Fritz Leiber. substack.com/home/post/p-...
But in my house, when I was a kid, the American Tolkien was Fritz Leiber. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
On 22 November 1963: C.S. Lewis dies.
Lewis was an Oxford colleague and met #Tolkien regularly with others as part of the literary group The Inklings. Lewis wrote the popular Chronicles of Narnia series.
Tolkien felt Lewis's death like "an axe-blow near the roots" of an old tree. #BookSky
Lewis was an Oxford colleague and met #Tolkien regularly with others as part of the literary group The Inklings. Lewis wrote the popular Chronicles of Narnia series.
Tolkien felt Lewis's death like "an axe-blow near the roots" of an old tree. #BookSky
November 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew Higgins
A very happy 101st birthday to Christopher #Tolkien!
Most of what we know about Middle-earth is thanks to Christopher who posthumously edited over 20 books. He sadly passed away over five years ago, but please raise a glass, and toast Christopher's service to us all. Namárië. #BookSky
Most of what we know about Middle-earth is thanks to Christopher who posthumously edited over 20 books. He sadly passed away over five years ago, but please raise a glass, and toast Christopher's service to us all. Namárië. #BookSky
November 21, 2025 at 7:11 PM