New Challenge: Crossroads of the Fallen King
Cross "The Silmarillion" with a second text or fandom in this month's crossover challenge.
SWG News
A Sense of History: Thálatta! Thálatta!
While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
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!
New Challenge: Tengwar
Each day for thirty-six days, we feature a randomly chosen letter from the Tengwar as a prompt.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Tengwar: To The Letter by cuarthol
For the Tengwar prompt challenge.
All 36 prompts plus bonus chapter
[Writing] A blip on the radar by daughterofshadows
Humanity took to the skies. Eärendil and Ilmarë adjust.
[Writing] History abandons us by AdmirableMonster
During his incarceration in Roderick Burgess' basement, Dream receives a strange, ancient visitor.
[Writing] Tengwar Acrostics by Himring
Responses to the Tengwar Challenge in which first letters spell out the name of a tengwa.
1) Early Encounter (Nerdanel, Indis)
2) Numenorean Lullaby (Almarian, Aldarion)
[Writing] Tengwar Drabbles by cílil
A collection of Silmarillion-centric drabbles written for the Tengwar Challenge. Short and sweet!
[Writing] If i get home before daylight by BloodwingBlackbird
a traveler meets a stranger at a crossroads.
Current Challenge
Crossroads of the Fallen King
Create a fanwork that crosses with a second text or fandom. Read more ...
Tengwar
A daily prompt of a Tengwar letter per day. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Breaking Boundaries
Create a fanwork that shows a meeting between characters of two or more cultures. Read more ...
New in References
Thálatta! Thálatta! by Simon J. Cook
[]While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
[]
With Gildor Inglorion we finally climb the stairs of Elostirion and look on the view, and what we see appears to reveal a hidden thread in the story of Frodo Baggins. This post reads two annotated translations of two Elvish songs to step through a crossroads in the narrative to arrive at the tower on the margin of the story, wherein is a stone that is a window onto Valinor.
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.
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Waybread (The Waybredlik) by Himring
[]Lembas speaks out.
[Series] Apr 1st Stories by Uvatha the Horseman
[]Once a year on April 1st, a canon character from LOTR or the Silmarillion gets pranked.
[Writing] Crossing Forest River by Dawn Felagund
[]Bilbo recounts, in verse, the attempt of Gandalf, Beorn, and him to cross the Forest River after the Battle of Five Armies. Written for the Hungarian Tolkien Society's 2024 Mailing Competition.
Around the World and Web
Mythcon 53: Fantasies of the Middle Lands
Mythcon 53 will be held 2-5 August 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the theme "Fantasies of the Middle Lands."
Teitho May/June Challenge: Joker
For the May/June Teitho challenge, you can pick ANY of our past challenges that stir your imagination and write a story or create art for it.
Monstrous May 2024
Monstrous May is a Tumblr event where, for each day of the month of May, there is a prompt involving and invoking the monstrous.
Fellowship of the Fics: Modern AU May
During May, Fellowship of the Fics offers modern AU prompt lists for setting, character occupation, and dialogue on Tumblr.
May challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The May challenge has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. Thematic challenge: name; formal challenge: acrostic. As usual, these can be filled independently and freely combined with other prompts such as the SWG challenges. New participants welcome!
SWG News
Middle-earth Olympics Opening Ceremony on Sunday, July 18
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 11 July 2021. Last updated on 18 July 2021.
The Middle-earth Olympics are coming!
While we will post prompts on the 15th as usual, we will officially kick off our challenge this month with an opening ceremony, held on the SWG's Discord server. In keeping with the Olympic spirit, we will host a live reading on the theme of cultural harmony.
The opening ceremonies will be held on Sunday, July 18, at 15:00/3:00 PM UTC. Find the opening ceremony date and time in your own timezone.
How to Sign Up for the Reading
- Anyone is welcome to read. You do not need to be an SWG member, though you will need to join our Discord server for the duration of the event.
- You can read an excerpt from Tolkien or a fanwork you wrote. The reading should relate to the theme of cultural harmony.
- If you read a fanwork, you must be the author.
- Please limit your reading to five minutes.
- If you know you plan to attend and read and would like to be on the event program, you can sign up for the opening ceremony reading here. There will be an open mic time open to anyone who wants to read, whether they signed up or not.
If you just want to listen to the reading, you are very welcome as well!
How to Join the SWG Discord
You can join the SWG Discord here.
Opening Ceremony Reading Program
Opening Remarks and Introductions of the Teams
In Praise of the Feastat Ivrin by Himring
Excerpt from Song of the Stone by Dawn Felagund
Open Mic! Anyone who wants to read is welcome to do so!
Closing Remarks
Middle-earth Olympics Team List Now Available
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 9 July 2021. Last updated on 9 July 2021.
The Middle-earth Olympics are coming! If you want to check out the teams that have registered so far, see our team list. To join a team, contact the team captain or contact the SWG mods to join. New team registrations are welcome through Sunday, July 11. Once we have the list complete on July 12, you will be able to register for a team via form.
Remember that you don't need to join a team to participate. Individual participants are very welcome! For full details on the challenge, see the Middle-earth Olympics challenge page.
Website Errors
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 7 July 2021. Last updated on 9 July 2021.
Update: All issues with the website should be fixed. Please report any errors or problems you may encounter to the moderator team or by emailing us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.
The website is currently throwing errors on some pages (known problems are on user and reference pages). We're aware of the problem and working on it so no need to report issues.
Character of the Month: Idril Celebrindal
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 4 July 2021. Last updated on 22 September 2021.
This month's character biography brings to life Idril Celebrindal, a character at the center of some of Tolkien's oldest and most important writings whose tale can be stitched together from a patchwork of sources. Read Idril Celebrindal's biography, written by Lindariel, here.
Middle-earth Olympics Team Sign-Ups Open
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 2 July 2021. Last updated on 11 July 2021.
Quick Links: Register a Team | Team List
The Summer Olympics … a time when the world unites to cheer on their favorite teams in popular sports while pretending to understand the finer points of the more obscure events. Sports and games were likewise a part of the legendarium, whether the Galadriel's prowess as a swimmer, undertaken in Arda's salad days, or Maedhros's single-handed fencing skills and similar militaristic exercises from Middle-earth's darker eras.
This month, in honor of the 20201 Summer Olympics and sport in Middle-earth, we present our own Olympic games! This month will feature a series of prompts that can be done as an individual or a team. Want to join a team? Sign-ups are open to set up a national team for your favorite group of characters from the legendarium!
Right now, registration is open for national teams. If you'd like to register a team, check out the Middle-earth Olympics guidelines and register your team for Middle-earth Olympics. If you'd like to join a team, see the team list and contact the team captain or the mods to join. If you want to participate individually, you don't need to do anything at all yet--just create something for one or more of the challenge prompts when they open on July 15!
Important Dates
July 11: Last day to create a team
July 12: Open sign-ups for teams begin
July 15: Challenge prompts posted
July 16: Last day to join a team
July 17, time TBD: Opening Ceremony on Discord
August 10: Last day for challenge entries
August 15, time TBD: Medal and Closing Ceremonies
In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 10 August 2021. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.
New Challenge: Back to the Future
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 2 July 2021. Last updated on 20 July 2021.
"I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years: that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same length as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh."
J.R.R. Tolkien, "Letter 211 to Rhona Beare" (1958)
In the same letter to Ms. Beare quoted above, Tolkien also wrote, "I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place," leading many fans to interpret our current time as the Seventh Age. However, as the quote shows, Tolkien was far from certain of that conclusion--and the rapidity with which his ideas were evolving at this point in his work on The Silmarillion casts similar doubt on just about anything he wrote during this time. (Dome of Varda, anyone?)
This month's challenge asks you to put a character, culture, or place in Arda in the Seventh Age. When the Seventh Age actually is--is it right now? in the future? or was Tolkien totally wrong and it's actually passed?--is completely up to you.
Furthermore, June is Pride Month, and as in years past, fanworks that include LGBTQ+ charcters will receive a special stamp.
In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 10 July 2021. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.
New Challenge: Book by Its Cover
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 15 May 2021. Last updated on 2 July 2021.
Were you ever told, as a child, not to judge a book by its cover? Well, this month, we're telling you to throw that advice away!
This month's prompts will be book covers: gorgeous, cringey, perplexing, and everything in between. You can use any element of the book cover to create a fanwork. If you'd like to receive a prompt for this month's challenge, comment on our Dreamwidth, comment on our LiveJournal, send us an ask on Tumblr, or email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org.
As the prompts are old book covers, their default form is as an image. If you would prefer a description instead, please let us know when you request your prompt.
In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 10 June 2021. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.
Volunteers Needed: Scouts for Around the World & Web
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 13 May 2021. Last updated on 31 October 2021.
Around the World and Web has been a long-running part of our site where we post announcements and links to events and content outside of the SWG. We are looking for scouts to help us maintain this part of our site so that SWG members are connected with the broader Tolkien fandom. Of course, we're interested in help from members willing to share announcements and links that they find as part of their participation in fandom. Scouts can also include admins and moderators of events who want access to post about their events on the SWG.
There is no minimum commitment to becoming a scout! You can share as much or as little as you would like.
Interested in learning more? Our FAQ about what and how to post an Around the World & Web announcement is a good place to start.
If you'd like to become a scout, or if you have questions about the role, contact our moderator team.
Character of the Month: Tar-Minastir
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 30 April 2021. Last updated on 4 July 2021.
A man of his times, Tar-Minastir perpetuated Númenórean policies of the past and foreshadowed those that would follow. Read Tar-Minastir's biography here.
And don't miss our award-winning character biography collection here!
Site Downtime on April 30
Posted by Dawn Felagund on 28 April 2021. Last updated on 28 April 2021.
On April 30, from 11:30-12:30 Eastern Time, our webhost will be performing maintenance and the site will go offline for about a half-hour. If you notice anything that works incorrectly or oddly after this maintenance, please report it to the mods.
