Cultus Dispatches: Revelations from Marquette's Fanzine Dataset
In September 2026, Marquette University released a dataset about their Tolkien fanzine collection. Analysis of the data reveals what these fanzines contained and show how pre-internet Tolkien fandom responded to the publication of "The Silmarillion."
SWG News
New Challenge: Unquote
Choose a prompt from our selection of misheard, miswritten, and misrepresented unquotes that are in no way part of the actual "Silmarillon."
Site Etiquette Update: Fandom and Money
We have updated our policy in our Site Etiquette around linking to sites that collect money.
Character of the Month: Eönwë
This month's biography focuses on Eönwë, who started with a variety of identities but settled into the role of Manwë's herald, exemplifying the values of strong leadership and justice.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] A Language Deeper than Words by gaydhros
Colour now has returned to him. His cheeks and nose are pink with the early morning chill, his grey eyes are bright, and he is well enough to manage daily walks along the lakeshore with Fingon, a few dawn-quiet moments stolen together before the rest of camp wakes.
[Artwork] Fingolfin‘s Last Stand Monument by Fuin
Fingolfin‘s Last Stand Monument on the Square of the High Kings in Tirion, digital art.
[Artwork] Thangorodrim by Fuin
Night spreads from the peaks of Thangorodrim, digital art.
[Writing] Silmarillion Non-Con November 2026 by AngbandThrallNo.1035
This is my collection of ficlets for the various prompts of Non-Con November 2026, I'll update the tags as I upload my fics, each prompt will be a new chapter. This writing event specifically focuses on the absence of consent, so keep that in mind!
Day 1: Groping (Maeglin/Dark!…
[Series] Instadrabbling, 2026-Present by SWG Moderators
We get together from time to time on the SWG Discord and produce spontaneous fanworks based on randomly chosen prompts. This collection includes drabbles, ficlets, and other flash fanworks produced as part of our instadrabbling sessions beginning in 2026.
[Writing] Disco Demolition by kimikocha
“We’ve worked together,” says the stranger with fire in his hair. “We’re investigators.”
Everything he says is technically true.
Inspired by Disco Elysium and written in the game's style, but not a crossover. Familiarity with the game isn't necessary for this fic.
Current Challenge
Unquote
Choose a prompt from our selection of misheard, miswritten, and misrepresented unquotes that are in no way part of the actual "Silmarillon." Read more ...
Random Challenge
Hot Summer, Hot Stories
Create a "hot" fanwork--taking that word as you wish! Read more ...
New in References
Fandom before the Time of the Trees: Revelations from Marquette's Fanzine Dataset by Dawn Walls-Thumma
In September 2026, Marquette University released a dataset about their Tolkien fanzine collection. Analysis of the data reveals what these fanzines contained and show how pre-internet Tolkien fandom responded to the publication of "The Silmarillion."
Across the history of the "Silmarillion," Eönwë's role settles on a character who leads without taking upon himself the power to mete out justice and who acts with equanimity across some of the most harrowing conflicts in the early legendarium.
Speak Friend and Enter: Trends in Fandom Entry Year by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Across three surveys and ten years, the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey has document when authors began writing. These data reveal trends in how film promotions, the films themselves, the books, and other historical contexts have influenced not only who writes but how long they stay.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] For a Better World by Ellynn
Thirteen years before the War of the Ring, an orcling — more intelligent and more curious than most — is born in Mordor. His curiosity will lead him to both incredible discoveries and perilous situations, all of which will shape him into a leader unlike any Mordor has ever known. But to become…
[Writing] The High Pass to Gondor by octopus_fool
Eorl heard it before he saw it: the sliding of stones as they crossed the high pass into Gondor.
[Writing] Aftermath of a Riot by Susana_R
It's never fun to wake up with a concussion. Fortunately for Faramir, he has Elrond, Aragorn, and the rest of Aragorn's family to help him make the best of a difficult day.
Around the World and Web
Tolkien Siblings Week 2026
A fandom event focused on sibling relationships in the Tolkien legendarium, running November 23rd to 29th, 2026!
Ainur Week 2026
A Tolkien fandom week dedicated to the Ainur!
Glorthelion Week 2026
A week dedicated to Glorfindel x Ecthelion relationship
Nolofinwëan Week 2026
Nolofinwëan Week is Tumblr fandom event celebrating the House of Fingolfin, running from November 9th - 16th
The White Oliphaunt 2026
The White Oliphaunt gift exchange, a yearly event where Tolkien fans sign up to exchange humorous gifts with each other.
SWG News
Cultus Dispatches: Becoming Bookverse
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
The new Amazon Rings of Power series is on many of our minds. With the Super Bowl trailer drop, releases of a series of posters, and articles and teasers cropping up across the Tolkien fandom like mushrooms after a rain, the new series has become impossible to ignore. And for many existing Tolkien fans, they wonder: How will this new show shape the fandom communities that I love?
Over the next few months, Cultus Dispatches will look at this question by analyzing the impact of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies on the fandom. "Becoming Bookverse" is the first article in this series, in which Dawn uses Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data to make the case that, in the fic fandom, the films brought in fans in droves—and then they became fans and authors of fic based on the books.
You can read April's column here: Becoming Bookverse: Jackson's Films as an Initiation Point for Tolkien's Book Fandom.
As part of this series, we are seeking to hear from fans who were part of the Tolkien fandom before one or both of the film trilogies. How do you think the fandom changed (or did it)? If you'd like to contribute a fandom memory, you can do so here.
Cultus Dispatches is always looking for contributors to our column about Tolkien fandom history and culture. Find out more about writing for this column here.
Were You a Part of the Tolkien Fandom Before the Films?
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
As the debut of the Amazon Rings of Power series approaches, many Tolkien fans are left wondering how the new show will impact the fandom they love. Over the next few months, our fandom history column Cultus Dispatches will tackle this question from various perspectives.
For one of our upcoming columns, we'd love to hear from you! Were you participating in the Tolkien fandom before either (or both) of the film trilogies took the world by storm? We're looking for fans willing to share what this experience was like and how they saw the fandom change (or not!) at these pivotal moments in its history.
You can write as little or as much as you'd like. Responses will be published in an upcoming Cultus Dispatches column. You are of course welcome to remain anonymous if you prefer.
Newsletter Subscriptions Now Work for Everyone
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
When we reintroduced our newsletter a little over a week ago, we unfortunately hadn't gotten subscriptions up and running yet for nonmembers. We're excited to announce that absolutely anyone can now subscribe to the SWG newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here or use the subscription box at the bottom of the sidebar on our website.
What wonderful and fabulous things can you expect with your subscription? Every Saturday, you will have the latest news and updates from the SWG and other fandom groups and events delivered right to your email inbox. You will receive a list of all of the fanworks added or update that week on our archive. And you will be the first to get to read that week's article or column!
Remember, too, that we are looking for contributors to our newsletter. Whether you want to write a column, an article, or collaborate with our newsletter team, check out our contributors' page for more information.
Current Challenge: Arda on Ice!
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
As the Northern Hemisphere bids farewell to winter, we pay homage to a sport that, just like writing and art, involves both technical skill and artistry: figure skating. For this challenge, you will design a skating program using the prompts below. Before you begin, select the prompts you want to incorporate into your program. You can complete a program at four different levels:
- Novice: 3 prompts
- Junior: 5 prompts
- Senior: 7 prompts
- Pair/Team: 8 prompts shared between two or more creators
Prompts can be used in any order that you want and are intentionally broad, inviting a variety of different interpretations. You can find the prompts for the Arda on Ice challenge here.
You can also collaborate with one or more other creators for the pair and team events! You can collaborate on a single fanwork, or you can collaborate to create multiple fanworks using a set of prompts. For example, one person might create a work of art, another might write a story about it, and a third creator could make a playlist, compose a poem to introduce the story, or conduct research to produce a comprehensive set of notes.
Thanks to Wanyin for suggesting this month's challenge and thanks to Lyra for the artwork used in the banner and stamps!
In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 April 2022. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.
Cultus Dispatches: The Tolkien Estate and Fanworks
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
Within the past week, there has been an explosion of commentary on the recent update to the Tolkien Estate's website, which included changes to their FAQ on fanworks. Does this spell the end of fanworks?
The short answer is no. In a collaborative article written by our newsletter staff, we look at the history of the Estate's stance on fanworks, which has always been bad and never acted on, and the new FAQ on fanworks, which changes in style but not substance. We include a primer on copyright, a frequently misunderstood concept, and discuss why the Estate has chosen this moment in time to spring this upon fans.
You can read the full article "A Sudden Outcry: The Tolkien Estate and Fanworks" here.
This article is the first of our new column, Cultus Dispatches, which explores the history and culture of Tolkien fandom. Cultus Dispatches is looking for contributors interested in sharing more about their fandom communities.
Update to Site Etiquette and Terms of Service
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
It is important, for legal reasons, that activity on the SWG remain strictly not-for-profit. And while this has been our de facto position for as long as the site has been in existence, we realized that this is never directly stated in any of our policies. Therefore, our Site Etiquette and Terms of Service has been updated to add the following language:
For legal reasons, the SWG must remain strictly not-for-profit. Do not use the SWG or its social media to request or offer commissions for money. If a fanwork was commissioned, do not mention that commission. Links in your profile, the fanworks you share, or on posts to SWG social media should not point to sites where you will make a profit, such as Kofi, Patreon, GoFundMe, Venmo, and similar sites. Violations of the above will be immediately taken down.
Please note that the translated Site Etiquette and Terms of Service have not yet been updated.
As always, if you have any questions, you can contact the moderators or comment on this post, and one of us will get back to you.
SWG LiveJournal No Longer Posting Announcements
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
The SWG moderator team has decided that we will no longer be updating the SWG's LiveJournal with official group announcements. This community does not receive a high level of engagement, and the values of LiveJournal's owners continue to be at odds with the values the SWG embraces.
This does not mean that we are closing this community. We invite people to continue to post fanworks, meta and discussions, and announcements about fandom events here. However, this community should no longer be used to keep up with SWG-related news and announcements.
If you want to keep up with what's happening on the SWG, we have social media accounts on Dreamwidth, Tumblr, and Discord. (For a Discord invite, contact the moderators.) On our website, you can find announcements on our News page, and if you are a member of the site, you can subscribe to our weekly email newsletter. (Go to My Account and click on the "Newsletter" tab to sign up.)
Our LiveJournal community, along with our Yahoo! Group, was the SWG's original online space. For almost two years before our website and archive opened, we shared fanworks, discussed Tolkien and writing, laughed, played, and made new friends here and on Y!G. We are sad to take the next step to move on from LJ but grateful to all of the people who made this such a vibrant community and a cornerstone of our beloved group for so many years.
Character of the Month: Ossë
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
Ossë was one of the first characters Tolkien wrote in the legendarium. Neither his name nor his core storyline changed over the course of six decades of writing and revision.
Ossë as a character, however, underwent many changes. Initially a perilous rebel, Ossë was slowly transformed over many decades of revision to a character who was not only more cooperative and constructive but benevolent to the peoples of Middle-earth most closely associated with the sea.
In this month's Character of the Month biography, Dawn Felagund traces the slow evolution of Ossë's character from a god depicted in similar terms and language to Melkor to one who not only aids his friends and peers but yields to authority in a way inconceivable as he was originally writter.
Our Newsletter Returns!
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
The SWG's newsletter will be returning this week! SWG members can subscribe here or by clicking the Newsletter tab on your member profile. Non-members cannot subscribe quite yet, but we are working on it! Anyone, member or not, can subscribe here.
Why subscribe? The SWG newsletter will deliver a weekly round-up to your email inbox each Saturday. The newsletter will include SWG news and Around the World and Web announcements, so you can keep up with happenings and events in and beyond our group. Need some Sunday reading? The newsletter will include a list of new fanworks added that week and fanworks updated that week. Busy week and didn't get to check the site? You no longer have to worry about falling behind or missing updates!
In addition, we will be offering more original articles and columns, including featured artwork for each. The Character of the Month has been running for years and will resume, and we'll be adding more to the lineup, which will be included in the newsletter.
Contributors Wanted
We are currently seeking feature article writers, as well as columnists for A Sense of History and Cultus Dispatches, as well as backup writers for the Character of the Month. Feature articles explore a Tolkien-related or Tolkien-adjacent topic (i.e., a topic relevant to Tolkien studies, such as history, linguistics, fan studies, et cetera), while columns offer a briefer take on a specific topic related to a broader subject. See our call for contributors for more information.
If you have an idea for a new column or project that would fit in our newsletter, feel free to contact our moderators to propose your idea.
The SWG remains committed to the belief that we all benefit when we welcome more voices to the conversation. If you're a new writer or research, speak English as a second (or third, or ...) language, or have a disability that impacts language use, we are willing to offer the support you need to contribute and have your voice heard. Our editors can help during the writing and research process (including with obtaining references) and with editing. Our call for contributors has more on how we can support our writers.
Please also signal-boost our call for contributors! You do not need to be an SWG member or even a fanworks creator to contribute to the newsletter.
History of the Newsletter
Our newsletter debuted in September 2005 and ran every month until we suspended the newsletter with the opening of our rebuilt site in March 2021, making the newsletter older than our website by almost two years. For all of those years, the newsletter was written, compiled, and coded by hand every month by a team of volunteers. Because our old site made it difficult to compile and share content, our newsletter was how we ensured that our members were able to keep up with happenings in and around the SWG. Former and current site moderators have many emails in their archive that open with, "It's that time again ..."
Over the years, the newsletter expanded from group announcements and the monthly challenge. We added the Character of the Month and, occasionally, other columns and even comics. We started listing all the fanworks posted and updated that month on our site. For a while, we featured a new podfic each month. We started collecting and sharing links and announcements from outside the SWG in a section titled Around the World and Web.
If you look at the site now, you'll see all of that information-gathering has been automated by our new software. Visitors can easily find the latest site news, Around the World and Web announcements, and latest fanworks collected and linked in various places around the site--no hand-coding required! That made our old newsletter format redundant and obsolete. We hope that the energy we once spent every month into putting the newsletter together can now be turned toward showcasing new content exploring the legendarium from diverse and fascinating angles.
Our first edition of the new newsletter will debut this coming Saturday, March 5. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it!
Fanfic Book Club: Female Characters Book Club
Posted by Dawn Felagund on . Last updated on .
Female characters in Tolkien's universe are often left on the margins of canon. This is our chance to celebrate the imagination of fanfiction authors and how the community envisions female characters.
We will be hosting a book club for female-centric stories on March 26-27, 2022 on our Discord server on the #fanfiction-book-club and #fanfiction-book-club-nsfw channels. Your hosts for this event are @Melesta and @Sidra. While sign-ups are now filled and closed, all are welcome to join in discussing this round of stories. If you are not a member of our Discord server and would like to join, log into your site account and find an invite link in the footer of the site. If you're not a member of the site, contact our moderators for an invite code.
Schedule
All times are in UTC. Here is a timezone converter if you need to convert to your timezone. Please keep in mind that Daylight Savings Time begins this weekend for some locations!
Saturday - March 26th
14:00 - AdmirableMonster‘s i’ll be waiting here till the stars fall out of the sky
15:00 - Aipilosse‘s The Nature of Stone
Break
17:00 - Melesta‘s Politics, War and Love
18:00 - cuarthol‘s That She Might Render Aid
Break
20:00 - elennalore‘s Waiting for Tyelperinquar
21:00 - starlightwalking's elwenya
Sunday - March 27th
14:00 - Idrils_Scribe‘s A Web of Stars (Chapter 4)
15:00 – Anérea‘s In Light Of Dreams
Break
17:00 - undercat‘s Last Year's Words Belong to Next Year's Language
18:00 - JazTheBard‘s You Belong Among the Wildflowers
Break
20:00 - SkyEventide's To die in the light
21:00 - asterisq‘s The answer lies in limbo and the harvest will be hard
Please remember that, while we do not require authors whose work is being discussed to participate in discussing the work of others, we ask that authors make a good faith effort to attend and discuss the work of at least two other authors. If you'd like to know more about how book clubs work, see our book club FAQ.
