Around the World and Web includes announcements and items of interest from beyond the SWG.
Celedriel Week 2026
Celedriel Week 2026 Prompts
July 14
First Meetings, Impressions, The Heart Stirs
A Gaze Caught. The Fire Ignites.
“Is this the love they speak of in songs and poems?”
July 15
Dedication. Courtship. The Heart Blooms.
Gifts of Love. Words and Songs.
“Oh beloved mine, where might I rest but your embrace?”
July 16
Marriage, Vows, The Heart Bound in Love
An Exchange of Rings. Melding of Houses.
“This I vow from here on forth, and beyond the world’s end.”
July 17
Kingdoms. Refuge. The Heart Endures
Crowns of Silver. Realms Rise and Fall.
“With you by my side, I have nothing to fear.”
July 18
Separation. Conflict. The Heart Grieves.
War and Loss. When Paths Diverge.
“How far will the lonely road take us before we renew our love again?”
July 19
Lothlorien. Children. The Heart Heals.
When Wounds Mend. The Throne of Elvendom.
“By our toil, future generations shall persist before the Shadow.”
July 20
The West. Undying Love. The Heart is Eternal
Beyond the Tribulations. The Last Ship.
“In the end, it is you and I who remain past the fading of the ancient days.”
Esoteric Tolkien Week 2026
That's right, Esoteric Tolkien Week, your center for all things strange, mystical, inexplicable, and unfathomed in Arda and beyond, is back for round two! We are open to all types and ratings of fanwork, and are eager to welcome returners and new faces alike. A few bits of useful tattle for the moment:
- Further information and event guidelines can be found here
- Event planned to run July 13th - 19th, 2026
- An ao3 collection will open closer to the run date—if you have any work hanging around that you'd like to submit now, or just want to get inspired, you can find the small but mighty 2025 collection here
Prompts
Day 1 - Lands, Wander, Documents
Day 2 - Waters, Return, Music
Day 3 - Skies, Demand, Inventions
Day 4 - Underground, Trammel, Relics
Day 5 - Ruins, Bargain, Art
Day 6 - In the Dark, Endure, Weapons & Armor
Day 7 - At Home, Abandon, Gifts
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026!
This is a week to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.” There is a great wealth of wonderful gen content in the Tolkien fandom, but those creations are not always the most visible because of the shipping-focused nature of fandom at large. This week is an effort to give them the appreciation they deserve.
This year, Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026!
Any content and creations are welcome as long as it is non-romantic and non-sexual! You can create edits, gifs, fanart, fanfic, fanmixes, and more! Please tag your posts with #tolkiengenweek AND @ mention this blog @tolkiengenweek so they can be easily found. If your submission turns into a long post, please put what you can beneath a “Keep reading” divider. You may also post your creations to our AO3 collection.
Below are some prompts for each day of the week. They are not mandatory, but they are here to inspire you. This post will lead to an explanation for each one.
- DAY ONE: Family ● Mentorships ● Community
- DAY TWO: Friendship ● Animals ● Group Dynamic
- DAY THREE: Gray Spaces ● Enemies and Rivalries ● Fealty
- DAY FOUR: Solo ● Work and Craft ● Language
- DAY FIVE: Culture ● Diversity ● Traditions
- DAY SIX: Environment ● Places ● Objects and Symbols
- DAY SEVEN: Freeform
This event is being organized by @arofili. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to message this blog or my main.
For further clarification, check out our FAQ, code of conduct, and prompts pages! Happy creating!!
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
Starting July 1st ObscureDurins will be hosting
TOLKIEN DISABILITY PRIDE
This event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
You can do worldbuilding, fan fic, fan art, share a favorite character, your favorite headcanons, write a song, poem, show us your LOTRO Oc!ANYTHING providing-
- Absolutely NO USE OF AI IN ANY PART OF THE PROCESS
- Ableism and violence against Disabled character should be done with nuance and plot in mind. Remember this is a pride event we are more than willing to have dead dove- provided it is done justly and tactfully.
- Tag all your works appropriately and place under a read more.
Tag: "tolkien disability pride" AND "obscuredurins" to get your work featured.
This is a spoonie friendly event! We accept past works, WIPS, and encourage this as our time to display PRIDE in our community.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
June 1: Sign-ups and art submissions open
July 7: Artist sign-ups close
July 19: Art submissions close
July 24: Gallery opens
July 25 & 26: Art viewing parties
July 30: Author sign-ups close
August 1: Claims Day (Times to be announced)
August 2: Additional Claims Open
August 3: Art posting begins
November 1: Drop-out without penalty deadline
November 15: Fic submission deadline
November 28: Reveals!
Around the World and Web Archive
Events listed here are no longer active but are listed on the site for historical purposes.
Tolkienshortfanworks challenge for August (Dreamwidth)
The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for August has been posted to the Dreamwidth community.
For the thematic challenge, there are some verse prompts compiled from Tolkien's Collected Poems.
The formal challenge is to write a Ten by Ten poem or another ten-line poem.
For more details on this challenge see the linked post.
Feast of Horns 2025
Feast of Horns is an 18+ Tumblr event for fanworks about characters in Almaren and Valinor. You can learn more about the headcanons that inspired this event here. This year, the event is a three day mini-event that will take place during the 8th-10th August, 2025.
Prompts
- Ritual pleasures
- Unwilling prey
- Divine feast
- Forbidden delights
- Amidst the dappled starlight
- Crowns and collars and chains
- The more the merrier
- Fear and exhilaration
- Weak and small
- Lust unrestrained
- Gilded net
- Relentless hunter
You can write/create for as many prompts as you like, and you can post on any day of the event. Good luck and have fun!
Fantastic Worlds Exhibit
Travel to Middle-earth, Narnia, and beyond!
In 1981, Karen Wynn Fonstad authored The Atlas of Middle-earth, the official geographic guide to the world of author J.R.R. Tolkien. This summer, for the first time, Wynn Fonstad’s original hand-drawn maps will be exhibited to the public.
From July 21–August 1, stop by the Robinson Map Library in historic Science Hall to get a glimpse at how this groundbreaking cartographer shaped our collective understanding of fantasy geography. Curated by her son, UW–Madison alum and current Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Oregon Mark Fonstad, the Fantastic Worlds exhibition will combine Wynn Fonstad’s original, hand-drawn maps with examples of her finalized published works, explanations of her techniques, and stories of her experience turning written, fictional geographic information into visual representations.
The exhibition will also include examples of fantasy maps created by UW–Madison Geography students over the years, so you’ll be able to appreciate first-hand the impact Wynn Fonstad’s work has had on cartographers-in-training.
Join one (or both) public talks to hear directly from Mark Fonstad—see event details below.
EVENT DETAILS
Fantastic Worlds: A Cartographic Exploration of the Works of Fantasy Mapmaker Karen Wynn Fonstad
July 21 – August 1
Open weekdays, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Robinson Map Library; 3rd Floor of Science Hall, 550 N Park St, Madison WI
Free & open to the public
Map Chat with Mark Fonstad
Wednesday, July 30
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Cartography Lab; 2nd Floor of Science Hall, 550 N Park St, Madison WI
OR via Zoom
Join UW–Madison alum and geographer Mark Fonstad as he talks in-depth about how his mother, fantasy mapmaker Karen Wynn Fonstad, crafted her hand-drawn maps of Middle-earth. Free & open to the public.
Silvergifting Week 2025
Silvergifting Week is a Tumblr event dedicated to Celebrimbor/Mairon | Annatar | Sauron pairing, aka Silvergifting. This year, it will run from August 4-10.
Day 1 (August 4): First meetings
Either a canon version, or your wildest AU take. What happens next?
Day 2 (August 5): Romance
Them. In a relationship. As spicy or soft as you want them to be. Enjoy!
Day 3 (August 6): Tension
Emotional stress or conflict in their relationship. Perhaps it is mutual pining, or growing suspicion? Or perhaps they are rivals? You decide.
Day 4 (August 7): Threesomes
Them - and someone else. This prompt can be used either for romantic or gen relationships.
Day 5 (August 8): Hurt/comfort and angst
Silvergifting week would not be complete without a healthy dose of hurt/comfort and angst. Comfort is optional.
Day 6 (August 9): Rings of Power
Today's prompt can be used in two ways. It is either the Rings itself, or Silvergifting inspired by the RoP television series.
Day 7 (August 10): Second chances
They deserve that, don't they? Post-canon, new beginnings.
These prompts are totally optional, they are just for inspiration. Late entries are always welcome.
This year, we don't have a separate Alternative Universe | Canon divergence day. You can post AU content for any prompt.
Silvergifting week started as a Silmarillion fandom event, but the event also welcomes fanworks inspired by the Rings of Power television series. Those can be posted for every prompt, but day 6 is a special day in celebration for the tv series. The entries will be tagged #trop for those who want to curate their experience.
Nargothrond Week 2025
This week will be dedicated to celebrating the realm of Nargothrond, her kings, rulers and people from various eras, from the starting point and blooming bud of the idea in Felagund's mind, to her devastating destruction by the dragon Glaurung. Nargothrond Week will run from August 1-6, 2025 on Tumblr.
Rules
- Please be kind to each participant and how they have decided to express their ideas. Bullying will not be tolerated.
- There is no limit in how you have decided to participate in this week! Drawings, writings, Headcanon posts, moodboards, cosplays, etc… are all part of this challenge. Let your heart and mind lead you!
- Based on my own personal beliefs, I will not be reblogging works and posts containing sibling and/or parent incest. Thank you all in advance for respecting my boundaries and don't forget, anyone is free to participate!
- Mind the tagging! Use the #nargothrond week tag or #nargothrond week 2025 tags or even better, mention the blog or my own personal account in your posts! I will check them all! (I personally prefer to find you through the mentions, but use them all if you want!) And don't forget about trigger warnings or other needed tags.
- The week is a mere formality. Don't worry about finding this post too late and think you won't have time to participate. I'll be keeping up with the mentions and tags long after the deadline and reblog whatever I can find!
- Prompts and Themes (which will be further added and posted) are only there as guides. You do not have to follow them. They're merely there to water the tiny plants of ideas which are already inside your creative, beautiful minds!
- And most importantly, have fun!
Prompts
Day 1 (August 1st): Fire & Water
Born through water, and in fire it came to ruin. Works with elements of fire and water, whether literal or metaphorical
Day 2 (August 2nd): Friendships & Betrayals
Nargothrond is infamous with tales of the betrayals of the sons of Feanor, as they broke all bonds of friendships with their golden cousins with a greed born out of their Oaths. But it is also known for tales of great friendships like that of Finrod and all the free folks, or Turin and the bond he shared with the King
Day 3 (August 3rd): Feasts Of Gold
Nargothrond was a rich kingdom, and home to the most generous and perhaps the most vain of Finwe's grandchildren. Tell your piece of the glorious balls and the dramas they often followed with
Day 4 (August 4th): The Unlikely Bonds
We all know of the Nargothrond trio and their famous frenemy relathionship, but Nargothrond doesn't end with them. Many named or unnamed characters resided in Finrod's golden halls, but we seldom get to hear or see much of they were up to. This day can be about celebrating these relathionships (be them platonic or romantic)
Day 5 (August 5th): Those Bloody Fangs
Be it Huan the great hound to Sauron and his wolves, and to the dragon which brought this land to ruins, Nargothrond's fate was decided by beast and their fangs stained with blood of innocents and sinners alike
Day 6 (August 6th): Oaths and Curses
From Feanor's bloody Oath, to Finrod and his heroic and honorable promise, to Turin and his dak curse, this kingdom was set to be led by words of power
Day 7 (August 7th): In Irmo's Domain
Works revolving around dreams, be they telling stories of future and of foresight nature, or of the dark kinds which keeps our dear elves up at night, caused by hardship and pain
Innumerable Stars 2025
Innumerable Stars is a Tolkien fandom gift exchange for all works by Tolkien or associated with Middle-earth.
People Who Participate in Innumerable Stars are:
★ Interested in and excited about multiple Tolkien-based canons.
☆ Interested in their fellow fans’ creativity in fanfiction and fanart, and excited to explore their own.
★ Open to creating and receiving any one of a number of different prompts or ideas.
☆ Happy to read and comment on the fanwork(s) they receive with thanks first of all, but also to read and comment on other fanworks in the exchange.
People Who Participate in Innumerable Stars will:
★ Generally read and create for a variety of slash, gen, het, adventures, fluff, dark, erotica, worldbuilding, etc.
☆ Create their fanwork following their recipient’s prompts in good faith, and receive the fanwork(s) that have been given to them in good faith also.
★ Also write or draw “treats” for others in the exchange, if their own time and inspiration permits after they have completed their assignment,. These are not required but they add to the fun and excitement of the exchange!
☆ Create their fanwork without the use of AI, be it in writing or art.
What Innumerable Stars is NOT:
You do not have to be open to or interested in every type of fanwork to participate. However, Innumerable Stars is not for anyone interested in just one character, pairing, or scenario. Nor is it for people who find stories or art containing material they are not interested in offensive because it exists. If either of these apply, we wish you well, but this is not the exchange for you.
Schedule
- Nominations Open: Sunday, 03 August 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
- Nominations Close: Sunday, 17 August 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
- Sign-ups Open: Sunday, 17 August 2025, 11:59 PM UTC
- Sign-ups Close: Sunday, 31 August 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
- Assignments Out: Monday, 01 September 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
- Assignments Due: Sunday, 05 October 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
- Works Revealed: Sunday, 12 October 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
- Authors Revealed: Sunday, 19 October 2025, 8:00 PM UTC
Links
Esoteric Tolkien Week 2025
Mark your calendars one and all for the newest fandom event on the block - Esoteric Tolkien Week! This event is dedicated to the strange, inexplicable, fantastic, obscure, and uncanny in Middle-earth and beyond. It will run from July 13th to July 19th, 2025, and accepts all varieties of fanworks.
Inspirational prompts, as well as an ao3 collection, are forthcoming. Prompts will be out within the next two weeks; the collection will open somewhat closer to the event, most likely in May or June.
Event Guidelines
All types of fanworks are accepted as long as they are made by you - so no generative AI, please. NSFW creations are welcomed, though we do ask that you tag mindfully (e.g. indicate that the work is NSFW) and place explicit content under a readmore. Works can be in any language.
Be respectful of other participants. This event is meant to be a fun, inclusive space and is not a place to argue about interpretation or creative choice. If you don’t like something, we ask that you keep it to yourself and refrain from offering criticism unless the creator has specifically requested it.
Please include #esotolkienweek or #esotolkienweek2025 in the first few tags of your post and @ this blog somewhere in the post body. We want to make sure everyone has a chance to see your work! Late posts are perfectly fine and will still be reblogged, but we ask that you hold back from posting before the day of your chosen prompt(s). Tumblr can be tricksy, so in the case that your creation has not been reblogged here within 48 hours, please reach out through asks or messages.
This event aims to be supportive of all fans. Any form of bigotry, harassment, or hate will not be tolerated. We welcome creations that draw from a wide range of experiences and encourage you to do the same.
If you have any questions or concerns not covered here, feel free to reach out via the ask box.
Prompts
These prompts are for inspiration only - so feel free to mix and match, use them as a jumping-off point, or ignore them completely as you see fit.
Each prompt is composed of a place, an object, and an action. Choose one or two, combine them all, or work without them - whatever you do, we can't wait to see what you create!
July 13th - Day 1: Mountains & Valleys | Books & Maps | Climb
July 14th - Day 2: Seas | Treasures | Voyage
July 15th - Day 3: Forests | Crowns | Get Lost
July 16th - Day 4: Lakes & Rivers | Vessels | Sleep
July 17th - Day 5: Cities | Talismans | Beg
July 18th - Day 6: Temples | Clothing | Yearn
July 19th - Day 7: Plains | Songs & Legends | Leap
Teitho July/August Challenge: Heat
Our Challenge for July/August is HEAT.
How will you choose to interpret this prompt? Will you follow some hobbits in the high heat of summer days—to picnics, fruit picking, or dipping toes in the river?
Or will you give us stories that recall the scorching heat of dragon fire—in Beleriand, in Erebor, in Dale. Or Balrogs in battle?
What about the fiery heat in the depths of Mt. Doom? Or the great forges of Moria, Erebor, Gondolin, Rivendell?
There is heat in food—spices and tastes from distant lands.
Or the heat in a relationship, a love affair, an argument.
Or the simple heat of a fire and the company of loved ones.
We look forward to your stories and art for this prompt! Please submit to teitho.contest@gmail.com by August 31, 2025.
July challenge at tolkienshortfanworks (Dreamwidth)
The tolkienshortfanworks prompts for July have been posted to the Dreamwidth community.
The thematic challenge for this month is: flowing water.
Here is a choice of three quotation prompts, all taken from LOTR:
1)
They could hear few words, but it seemed plain to them that the song was a rain-song, as sweet as showers on dry hills, that told the tale of a river from the spring in the highlands to the Sea far below.
2)
For a moment Frodo stood near the brink and let the water flow over his tired feet. It was cold but its touch was clean, and as he went on and it mounted to his knees, he felt that the stain of travel and all weariness was washed from his limbs.
3)
The lights died down, and the glow of the trees faded; but outside under the arch they could see old Treebeard standing, motionless, with his arms raised above his head. The bright stars peered out of the sky, and lit the falling water as it spilled on to his fingers and head, and dripped, dripped, in hundreds of silver drops on to his feet.
The formal challenge this time is:
Write a concrete poem or shape poem that is in the shape of a drop of water or drops.
The simplest way to do that is to make your line lengths fill in the outline of the shape.
More details on the challenges at the linked entry
Sunshine Revival 2025
Come one, come all! Step right up to the very first Sunshine Revival challenge!
Is that popcorn and funnel cakes that I smell? And if you listen carefully you can hear the cheerful notes of the Calliope in the distance. You may have noticed we've got some summer carnival sounds and aromas in the air. Which is fitting, since that is our theme this year! Prompts will be inspired by elements of our summer carnival, but don't worry: the prompts themselves are very open-ended and you can write about whatever strikes your fancy.
The format of the Challenge posts will be a little new. Each challenge post will have two prompts: one will be for general journaling (for example, reflecting on personal experiences or sharing thoughts about a topic) and another will be asking you to create something (such as a written or visual work) based on a theme. You're welcome to choose one or both prompts and they are very flexible so if the prompt says "write a story" you can of course write a poem, share a plot bunny, make a mixtape, draw a picture, or do anything else you want; it's up to you how you want to participate!
