Choose a Name for Our New Column!
Our temporarily titled "location bio" will focus on the landscapes and locations of Middle-earth. We need your help naming it!
Challenges have been a part of the SWG since our group was formed in 2005. Before the archive, there were challenges. Before References or any special projects or B2MeM or any of the myriad things we've done over the last decade-plus, there were challenges. Challenges end and a new challenges is posted on the 15th of the month. (Yes, that means there is one thrilling day each month when there are two active challenges!) Participants—both authors and reviewers—will receive a stamp in their challenge stamp collection for their participation. Deadlines apply only if you want your fanwork to receive a stamp.
Every challenge that has ever been offered by the SWG is available for use by creators of fanworks who are looking for inspiration. Even if the deadline for stamps is passed, you are welcome to use the challenges listed on our site. And comments on past challenge fanworks are always welcome and always receive a reward for that month. Want to join us? Click to read the guidelines below!
The Tengwar are one of the delights of visiting Middle-earth as a fan of Tolkien's work. Whether a serious student of the letters; dabbling with them, Appendix open, on a lazy afternoon; or simply admiring the way they flow across a title page (or the One Ring …), most Tolkien fans find them beautiful and packed with meaning beyond what it seems should be contained within a single letter.
This month (and a bit beyond!), we will feature a prompt per day taken from the Tengwar chart. The prompt will include a graphic of the tengwa and its name in Quenya and English. You can use any part of the prompt: the tengwa itself, the name, the English translation, the graphic, or some other creative interpretation we haven't even dreamed up yet! You may do as many or as few of the daily prompts as you would like. One prompt is worth as much as challenging yourself to do them all, so work at the level and pace that is comfortable for you. (However, there may be a special reward for anyone ambitious enough to try them all!)
Prompts will be posted daily at midnight UTC on our website, Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and the #monthly-challenges channel on our Discord. You do not need to do the prompt on the day it was posted; you can go back and do prompts you missed or do them out of order.
Thank you to Cuarthol and Anérea for the gorgeous banners and stamps this month!
View prompts for the Tengwar challenge.
Create a fanwork about competitions using a song from the Eurovision Song Contest as a prompt. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork using a quote from a woman who made contributions in science. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Stroll the halls of an imaginary Middle-earth Museum and choose one (or more!) objects from our prompt list to inspire the creation of a fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork that shows a meeting between characters of two or more cultures. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Choose a major event from The Silmarillion and create a fanwork that shows what a character who was not involved was doing at the time it was taking place. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork in which a character's resemblance or connection to an ancestor plays a central role. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork about exile or exiles. About being exiled. About the people who are exiled. About the decision to exile, the leavetaking, the consequences. About metaphorical or symbolic exile. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Use a popular love song as a prompt to inspire a fanwork about romantic or sexual love. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork about a character you've never explored before by using our Character Biography collection. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Prompts for this Matryoshka challenge are based on the stages of the hero's journey archetype. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork using a quote from a woman who has advanced the cause of women's rights or participation of women in the arts. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork using the Melville quote about the relationship between strength and beauty. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork using a quotation, artwork, speech, or song concerned with protest and revolution as your inspiration. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
What is taboo? Use a bingo card of taboo-related prompts to inspire your fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Create a fanwork that explores a group of characters--formal or informal--that Tolkien didn't identify or describe in his own writings. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
A joint event with silmladylove for creating femslash fanworks using bingo cards as prompts. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Consider what "that" is for your character: the one thing that she or he refuses to do, no matter what. And what happens when she or he ends up having to do it anyway? Challenge opened in . Read more ...
In honor of our 10th birthday, we introduced our Silmfic prompt generator and solicited fanworks made using it. Challenge opened in . Read more ...