Sign-Up to Hand Out Scavenger Hunt Prompts
Our May challenge will be a Matryoshka built around a scavenger hunt. If you'd like to hand out prompts (and receive comments on your work for doing so!), you can sign up to do so.
SWG News
New Challenge: Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration.
Cultus Dispatches: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn and Grundy
The fan studies column Cultus Dispatches returns with a history of how Tolkien fanworks fandom has reacted and resisted generative AI by drawing strong boundaries in a way that is not typical for the fandom.
Instadrabbling Sessions for April, May, and June
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] How Tolkien Presents Ordinary People in "The Silmarillion" by Dawn Felagund
Inspired by collecting the prompts for the Everyman challenge, this essay considers how ordinary people are subsumed and silenced in The Silmarillion, which begins a three-book arc that ends with the rise of the humble and ordinary.
[Writing] Blessed are the Leave-takers by Isilme_among_the_stars
As prince Curufinwë Fëanáro makes an historical speech from the high court of the King upon Túna, those at the back of the crowd strain to hear.
A silly little scene inspired by Monty Python's "Blessed are the Cheesemakers" scene from The Life of Brian, written for …
[Writing] After the Kinslaying by Deborah Judge
A Teleri fishing boat captain turns to farming on abandoned Noldor lands after her ship is stolen. A Noldor farmer returns with Finarfin to find that his land belongs to the Teleri now.
[Writing] I Sit and Think of Times There Were Before by Erdariel
In his old age, Isildur's former esquire Ruinamacil, known to later histories only as Ohtar, writes his own account of his escape from the ambush at Gladden Fields and journey to Imladris, and the history of his friend whom Isildur ordered to flee with him.
[Writing] Until the Stars are All Alight by Dagstjarna
Reembodied in Aman, Celebrimbor decides to return to Middle earth to help heal the darkness and hurt wrought by the ring.
[Writing] a riot of shadow and shine by Elrond's Library
These were simply flashes, a hint of a wider, greater world. A tantalizing glimpse of more, always at the edge of awareness, never within reach. Míriel would grasp it, if something as intangible as the concept of color could overflow in bounteous wonder over her hands.
But…
[Writing] The Exchange by Elrond's Library
An exchange is made during the Great Journey
Current Challenge
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Zingers
Prompts for this challenge include zingers and insults from literature and pop culture. Read more ...
New in References
Fandom Draws the Line: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn Felagund, Grundy
By definition, fanworks fandom does not draw a lot of boundaries, but community archives and events have taken a strong stance against AI-generated fanworks due to ethical considerations and member input.
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
In a book as full of death as the Quenta Silmarillion, grief and mourning are surprisingly absent. The characters who receive grief and mourning—and those who don't—appear to do so due to narrative bias. Grief and mourning (or a lack of them) serve to draw attention toward and away from objectionable actions committed by characters.
Tolkien, Lunatic Physicists, and Abnegation by Cynthia (Cindy) Gates
This presentation for Mereth Aderthad 2025 discusses the parallels between the concept of abnegation in the scientific work surrounding the atomic bomb and in The Silmarillion. The relinquishment of self-interest in favor of the interests of others, abnegation was identified by Tolkien as a powerful act of spirit and reason. The legendarium has many examples of the complexities of abnegation, which parallel similar discussions held by physicists during and after World War II.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Down the Long Years by Isilme_among_the_stars
Bilbo, the strange old hobbit with the wandering feet, senses something special in young Frodo the first time he sees the lad; as they become close, they find in each other a cameraderie not well understood by other hobbits. Five poignant moments between Bilbo and Frodo Baggins over the course…
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
[Writing] Bar-en-Eladar by Gabriel
Out of the shadow, light is born anew.
A Chieftain is dead. And whilst the events surrounding his death are unclear, a son tries to come to terms with his loss.
Around the World and Web
Week of Kiliel
A Tumblr event dedicated to the relationship between Kili and Tauriel.
Aspec Arda Week 2026
This week-long event celebrates asexual and aromantic spectrum interpretations and headcanons of Tolkien’s Legendarium.
Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026
The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is back for another summer of collaboration between artists and writers!
New and Updated Fanworks
Include Beyond the Silmarillion Fanworks
Not Entirely Forgotten by Elrond's Library
Gimli sipped at his tea. “Knowledge, Master Elrond, for your library is known far and wide for its vast collection of works dating to the the time before Sun and Moon, and all that came after.” Gimli smiled. “Alas, I seek even older knowledge.”
| Major Characters: Gimli, Elrond |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet, Folktales/Myths/Legends | Challenges: Title Track |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 714 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (3) |
One of the Good Ones by sh3rry95
In the heart of a dark forest, Fingon finds two children who should not be there.
| Major Characters: Fingon, Eluréd, Elurín |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Alternate Universe, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 194 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
Uno dei buoni by sh3rry95
Nel cuore di una foresta oscura, Fingon trova due bambini che non dovrebbero essere lì.
Personaggi: Fingon, Eluréd, Elurín.
| Major Characters: Fingon, Eluréd, Elurín |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Alternate Universe, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 146 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (1) |
Things Left Unsaid by Grundy
Just because something is secret in Beleriand doesn't meant it isn't known in Aman.
| Major Characters: Indis, Míriel Serindë |
| Major Relationships: Finwë/Indis/Míriel |
| Genres: | Challenges: Title Track |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 042 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (1) |
The Mermaid's Flute by octopus_fool
Voronwë, suffering from sea-longing, shows Eärendil a strange object he found at sea.
| Major Characters: Voronwë, Eärendil |
| Major Relationships: Eärendil & Voronwë |
| Genres: Ficlet, Fluff, General, In-Universe Artifact | Challenges: Title Track |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 716 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (1) |
Finrod by arafinweanappreciation
My personal character playlist for Finrod :)
best listened to in order
| Major Characters: Finrod Felagund |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Music (Bluegrass, Cover Songs, Folk, Pop, Rock, Vocal) | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
and safe may you stay by arafinweanappreciation
She had considered, for a brief while, volunteering to take her mother’s place. To run and hide the two of them away on the coast, well away from the dangers of the north. But her brother deserved better than that. If he could not have both parents, then he should at least have one, and not just an older sister who knew nothing of raising children. And besides, her father needed her here. She was still his heir apparent. The first resort and line of defense. It was her who had the training and the knowledge to lead their people if anything should happen to their lord, and the lineage to reinforce her claim. But something deep in her chest, sitting somewhere behind her still-beating heart, went sharp at the thought. If she did take her father’s place, she feared it would not be for long.
Sighing, she lifted her baby brother up and kissed his forehead. His skin was still soft, the way that infants’ was. This might be the last time she would ever see him.
What a burden to place on the shoulders of a child who was only just seeing his first winter
| Major Characters: Finduilas, Gil-galad |
| Major Relationships: Finduilas & Gil-galad |
| Genres: Drama, Family | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: In-Universe Classism, Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 5, 504 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Daughters of the Great by Himring
Araglas inherits the chieftainship of the Dunedain of Arnor upon his father's death. But Araglas has been living in Rivendell all this while. Meanwhile, his second cousin Arthiel has been acting as his father's right hand in the Angle.
Araglas comes up with a plan that stuns Arthiel and her lover.
| Major Characters: Dúnedain, Original Female Character(s), Araglas |
| Major Relationships: Female/Female |
| Genres: Family, General | Challenges: Jumble Sale, Kings & Queens, New Year's Resolution, Potluck Bingo |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 2, 127 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
all in fading light by arafinweanappreciation
Aegnor cut him off, eyes blazing in self-defense as he slipped into the half-forbidden tongue of their mother’s people. “I did not know that you knew each other when—”
“That does not matter!” Finrod said, also dropping Sindarin in favor of Telerin. It was easier to argue in the language of their childhood rather than diplomacy. Besides, it afforded them some privacy. “It shouldn’t matter whether she knew me or not! You should not have done this!”
or: Aegnor panics, makes a decision, and goes to his oldest brother for validation. It does not end well.
| Major Characters: Finrod Felagund, Aegnor |
| Major Relationships: Aegnor & Finrod, Aegnor/Andreth, Andreth & Finrod |
| Genres: Drama, Family | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: In-Universe Queerphobia/LGBTQIA+ Intolerance, Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 445 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
this life outgrown by arafinweanappreciation
The halls were not so unlike his own
| Major Characters: Finrod Felagund, Mandos |
| Major Relationships: Finrod & Mandos |
| Genres: Ficlet, Fixed-Length Ficlet | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 103 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
and my arms are getting heavy by arafinweanappreciation
A sound came, then, that was not sleet or wind or the heavy breathing of one who slept. It was footsteps, crunching in the ice outside. They stopped for a moment, and the tent flap opened, granting entrance to both Ingoldo and a cold gust of air. His face was red with cold.
“How did it go?” he asked in a low voice as Ingoldo turned to secure the flap once more.
“As well as can be expected.”
| Major Characters: Angrod, Finrod Felagund |
| Major Relationships: Angrod & Finrod |
| Genres: Drama, Family | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings, In-Universe Racism/Ethnocentrism, Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 688 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
no word we know by arafinweanappreciation
Galadriel could never have been expected to take the news of Finrod's death well.
| Major Characters: Galadriel, Finrod Felagund, Celeborn |
| Major Relationships: Finrod & Galadriel, Celeborn/Galadriel |
| Genres: Drama, Family, Ficlet, Fixed-Length Ficlet | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 307 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
The Last of the Old Gods by AdmirableMonster
Two members of the crew of the starship Vérië land on the planet Andúnië, investigating a location of interest called The Sleeping Garden.
(Introducing: a Space Opera Númenor AU. Let's be real, it was only a matter of time.)
| Major Characters: Original Character(s), Unnamed Canon Character(s) |
| Major Relationships: Original Character & Original Character |
| Genres: Alternate Universe, Science Fiction | Challenges: Title Track |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 728 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (1) |
Amid the Wrack by Isilme_among_the_stars
After Ancalagon is cast down Eärendil seeks out his sons and Elrond grapples with the feelings the meeting brings.
Written for Tolkien Sea Week 2026: Day 5 - family
| Major Characters: Elrond, Elros, Eärendil |
| Major Relationships: Eärendil & Elrond & Elros |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 383 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
The Tale of Tar-Ciryatan's Daughter by Kaylee Arafinwiel
Ailinel, orphan of Numenor, is one of the poor girls dowered by Tar-Ciryatan and titled a "King's Daughter", encouraged to sail East to his colonies and find herself a husband.
It doesn't take her that long.
But even after she and Shipman Gaerondur find love, life in the colony isn't easy.
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Mystery | Challenges: Title Track |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: Character Death |
| Chapters: 8 | Word Count: 1, 909 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
A Gift by Elrond's Library
Findekáno sets out to retrieve Maitimo.
| Major Characters: Fingon |
| Major Relationships: Fingon & Maedhros |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 103 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
In a book as full of death as the Quenta Silmarillion, grief and mourning are surprisingly absent. The characters who receive grief and mourning—and those who don't—appear to do so due to narrative bias. Grief and mourning (or a lack of them) serve to draw attention toward and away from objectionable actions committed by characters.
A few moments in Gondolin by Quente
Instadrabbling prompts that took the shape of a few perspectives on Turgon's great city.
| Major Characters: Turgon, Voronwë, Idril, Arwen |
| Major Relationships: Idril/Tuor, Tuor/Voronwë, Elenwë/Turgon |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 126 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Grief is not the only geography I know by Himring
Indis explains how she took to wandering around Valinor.
| Major Characters: Indis |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet | Challenges: Title Track |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 201 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
A meeting at the Trees by ethanray
Nerdanel goes to the Two Trees after Fëanor is banished and meets Indis there
For March 2026 Instadrabbling
| Major Characters: Nerdanel, Indis |
| Major Relationships: Indis/Nerdanel |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 105 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
In Early Spring by Serinquanion
In what Maedhros was re-embodied early and was sent back to Middle Earth on his volition with Glorfindel.
This isn't about what happened right then but years after Fall of Sauron when he still refused to return to Valinor.
He found a strange sapling at the shore of what remains of Cuiviénen.
| Major Characters: Maedhros, Sauron |
| Major Relationships: Maedhros/Sauron |
| Genres: Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slash | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 2 | Word Count: 6, 980 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Umnenyalië by Serinquanion
He was going to die. The molten rocks would burn him just like the cursed gem in his palm did. Maybe less painfully but still being burnt hurt and Maedhros knew it. He intimately knew it from his time in Angband where Þauron burnt him often in frustration and to toy with him and his master burnt his skin even more often just to mock his ancestry. At least here he would pass on to Mandos and not linger in pain only to be sewed back together to be tortured again and again.
But it wasn't true for his next clear memory was of the same pain from which he escaped soon and half-mad entered the Girdle to never never leave till now.
| Major Characters: Maedhros, Lúthien Tinúviel |
| Major Relationships: Lúthien/Maedhros |
| Genres: Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 2, 082 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Winter Warmth by Serinquanion
A winter night in Himring. But inside the quarters where fire blazed in hearth was warmer, and not only from the fire or quilt.
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: Lúthien/Maedhros |
| Genres: Erotica | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: Sexual Content (Moderate) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 959 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
as I prune my feathers by arafinweanappreciation
On the night after the coronation, the wind was cold. Fires still burned in the north; their light could be seen, flickering on the far reaches of the horizon, but they provided no warmth. A figure stood on the ramparts of the keep at Hithlum, where the ceremony had been held, more solemn than joyous. The wisdom of having so many of the rulers so near the great darkness to the north, given what had happened– what was happening– was questionable, at best. But their luck held. For now.
A conversation between two kings of the Noldor.
| Major Characters: Finrod Felagund, Fingon |
| Major Relationships: Fingon & Finrod |
| Genres: Drama, Family | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 849 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
with steel from on high by arafinweanappreciation
The truth was, she should have been dead. The spear that was now leaning against the wall behind her should have killed her. The healers had told her that they had never seen someone survive such a wound, especially without the aid of elvish medicine, as she had been for the first days after the people of Brethil had found her.
| Major Characters: Finduilas, Gil-galad |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Drama | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 695 |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
