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Teitho April/May Challenge: Quotes

Teitho is a monthly fanfiction contest. Our April/May prompt uses the source material directly for inspiration. Choose any of the following quotes as inspiration for your story.

1. From The Silmarillion: “the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda.”

2. From The Hobbit: “There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”

3. From The Lord of the Rings: “All’s well as ends Better!”

What thoughts and feelings do these quotes inspire? They may come from different books and from different characters, but they can encompass many moments from Tolkien’s legendarium.

The tales of Beleriand may have inspired song but so did the events of the Last Alliance, the search for the Entwives, the destruction on the One ring, the ride of the Rohirrim.

Many characters find something on their adventures—it could be an object but sometimes it’s a secret, unexpected information, or even something they learn about themselves.

Perhaps you would like to write about the moments those words reference? What did Mandos think of Fëanor’s words? Fingolfin? The Noldor gathered in that place?

There is no requirement to use the quote directly in your story but you are free to do so, if you like.

We are excited to read your submissions! Please email your stories to teitho.contest@gmail.com by May 31!

Find more about Teitho here.

Forgotten Ground Regained: Call for Submissions

The Fall issue of Forgotten Ground Regained is open for submissions. I am especially interested in poetry that explores themes of love, devotion, and desire – themes that are, thus far, relatively sparsely represented in modern English alliterative verse. Submissions should be sent to Paul D. Deane at the following email address: pdeane [at] alliteration.net.

Requirements

• Submissions must be in modern English, but authors should feel free to submit poems that take advantage of the diction, rhythms, and syntax of particular language varieties and communities. I do not discriminate against Scots, Appalachian English, Black English Vernacular, Indian English, or any other language variety, though I do ask that authors be prepared to supply notes to explain any terms or expressions that outsiders to their communities may not readily understand.
• Submissions should make skillful, systematic use of alliteration in ways that use alliteration to reinforce the rhythm and connect important ideas. Overall, I prefer poems that have the strongest impact on readers when they are read aloud. I therefore encourage authors to include links to audio or video versions of their poems in their submissions.
• I would love to see people experimenting with modern English versions of Old and Middle English alliterative verse, with Old Norse forms like ljoòahattr and drottkvætt or modern Icelandic rimur, or with new alliterative forms designed to highlight modern English rhythms and speech patterns. While my first preference is what traditional scholarship calls alliterative-accentual verse, I am also open to alliterative free verse or to alliterative versions of traditional forms, such as the ballad, as long as the alliteration is clearly a structural rather than a decorative feature of the form. 
• I am open to work both by contemporary poets and to projects that would normally be considered to fall outside the literary mainstream, such as speculative poetry, SCA Bardic Arts projects, and fan fiction.
• There is no hard upper length limit, though poems more than five to six pages in length are likely to be published separately on the website, with links provided from the Fall issue, rather than being included directly in the pdf magazine. Note that I love both both the lyrical and the narrative turns in poetry, so longer narratives will be given careful consideration.
• Please submit your poem in the body of your email. I will not open attachments.

Submissions for the Fall Issue must be received by September 15th, 2024.

PhD Research on Writing Tolkien's Female Characters: Participants Needed

Rebecca Davis is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Swansea and University of Central Oklahoma. Rebecca's PhD research uses corpus linguistics to explore how fanfiction participants depict Tolkien’s female characters—specifically characters with little to no development by the Professor—in fanfiction.

• Haleth
• Eärien from The Rings of Power
• Lothiriel of Dol Amroth
• Aragorn and Arwen’s Daughters

If you write or read Tolkien fanfiction about any of these characters, I’d love to talk to you! I’m looking to gather 40 interviews as part of my PhD research into the depiction of Tolkien’s female characters in fanfiction. These recorded interviews will take place by Zoom and will take 30-45 minutes.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, please see the participant information sheet and fill out the consent form linked below and I will be in touch.

Participant Information Sheet

Participant Consent Form

WIP Big Bang 2024

The WIP Big Bang has one goal in mind: to clean out your fanfic drafts folder. These are stories that were unfinished for whatever reason, that authors returned to and completed, and the art that goes with them!

Schedule

All times are by 11:59pm PST. Convert time zones.

Sign-ups Begin- April 15th
Sign-ups Close- May 21st
Check In #1- May 22nd
Check In #2- June 15th
Snippets Due- July 1st
Art Claims Begin- July 17th
Check In #3- July 22nd
Check In #4- August 6th
Rough Drafts Due- August 15th
Posting Claims Begin- August 23rd
Posting Claims Ends- September 1st
Final Drafts/Art Due- September 7th
Posting Starts- September 8th

FAQ | 2024 WIP Big Bang Sign Up

Feast of Horns Week 2024

Feast of Horns is a week-long Tolkien-themed event on Tumblr that will take place from the 16th to the 22nd of April, 2024, using headcanons as prompts. All sorts of fanworks are welcome, from drabbles, one-shots, multi-chapter fics, fan art, headcanon, moodboards, and playlists.

Prompts

Day 1: The feast | The chase

Suggestions: How did the Ainur feel when the first chase was suggested? Why was it suggested? Who suggested it? Who were the first to take part?

Day 2: The king and queen | The master and mistress of Ceremonies

Suggestions: Manwë and Varda sometimes took part in both the feast and the chase. How did they hunt? Did they have any favorites to go after? As for the master and mistress of ceremonies, how did Oromë and Vána conduct themselves? Did they keep to the side, or did they partake in the chase as well?

Day 3: Symbols | Collars and Necklaces

Suggestions: Everyone settles on a symbol to separate the hunter from the hunted. Those who take on the role of the hunter wear horns on their brows and amidst their hair. Those who take on the role of the hunted wear horns affixed to necklaces and collars. How elaborate do they get? Are they paired off with other adornments as well? How do Aulë, and later on, elves such as Fëanor make them? Did Fëanor make them for his sons?

Day 4: The hunter and the hunted | Battle of wills

Suggestions: How did the hunters choose who they would go after? Did they chase alone, or did they join hands with others? And what happened after they caught their intended target? There were also times when the hunted pitched themselves against the hunters in a test of will and skill. How did it happen?

Day 5: New alliances | New companions

Suggestions: Elves and Ainur who would not usually see eye-to-eye, worked together. Some alliances lasted only for the duration of the chase. Others may have lasted for much longer. Then there were those who went to form new intimate bonds with those they would have never considered before. How would such things unfold?

Day 6: Decree | No force

Suggestions: The feast and the chase that came after proved to be a huge success, and Manwë himself agreed to make the festivities a regular event. He even went so far as to demand that no force be used on anyone participating. Is this decree honored, or is force used at any point? Do those who want to use force find ways to gain consent from a not-so-willing participant in order to shield themselves from accusations that could ruin them?

Day 7: Free form

Rules

• This is an 18+ event, and works can and will include explicit/triggering themes such as non-consent and incest. Please do be mindful of any warnings given on any post.
• Please respect the writings/art/edits of other contributors, their headcanon, and whomever they ship. If you do not like a particular piece of writing, drawing, or ship, then don’t engage.
• Fanworks must not include minors.
• No reposting of other people’s works without their explicit permission.
• Any sort of bigoted behavior or the promotion of bigoted ideas (sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.) will not be welcomed.
• Violation of these rules will result in you getting blocked.

FAQ

Mod: @a-world-of-whimsy-5

Silmarillion Epistolary Week 2024

Silmarillion Epistolary is a challenge dedicated to creating fanworks to tell the story of The Silmarillion in the style of an epistolary novel. Silmarillion Epistolary Week will run 15-21 April 2024.

An epistolary novel is where the story is told through letters, diary entries, or other types of documents. One of the most well-known epistolary novels is Dracula, another more modern example would be The Princess Diaries series. These books use different kinds of documents and communications between characters such as letters, telegrams, email, journals, instant messaging, or texting to tell a story in a nontraditional way.

The goal of Silmarillion Epistolary is to encourage fans to take the stories we know and tell them through different kinds of documents.

Prompts

Day 1: Daily Life, Customs

Day 2: Exploration, New Lands

Day 3: Family, Loyalty

Day 4: Friendship, Alliance

Day 5: Love, Creation

Day 6: Loss, Betrayal

Day 7: Remembrance, New Beginnings

These are suggestions to help generate ideas, but not required. If you don't like the prompts for the day please feel free to create something else!

Rules

Be kind and courteous to others. Disrespect or harassment won't be tolerated.

Entries must be in epistolary format of some kind. There are a lot of possibilities, so be creative!

Prompts are suggestions to help generate ideas, but you're not required to use them.

Tag entries as #silmarillionepistolary or @silmarillionepistolary so that they can be reblogged! If you think your post may have been missed please reach out to let us know!

Please tag NSFW entries so that they can be reblogged here with the appropriate tag.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

April 2024 Calls for Papers

Oxonmoot 2024

Oxonmoot is an annual event hosted by The Tolkien Society which brings together over 500 Tolkien fans, scholars, students and Society members from across the world. Oxonmoot 2024 will be our 51st, and will be held over four days, from the afternoon of Thursday 29th August until the afternoon of Sunday 1st September, and will be held at St Anne’s College, Woodstock Road, Oxford and Online.

We are pleased to welcome contributions of all types to the programme for Oxonmoot 2024.

The Talks and Papers strand will run through the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Papers may be presented in person in Oxford or online via Zoom.

The Call for Papers is now open! Presentations may be submitted here. Deadline to submit a talk or paper is midnight UK time on May 12th.

The Talks and Papers will be balanced by a wide range of other Activities – these could include, but are not limited to, workshops, demonstrations, discussions, games, physical activities, films & videos and social activities – but any and all offers are most welcome. Activities may take place in Oxford, online, or combine both online and in person participation, and may be scheduled alongside the Talks & Papers, or in the Evening (local time) time depending on the nature of the Activity. The Call for Activities will open later in the year.

Participants with questions may contact the Activities Programme Co-Ordinator, or for social activities the Social Programme Co-Ordinator.

See the Oxonmoot 2024 page for more information or to register!

Mythcon 53: Fantasies of the Middle Lands

The Mythopoeic Society’s annual conference, popularly called “Mythcon,” will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota this year, from 2-5 August 2024. The idea of “middle-ness” can suggest stability—the center of an object is less likely to break than its edges. It can also suggest the opposite: something in a state of change can be said to be “in the middle”—neither one thing nor another. Mythcon 53, located in the middle of the continental U.S., welcomes papers exploring the concept of “middle-ness” as it is worked out in fantasy, science fiction, and related genres. Paper topics can cover a wide range of possibilities, including but not limited to the following:

• Locations: This could mean the implications of a place name including the word “middle,” such as Middle-earth or Midgard; places in our world that either shape or appear in fantasy such as the English Midlands or Middle America as in Stranger Things or American Gods; or even liminal places that appear in fantasy such as train stations, purgatory, or The Wood Between the Worlds.
• Characters: the middle child in a family (Arya Stark, Edmund Pevensie); adolescents negotiating that in-between space (Luce in The Owl House; Ged in Earthsea); individuals or people groups who are a mix of others (Tolkien’s Númenóreans; Percy Jackson).
• Textual middle-ness: intertextuality, genre-crossing, multiple media, even the middle books/movies of a trilogy (The Empire Strikes Back, The Two Towers).
• Authors: considering the location of the con, Midwestern authors and scholars such as Tim O’Brian, Jack Zipes, Lois McMaster Bujold, or Philip Jose Farmer.

We also welcome papers on the work of either of our Guests of Honor, Brian Attebery and Eleanor Arnason. Because this conference is happening in conjunction with Diversicon, a multicultural, multimedia event dedicated to improving contacts among groups and individuals interested in speculative fiction, we are also interested in papers on their traditional Posthumous Guest, who this year is L. Frank Baum. And, as always, we welcome papers focusing on the work and interests of the Inklings (especially J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams), and other fantasy authors and themes. Papers from a variety of critical perspectives and disciplines are welcome.

Each paper will be given a one-hour slot to allow time for questions, but individual papers should be timed for oral presentation in 40 minutes maximum. Panels are also welcome, and both papers and panels may be presented virtually or in person. Paper abstracts of no more than 300 words, along with contact information, should be sent to the Papers Coordinator at papers@mythcon.org by May 15, 2024. Please include your A/V requirements and the projected time needed for your presentation. If your programming interests are more in line with Diversicon’s focus (see http://www.diversicon.org/), then please send your proposal to scottl2605@aol.com.

Additional Links:
Mythcon 53 Conference Page
Mythcon 53 Registration

German Tolkien Society Seminar: Tolkien and His Editors

Tolkien, in paratextual parts of his main work The Lord of the Rings, introduced himself as the editor and translator of the Red Book of Westmarch. A similar conjecture can be found in Farmer Giles of Ham, which comes with a scholarly preface and purports to be the translation of a medieval manuscript. These rather playful examples should be set alongside the real-world editors of Tolkien’s works. In his will, Tolkien made his youngest son Christopher (1924-2020) his ‘literary executor’ with “full power to publish edit alter rewrite or complete any work of mine which may be unpublished at my death or to destroy the whole or any part or parts of any such unpublished works as he in his absolute discretion may think fit and subject thereto” (official copy of Tolkien’s will, 23 July, 1973). Until his death (16 January 2020), Christopher actively fulfilled his role as ‘literary executor’ and edited and made available to a wide audience countless texts from Tolkien’s estate – and thus strongly influenced the perception and understanding of the works already published during Tolkien’s lifetime. Above all, The Silmarillion (1977), which he edited and, as was established in retrospect (Kane 2009), was heavily modified by him, had a major influence on Tolkien research.

In addition to the central figure of Christopher Tolkien, who could have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2024, the roles of the editors Stanley and Rayner Unwin, the biographer Humphrey Carpenter (Biography; Letters), the student and later colleague Alan Bliss (Hengest and Finn), the daughter-in-law Baillie Tolkien (The Father Christmas Letters) or the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship should also be examined.

The aim of this seminar is to bring together researchers from different disciplines to explore the various questions and problems posed by the publication of Tolkien’s work.

Possible starting points for presentations would be:

• Christopher Tolkien (1924-2020) as ‘co-author’ of Tolkien’s work
• Censorship and restriction: the search for the ‘true’ Tolkien biography
• Tolkien’s posthumous academic work
• The publication of the works on the Elvish (and other) languages
• Access to and handling of Tolkien’s manuscripts and notes in the Bodleian and the Marquette

The 20th Seminar of the German Tolkien Society is supported by Walking Tree Publishers and will take place in a hybrid format at the RWTH Aachen from 11-13 October 2024. 

Interested applicants are requested to send a short synopsis (no longer than one page) and a short biography as well as their preference (attendance in person or online presentation) to Thomas Fornet-Ponse by 31 May 2024: hither-shore@tolkiengesellschaft.de

See the full call for papers here.

Signum University Regional Moots

These small, regional conferences are held at various dates and locations. See the Regional Moots page for more details.

Many thanks to Robin Anne Reid and her Online Conference Project for handily compiling this information on a regular basis!

Tolkienshortfanworks challenge for April

The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for April has been posted to the Dreamwidth community. The thematic challenge is: bread; the formal challenge is: bredlik poem. Although this month the prompts have been clearly conceived as a pair,   they can be filled separately, as usual, and also combined with other challenges, such as SWG challenges.

New participants welcome.

More details about the challenge at the linked post.

Barduil Month 2024

Barduil Month 2023 celebrates the pairing Bard the Bowman/Thranduil Oropherion from The Hobbit. This year we're running four themed weeks in April on Tumblr and AO3, each with a set of five prompts, and we'll be posting the prompts in the next couple of days. In the meantime, please see our updated FAQs and get ready to flail about our lovely bi widower dads all over again!

Week 1, Monday 1 to Sunday 7 April: First Meetings
different first meeting | differences and similarities | Battle of the Five Armies | first impressions | uneasy allies

Week 2, Monday 8 to Sunday 14 April: Getting Together
overcoming differences | finding common ground | diplomatic incidents | first date | introducing the family

Week 3, Monday 15 to Sunday 21 April: Established Relationship
blended family | anniversaries | parties, festivals and holidays | downtime, time to relax, days off | family traditions

Week 4, Monday 22 to Sunday 28 April: Endings (happy or otherwise)
happily ever after | loss and grief | hope and despair | reunions and reincarnation | memories

As always, any kind of fan creation is welcomed and encouraged, whether that's fic, art, crafts, meta, or anything else. The AO3 collection is here if you want to post there too. We just ask that you stick to our rules of conduct, tag us in your posts and enjoy yourselves!

Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang (TRSB) 2024

First conceived in 2018, the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang (or TRSB!) is a Tolkien-fandom-wide event celebrating the talent of our fanwork creators. At its core, the event is about bringing together the artistic side of our fandom with the literary talents it possesses, creating bridges between the separate areas of fandom experience for the enjoyment of all. During the late spring, signed up artists submit fan art pieces in progress or finished, which is then posted anonymously in our Gallery. The Gallery is open to the pool of writers who have signed up for the event only. Each writer is then invited to claim a piece of art to write for; the minimum word count is 5000.

We are open to all characters, genres, ships and ratings, and all canons that fall under the Tolkien fandom umbrella. This includes movieverse (i.e. the LOTR and Hobbit trilogies), lesser known works by Tolkien (such as The Father Christmas Letters), and/or other works with a clear link to his life or creative output (for example, Tolkien’s translations and academic texts, the 2019 Tolkien biopic, fan-made films like Born of Hope, and game canons such as Lord of the Rings Online). Crossovers between two or more Tolkien canons are permitted.

When we started this event, one thing we absolutely agreed on was our desire for maximum inclusivity. In practice this means that:

• We encourage participation from all sections of the Tolkien fandom, whether you prefer bookverse, movieverse, game canon, smaller canons, or Tolkien’s academic papers.
• Fan creators should ALL feel safe and able to join in, regardless of experience levels or perceived ability. This means that everybody is welcome, whether they’re a professional artist/writer or a complete beginner, whether they’ve been a fan for decades or fell in love with the films last weekend.
• As far as practically possible, all styles of art and all types of fic are permitted. We do not set restrictions on genre, style, rating or ship, although we do keep NSFW art submissions behind a lock, for the safety of our younger participants.

Above all, the event is supposed to be fun. Fandom should not be a place of difficulty, conflict and stress. With this in mind, we ask participants to be kind, inclusive, respectful and welcoming at all times.

Schedule

March 17 – 2023 Gallery Opens

The Gallery for 2023 is live at last! Enjoy all the beautiful pieces created for last year’s TRSB!

March 24 – Suggestion Form Opens

This form gives potential authors (or anyone else who wants to play!) the opportunity to suggest characters, places and scenarios they would like to see in the submitted art. We will post a link to the form on our Tumblr blog and here on the website. The answers will feed into a publicly available spreadsheet listing the ideas submitted; artists can peruse this to get inspired!

April 14 – Sign-ups Open

We post links to our sign up form on all the usual platforms. You can then sign up as an artist, an author, a beta, a cheerleader, a pinch hitter, or as two or more of these. Please see the ‘Signing Up’ section of the FAQ for more details on what these terms mean.

May 5 – Artist Sign-up Deadline

May 10 – Discord Server Opens

May 13 – Art Draft Due

Participating art submissions must be sent to the mods by this date to be eligible for the Claims Gallery.

For more details on how to do this, see the ‘Art Submissions’ section of the FAQ. Artists may submit up to two pieces of art, for claiming by two separate authors.

May 17 – Art Preview Opens

Our online gallery will be visible to signed up participants only.  Signed up authors can browse the artworks and see which pieces appeal to their muses!

May 18-19 Discord Art Talks

Repeating the fun from last year, these will be live chats on discord with mod presence – start times to be announced – where we go through the beautiful gallery and admire the work of our artists.

May 20 – Author Signups Deadline

May 25 – CLAIMS – 17:00 UTC

Authors submit a ranked list of the artworks they would like to claim to write fic for. Claims are on a first come, first served basis. One artwork will be allocated to each claiming author in the first instance; the mods will email you to confirm which piece you have successfully claimed and how to get in touch with your artist. See the ‘Claims’ section of the FAQ for more information.

What time is that for me?

TBA – Additional Claims

If a number of artworks are left unclaimed, we may allow authors to claim second and third pieces of art to write for. However, we don’t know until after claims night whether this will be needed, so this is likely to be announced at short notice – keep an eye on the blog and on your emails to avoid missing out.

June 7 – Post-Claims Check-in

The mods will email each artist/author pair to ensure that you have successfully established contact – even if you are not planning on a close collaboration, it is polite to check in with your partner, say hello, and make sure you’re both clear on must-haves and do-not-wants. One person from your pair must respond and confirm that you have done this!

June 16 – Free Rein Art Due

We know some artists like to give their authors as much creative freedom as possible and we have a dedicated collaboration option for this (see ‘Art Submissions’ FAQs). However, this means we require these artists to provide finished art to their authors much earlier than artists who are prepared to be more involved. See ‘Completing the Artwork’ in the FAQs for more details on how this works.

June 28 – Check-in #2

The mods will email each pair to ensure everything is on track. One person from your pair must respond – see ‘Check Ins’ in the FAQ.

June 26 – Check-in #3

The mods will email each pair to ensure everything is on track. One person from your pair must respond – see ‘Check Ins’ in the FAQs.

August 9 – Final Art Due

Artists should share a copy of the final art to their authors – but don’t post it yet!

Don’t email it to the mods.

August 16 – Final Check-in (#4)

Deadline to abandon your fic to a pinch hitter. There will be no penalty for dropping out on or before this date.

As per other check ins, except the mods will be providing instructions about promotional posts (see ‘Promotional Posts’ FAQ for more information). We will also ask you:

• Whether you have discussed posting logistics with your artist (if you’re embedding art in your AO3 story, for example)
• Whether you have specific posting needs re publicizing date/time frame (e.g. not wanting us to reblog your art/fic on Shabbat as you will be unable to respond)

August 26 – Art Can Be Posted

August 30 – Final Fic Due In Collection

Authors should post their stories in our AO3 collection with the artwork embedded or linked. (If you are writing a last minute pinch hit we can be a bit flexible with this deadline.)

TBA – Discord Art Reveals Event

September 6 – COLLECTION REVEALS

September 13 – Staggered Tumblr Reblogs Begin

September 20 – Gallery Submission

October 6 – Discord Server Closes

Other Links

• Rules
• Sign-Ups
• Frequently Asked Questions
• TRSB on Tumblr | Twitter | Instagram | Dreamwidth