Founded in 2005, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild exists for discussions of and creative fanworks based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and related texts. We are a positive-focused and open-minded space that welcomes fans from all over the world and with all levels of experience with Tolkien's works. Whether you are picking up Tolkien's books for the first time or have been a fan for decades, we welcome you to join us!
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.
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.
Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new…
“Come on.” Maedhros grabbed his hand and pulled him along down the path, both of them quickening their pace now, until the trees opened up into a wide meadow filled with flowers, bright yellow celandine and dandelions and sweet-scented pale chamomile mingling with cornflowers and irises. On…
It was only the second time Finwë had come out foraging with them, and of course this would happen—of course the Hunter would come, the Dark Rider on his steed with its terrible, heavy footfalls, and the deep-throated laughter that held no mirth, only malice.
Finrod and Bëor stop for a while on the road to Nargothrond to rest. The bodies of the Secondborn often grow weary, and Finrod laments, massaging Bëor's back and renewing his beloved's vigor with the work of his hands. But Finrod has other burdens of his own, Bëor soon discovers, returning…
Maglor without Maedhros, Daeron without Lúthien. Alone, they are nothing, but together, they can be something more. Where do you turn, when you have no one else left?
Written for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2023, featuring artwork by athlai.
a collection of drabbles and mini ficlets in the meanwhile the world goes on 'verse that aren't long enough to stand on their own
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
Another Place in Time
Move beyond the places and times of familiar events to consider what was going on elsewhere in Arda at the same time as a major event covered in The Silmarillion. How--if at all--did the event impact what was transpiring elsewhere at the same time? Read more ...
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.
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.
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.
For most of my life, when reading Lord of the Rings, I read it through the perspective of Gandalf's words about Éowyn, that she'd spent years trapped as a caregiver, watching the realm she love fall from honor into disgrace.
But what if Éowyn was also a student of history?
…
Around the World and Web
Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
Gondor Week 2026
A Tumblr week event focusing on the history of the realm of Gondor.
Crablor Day
A day dedicated to everyone's favourite warcriminal crustacean - April 26, 2026
The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.
Oh this is an unique form that I also never encountered before. What I like so much about this poem is that it conveys the chain of actions and reactions so well, but also her emotions in a way! The metre is immensely well done, every sentence is connected and yet the next line read as a stand alone. :) Does this make any sense? What a wonderful piece!
Thank you so much, Rhapsody! Yes, it makes perfect sense. :) I wanted each of her actions to also represent something larger; for the poem to work on two levels. And this is one of those forms, I think, where the form should fit the subject, and this seemed the perfect subject to try my hand at \"dribbling\": the escalation of her panic as she tries to reach the Meneltarma fit the shorter and shorter word-count constraints as the poem progressed.
I think I\'m haunted, too. Now she\'s whispering to me to write another poem about her, considering what would have happened if she\'d reached the summit ... ;)
So immensely powerful in just a few words. I absolutely love it, Dawn! The imagery is amazing. The idea with Miriel having blood on her hands is both interestin and very powerful and deep. I would not mind reading more of these dribbles in the future. :-)
Thank you, Roisin! Well, as I told Rhapsody, it seems Miriel is here to haunt me for the moment; I have another idea for a poem from her PoV pondering what would have happened if she had made it to the Meneltarma. She\'s tugging on my sleeve right now ... ;)
I wanted each line in the poem to have two meanings, and the blood on the hands is one of them. Literally, of course, she is in haste and has literally cut her hands; figuratively, the blood her people has spilled have cost her the divine favor that might otherwise save her. I\'m so pleased that you noticed this and liked it. :)
And, you know, you are partly to blame for this. ;) All this talk of Akallabeth in August, and I have the Second Age on the brain!
Thank you, Naltariel, for reading my poem and for such a kind review. :) I must confess relief that the poem has been liked so far. I don\'t think of myself as a poet; I usually end up writing them because they won\'t let me do otherwise! ;)
Thank you, Moreth! I felt that the form fit the subject as well (these sorts of \"novelty\" forms irk me unless they serve the poem and aren\'t just used so that the author can show off her counting skills!). I\'m glad the poem worked for you. :)
I love this because it looks like a rock, albeit one which is pointing downwards. It feels like... slipping down the poem. I also like the lack of complete sentences, the abruptness (slicker wetter sharper). It fits the subject matter, which is why it works so well.
Thank you again for the comment! :) When my friend Dreamflower introduced me to this particular form, it seemed a given that it should be used to write about Miriel. I was definitely going for the effect you mentioned in keeping the lines abrupt and avoiding complete sentences at the end of the poem, so I'm happy that it worked! Thank you again. :D
Comments on Rising
The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.