SWG News

Prompts Needed for September's Jumble Sale Challenge

Posted by SWG Moderators on . Last updated on .

Have you ever noticed one of our challenges or prompts that would be absolutely perfect … for someone else to write? Or maybe the perfect storm of challenge and prompt combos that would be entirely delicious, intriguing, perplexing, or evil? For our September challenge, Jumble Sale, you will have your chance to offer up past challenges and prompts to other creators to work their magic!

How It Will Work

You can offer up to five items "for sale" at the jumble sale! Items should consist of a past SWG challenge or a prompt for a challenge. You can combine challenges and prompts, but all challenges and prompts should come from the SWG collection. You can find the full list of challenges here. Items will be listed as the prompts in the Jumble Sale challenge for other creators to make fanworks for.

How many challenges/prompts can you include in your item? As many as you want! Be tame, go wild, the choice is yours!

Next, you can set an optional "price" on your items. These are extra conditions that the creator must fulfill in claiming your item. Remember that the SWG is a positive-focused space; make sure your price is what you want to see, not what you want to avoid.

Some examples:

Ready to put some items in our Jumble Sale? Use the form here to send us your items!

Mereth Aderthad Thank Yous!

Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .

To say that Mereth Aderthad 2025 was a success is an understatement! Our hybrid event featured twelve scholarly presentations, eleven stories, two poems, and one song, accompanied by thirteen works of art (twelve 2D artworks and one glass sculpture). It was attended by a total of eighty-eight people (twenty-four in-person and sixty-four virtual) that included Elves, Mortals, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The Mereth Aderthad fanzine includes an additional six stories, four poems, and two works of art (in addition to Anérea's countless "embellishments" in the design!) All of this took place over three days centered on the main seven-hour event.

This event was first imagined in April 2024, at the Tolkien at UVM Conference. Grundy and I (Dawn) were attending in-person and chatting with Quente on Discord. The topic of the SWG's twentieth birthday in July 2025 came up and the possibility of doing an in-person gathering to celebrate it. That evolved into a hybrid conference-ish event involving scholarship and fanworks and good old-fashioned nerdy fun. The SWG moderators began the first steps of planning about a year ago, in July 2024, and the logistics and promotions committees began their work in September 2024. In short, this event would not have been possible without the contributions of many, many people across the past year.

The worry with putting together a list like this is that someone will be left off. If I have forgotten someone—especially if that someone is you!—please let me know, and I will fix my oversight right away.

First, to my comoderators, Grundy, Shadow, Russandol, Elleth, Saelind, and Janeways. Not only are you all often the first line of decision-making within the group (including key decisions for this event, like choosing the venue) but you are the moral support for me in times of trouble! Our moderator channel is one of the first places I go on a rough day, and I appreciate your helping hands but also willingness to listen and care and make me laugh and yell at the sky with me.

Mereth Aderthad would not have happened without Bobby, my husband. He was the first person to greenlight our April 2024 idea since, no matter what happened, he and I would be on the hook for paying for it and pulling it off, and I thought it only fair he get a say if I decided to fritter away the household finances on hosting a conference. He coordinated with local vendors (which involved a little bit of barter and a little bit of driving out to off-grid farms) and did most of the work to set up the in-person social events, then was my on-call support on the day of the event.

I already thanked Grundy as a comoderator, but she was also the tech lead, and I'm going to thank her again. Being the tech lead means you get handed fifteen pages of "stage directions" the day before the event (I also offered a clipboard but she brought her own ... this is why she was the tech lead) and then get to spend the event acting as the go-between between the folks online and the people who are at the event itself, meaning you get to enjoy very little of the event as a participant and get to hear (and deal with) what is going wrong on both sides while trying to make things right so that both sides are happy. She also brought multiple glass artworks with her to decorate the room, gave rides to those who needed a ride, and stepped in whenever tasks needed doing throughout the day. But this is Grundy, always, as a comoderator. Thank you for all you do for us, and for this event in particular!

Shadow was the "event Discord moderator," which sounds like an easy job but was kind of the iceberg on the Mereth Aderthad staff list, with most of what Shadow actually did not at all reflected in the name of the role. Shadow monitored not just Discord but the moderator email to help people who were having trouble get into the session. They monitored the Zoom chat and were the mod who oversaw the virtual "lunch" social session on Discord. All of this despite the fact that the event started midafternoon their time, which made for a very long day—and they were presenting a paper and reading two stories! Part of their role on the virtual-only side meant attending the multiple tech tests we ran in the lead-up to the event, including (again) late in the evening on Friday.

Our setup crew on Friday made quick work of testing the tech and setting up the room so that we could start on time on Saturday: Quente, Dave, Grundy, Independence1776, Gryph, and Bobby. Quente, I really appreciated that you are one of those people who sees it needs to be done and does it! There were times I turned around and the coffee pot had magicked itself full again or something had gone from chaos to order, which is not how it is supposed to work, but you made it so!

In addition to helping with setup and logistics, Independence1776 miracled event photos from our oddly proportioned and dimly lit room. They are lovely and will be treasured as we look back on this event! Thank you too for maintaining the hotel list for the event, which made it easier to attend in-person, including if you didn't have access to a car. Grundy did the research on transportation options, again to support attendance by people who needed to get here without a car.

The Mereth Aderthad logistics committee was Anérea, Elleth, Grundy, Gryph, Independence1776, Janeways, Maglor, Quente, Shadow, and Zhie. These were the people who managed the details of the event from the large (the where and when!) to the small (the color of the photography preference dots and the layout of the nametags). They handled many, many questions and proposals from me over the past ten months with resourcefulness and creativity.

The Mereth Aderthad promotions committee was Aprilertuile, Grundy, Himring, Janeways, Saelind, and Zhie with Shadow taking the lead as the social media manager and handling the various cross-posts to different sites in such a way that each received its due at the top of the page. This team not only planned how best to promote the event (walking that fine line between "Mereth what?" and annoyingly over-present) but handled the twenty-eight interviews with presenters and creators over a five-month span. Interviewers were Shadow, Anérea, Himring, Quente, Saelind, Maglor, and Grundy, with Shadow doing a record twelve interviews!

Janeways made the beautiful banners and graphics for the event. She took the basic idea of my original and ugly banner (the idea of which was to match with the site) and made a series of beautiful Canva graphics that, as event planning unfolded, were unbelievably easy for me to edit and download without a lot of fuss, saving me a ton of time on design and editing just about every week for the past six months.

This brings us to the zine! The zine was designed by Anérea, who first offered to help put it together, then came up with the idea for and created the cover, then offered to create embellishments for the pages that didn't already have art, and ended up producing a publication that is a work of art unto itself. During the proofing process, she was quick to respond and detail-oriented in making corrections that creators noticed and, when the zine went to the printer, talked me through what I needed to ask for and then made yet another set of corrections once we had print proofs in hand and I noticed everything I managed not to see on multiple proofs previously. On top of this, Anérea was always available for input on the logistics team, worked to ensure that each presentation at the event had an artist, and helped with tech testing.

Anérea and Varda delle Stelle, in their roles as the SWG's art editor and assistant art editor, also took on a significantly higher workload in sourcing art for the presenter and creator interviews. There are probably a dozen Discord messages to them that open with me saying, "I know you have so much on your plate right now so let me know if I need to take this one," and end every time with them sourcing a lovely work of art to accompany the interview.

Then there are the Mereth Aderthad presenters: Stella, Shadow, cloudyhymns, Maglor, Zara, Savannah, Quente, Paul, Zhie, Jaz, Cindy, and polutropos. I have been to a lot of Tolkien conferences. I have never seen such a slate of consistently thoughtful, engaging, polished, and overall high-quality presentations. Every single of one of your talks was interesting and fun to watch. On top of that, for many of you, this was your first time presenting at a conference! That makes the level of quality we saw on Saturday even more impressive. (And for the first-timers: raucous laughter, cheers, and fanworks inspired by presentations are not the norm at conferences and are a testament to how enjoyable your talks were!)

Because this event specifically welcomed first-time and fan presenters who wanted to try their hand at presenting their scholarship, we decided early on that, if we were going to make that work, then we needed to support our new presenters through the process. Our series So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference? was possible due to more experienced scholars who were willing to share their input, resources, and tips and tricks. Many thanks to Azh, Himring, Janeways, Zara, and Zhie, whose generosity with their materials and advice helped the next generation of Tolkien scholars gain the knowledge and confidence to take this big step.

Our fanworks creators took an unusual challenge—create a fanwork for a conference presentation—and ran with it in the most delightful way. Many of these creators also shared their work at the event: Idrils Scribe, Flora-lass (who also stepped up to read others' fanworks), chrissystriped, bunn, Shadow, cloudyhymns, Janeways, Zdenka, Azh, Maglor, and reese. The artists who created the stunning art that formed the backdrop for our event were fish, Silmalope, Varda delle Stelle, Kai Janik, Navy, bunn, Anérea, Grundy, sesame, and Tang Wen Xi. Finally, the zine creators not only contributed to our beautiful zine but went through all the editing and proofing that is part of any publication process: Idrils Scribe, Flora-lass, elennalore, fish, chrissystriped, Quente, Silmalope, bunn, Varda delle Stelle, Shadow, Kai Janik, Janeways, clovis_unleased, cloudyhymns, Zorbo_Jorks, Anérea, Azh, elfscribe, sesame, Elleth, and Independence1776. I had the delightful job of reading the fanworks as they came in, and each is a thought-provoking, carefully crafted response to the presentation it accompanied, highlighting the diverse ways that we, as a fandom, approach and engage with not just the legendarium but with each other's ideas. If you enjoyed one of the event or zine fanworks, they are all archived on the site and linked in the program, so you can let the creator know!

We also had thirty generous donors whose contributions helped to make the event possible. Because of donations, we were able to pursue publishing a print zine, ensure that each contributor receives a free copy, upgrade the Zoom account so everyone who wanted to attend virtually would be able to do so, provide breakfast and afternoon snacks for in-person attendees, and ensure that we were supporting local and ethical businesses whenever we could.

Finally, if you attended Mereth Aderthad, thank you! We put on this event for you, and your support of our presenters and creators, thoughtful questions, and positive energy were what made this event such a success. Thank you for making the SWG's twentieth birthday a memorable occasion!

Archive Software Updated

Posted by SWG Moderators on . Last updated on .

The site software has been updated. Please report any issues using the Contact link at the bottom of the page or on any of our usual social media channels.

The site will be temporarily taken offline during the morning and early afternoon UTC on Saturday, July 26, so that we can upgrade our software. There is no need to report site outages during this time. We will report here and on our Discord when our work is complete and the site back online.

Mereth Aderthad Fanzine Available!

Posted by SWG Moderators on . Last updated on .

In the early years of fandom, creators shared their stories, art, and other fanworks in handmade fanzines. Often printed on the cheap and assembled by volunteers at zine-making parties, these zines brought fans around the world in contact with each other and kept fan communities alive.

Honoring the tradition of our foremothers, when we planned Mereth Aderthad 2025, we wanted a fanzine to go with it. Works in the zine respond to the twelve presentations given at Mereth Aderthad.

We are very excited to make the Mereth Aderthad fanzine available to download for anyone who would like to check it out! The zine features thirteen stories, five poems, and nine works of art and was beautifully designed by Anérea. While some of the fanworks were heard at Mereth Aderthad, others are brand-new and available to enjoy for the first time.

You can download a copy of the Mereth Aderthad 2025 fanzine here!

Mereth Aderthad Is Happening TODAY!

Posted by SWG Moderators on . Last updated on .

Mereth Aderthad 2025 is our twentieth-birthday celebration, featuring a dozen different speakers sharing their ideas about Tolkien, fourteen fanworks readings and performances, and work from ten featured artists. And it is not too late to join us! You can register now and the event link will be sent to you, or reach out via email or on the #mereth-aderthad channel on our Discord, and we'll send you a link. Even if you can only join us for a short while, all are welcome!

If you really can't join us (or are reading this after the event has ended), find all of the fanworks on the Mereth Aderthad page. Many of our presenters are also planning to share recordings of their presentations or their papers, so watch for updates as they come in.

Finally, we produced a fanzine for this event, containing many of the works that will be shared at the event today, as well as other fanworks based on the presentations shared today. You can download a copy of the Mereth Aderthad 2025 fanzine for free here!

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Zdenka by Himring

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Zdenka is a fanfiction writer, a poet, and a musician who has engaged with Middle-earth through these talents for many years now. At Mereth Aderthad 2025, Zdenka will be performing both a song and an alliterative poem, the former for Acha Rezak's presentation "Mythmakers vs. the made myths: Exploring a reader’s levels of religious alienation and connection in works about and by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis" and the poem for Paul D. Deane's presentation "Love, Grief, and Alliterative Verse in Tolkien’s Legendarium." Himring spoke with Zdenka about her love of music and her evolving understanding of what it means to be a Jewish Tolkien fan.

You can read Himring's interview with Zdenka here.

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with sesame by Dawn

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Sesame is the featured artist for Jaz's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "Twilight, Child Of: Comparisons Between Tinúviel, Lómion, and Undómiel" and has created two separate fanworks, one for the event's fanzine and one that will be featured at the event itself. Dawn spoke with sesame about the journey from reading The Hobbit as a child to taking notes on The History of Middle-earth, the appeal of the Fall of Gondolin, and how she creates her distinctive artwork.

You can read Dawn's interview with sesame here.

New Challenge: Swinging 40s

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The 1940s was a decade of contrasts. It contained humankind's deadliest war and ushered in its biggest baby boom. European powers nursed their war wounds, the United States and Soviet Union rose as superpowers, and the first stirrings of decolonization inspired millions to seek independence and the right to self-governance. All of this occurred as swing music and the first jukeboxes played in the background, and technological advancements brought space travel, the atomic bomb, and Tupperware.

This month's challenge focuses on the decade that both contained the first teen crooners and saw literature and film turn to noir. Prompts come from the 1940s, and you are welcome to choose any from the list below. As usual, you can use any part of the prompt—dig deep into a novel or film or the lyrics of a song if you want, or use the title, book cover, or movie poster—anything goes! We welcome you to combine prompts and interpret them as creatively as your imagination requires.

Find the Swinging 40s prompt collection and fanworks here.

Thank you to Pages for this month's stamps!

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 August 2025. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Idrils Scribe by Shadow

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Although Doriath is a prominent civilization in The Silmarillion, fanworks creators pay less attention to its culture and residents than they do to the Elves who migrated from Valinor. An writer who brings to life cultures of Middle-earth that have received less fan attention, Idrils Scribe is the featured author for Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "Cherished antagonist, despised protagonist - a defence of Elu Thingol." Shadow spoke with Idril about her story for the event, about the disproportionate criticism Thingol tends to receive in the fandom, the endless layers of the legendarium, and the arc of fandom history that makes inclusive communities essential for creators to thrive.

You can read Shadow's interview with Idrils Scribe here.

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Flora-lass by Anérea

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Tolkien's poetry is one of the hallmarks of the legendarium, though like poetry in general, it tends ot produce mixed reactions from readers. A poet who brings to life the musicality of Middle-earth, Flora-lass will be presenting a poem inspired by Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch's presentation, "Cherished antagonist, despised protagonist - a defence of Elu Thingol" at Mereth Aderthad 2025. Anérea spoke with Flora-lass about her poetry, getting involved with fandom later in life, and the appeal of Thingol as a subject of fanworks.

You can read Anérea's interview with Flora-lass here.