SWG News

Mereth Aderthad Is Happening TODAY!

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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.

Character of the Month: Marhwini

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Marhwini of the Éothéod is a character who exists between books. He is, in the words of his biographer Secondborn, "a representative of a people who didn’t even exist," appearing in neither The Silmarillion nor The Lord of the Rings. But as Secondborn articulates, this doesn't mean Marhwini is unimportant. Her biography of Marhwini not only compiles the details of the life of a character who is likely unfamiliar to many Tolkien fans but also explores why this character matters. Important to both the histories of Rohan and Gondor, Marhwini is a character who influences events in the legendarium from across the centuries and whose actions exemplify the essential theme of the value of friendship and allegiance.

You can read Secondborn's biography of Marhwini here.

Banner image courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Anérea and Shadow

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Anérea and Shadow are the featured artist and featured writer, respectively, for Zhie's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "How To Make a Star From a Tree: The Science of Telperion and Laurelin." They sat down together to chat about their work on Zhie's presentation and on Mereth Aderthad more broadly, as both are involved as volunteers for the event, and Shadow has also written a story for Maglor's presentation "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor." They spoke about the appeal of light in Tolkien's world, about achieving freedom from perfectionism and imposter syndrome, and the special role that fanworks and fan communities play in so many of our lives.

You can read and listen to their conversation here.

Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September

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Anna (IdleLeaves) will generously be continuing to host monthly instadrabbling sessions on our Discord server on the first Saturday of each month! We welcome all creators to join us for an few hours of creating, squeeing, and hanging out with fellow fans on the following dates:

What is instadrabbling? Instadrabbling is a long-standing community activity in the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. A group of friends gets together on chat, someone throws out a prompt or four, and everyone writes a drabble (or whatever comes to mind). We share our creations in the server and admire each other's work. Instadrabbling is low-pressure and casual, and all are encouraged to participate to whatever degree they are comfortable. Instadrabbling responses shared on our server can be about any aspect of Tolkien's legendarium, not just Silmworks.

When we instadrabble, we meet on the #instadrabbling channel on our Discord server. Discord invites can be requested at any time from the moderators. All are welcome to join the Discord, whether you want to instadrabble with us or not!

So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference? Giving the Presentation

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You've written your proposal, written and designed a strong presentation ... and now the day is here. It's time to present! This session explores how to actually present at a Tolkien conference. Topics in this session include:

  • What to expect on the day of the presentation.
  • Approaches to practicing so that your presentation feels natural and easy when it's time to give it.
  • Preparing ahead of time for a minimally stressful and effective presentation.
  • Planning for mishaps and common worries during the presentation.
  • How to feel confident and prepared for the Q&A, including common worries.

The recording and materials from our third and final session in this series can be found here!