Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.
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!
Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.
New Challenge: Building Middle-earth
Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.
Cultus Dispatches: Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey
Ten years of demographic data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey show consistencies in who reads and writes fanfiction, as well as a few key demographic shifts.
New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
[Writing] Thoughts of Írimë, daughter of Indis by Alvian
Lalwen listens to the songs of the Edain and considers the strange shape their love and grief take. An exercise in Elven zuihitsu.
[Artwork] Weight of a Mythic Past by silmalope
Maglor reflects on the past after returning to Valinor. Created for the August 2026 "Building Middle-Earth" challenge.
[Writing] Alone Yourself and Nameless by StarSpray
It was easier than he had thought it would be to leave his name behind—to put on a new one when needed, like changing one set of clothes for another.
[Writing] Kesäkuningattaret by Erdariel
Celebrían ja Varyandë viettävät kesäpäivää Imladrisin puutarhassa.
[Writing] Wound Care by StarSpray
He’d ventured into the little fishing village in search of food and maybe a dry place to sleep for a night of rain and wind—he hadn’t expected this, to be bullied into a hot meal and a healer’s attention.
[Writing] Swelling from the Sea by annarobots
Tuor and Elwing’s recreational sailing excursion goes terribly awry when a carnivorous siren casts her gaze upon their vessel. With her song, she enchants the mariners and boards with evil intent. She kills and eats their crewman, she demands Tuor’s hand in marriage, and for dessert…
[Writing] A Song Amidst His Torment by Elrond's Library
Of course it was a trap.
Maitimo has to survive. He must. But what price is too high to pay for survival?
Building Middle-earth
Receive a prompt of an architectural style or a location on Arda—or both!—to inspire your fanworks. Read more ...
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
"The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far) by Dawn Walls-Thumma
The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies mark perhaps the most influential events in the history of the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. As the Rings of Power show approaches its third season, data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that it is not even close to matching the impact of the films ... yet.
Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Data from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows demographic changes in participant gender, age, and education and new revelations about neurodiversity.
Communities Do Comment: Expanding the 3C's of Commenting with SWG Data by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Expanding on my 2018 article "Why People Don't Comment," comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
[Writing] Down the Long Years by Isilme_among_the_stars
Bilbo, the strange old hobbit with the wandering feet, senses something special in young Frodo the first time he sees the lad; as they become close, they find in each other a cameraderie not well understood by other hobbits. Five poignant moments between Bilbo and Frodo Baggins over the course…
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
[Writing] Bar-en-Eladar by Gabriel
Out of the shadow, light is born anew.
A Chieftain is dead. And whilst the events surrounding his death are unclear, a son tries to come to terms with his loss.
Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.
Silvergifting Week 2026
A week dedicated to Celebrimbor/Mairon | Annatar | Sauron pairing, aka Silvergifting. August 10-16, 2026
I really loved this! I read it over and over.
I liked the archaic names (Angamando for Angband) which gave the piece the feel of extreme age. The stirring and poetic use of language ('provisions are gnawed bone-close', 'the miles-vast fire below the mountains') made me think of Beowolf.
Please more!
Thanks so much, Uvatha! I'm glad you enjoyed this enough to reread it.
I do endeavor to use Quenya names instead of Sindarin in any of my work that takes place during the Years of the Trees.
My (much longer) Draugluin story will have a chapter or two about this same time period, from quite another perspective, if I can get off my arse and write it.
Great Bauglir, I cannot believe I had not reviewed this! Actually, I suspect there are other Huinarium offering that I have read, liked a great deal, and made a mental note of "Leave Huin a note!" Blame it on my near-geriatric mind and its attention span of a gnat.
At any rate, these are outstanding. Each one. Like Uvatha, I read these over and over. Your prose is marvelous, and in an economy of words (and clearly, each word carefully chosen), you create powerful images and bring an original flare to the cataclysmic event.
Beautifully done!
Thank you for taking the time to comment, Pandë! And I can relate to the attention span thing.
One of the things I like about doing drabble series for the Tolkien_weekly challenges is that the forced brevity allows me to conceive of brief sketches of events, so it helps me sort of plot some things out in my 'verse without falling prey to my typical tendency to make a novella of a molehill. And yes, the words all do undergo a brutal selection, since my draft drabbles usually come in at closer to 150 words.
This was one of the first fics I have read on SWG, and one of the best fics I came across before and after that! Sorry I hadn't reviewed this earlier.
And it is also compulsively readable, as your other reviewers have said, but many of your works are like that (Melkian dialogues, Sundray, Gelmir).
Your fiction has a rare quality to it, and I say this with a quite a few years reading various fanfiction, not only Silmarillion.
On the side note, I have finally read Camus' Renegade and I actually found yours and his story to be a close match. But in their essence they are very different - more on this if I manage to post another comment on Gelmir - I don't know if its allowed to publish more than one review on the same story. If not, I will write you about it somewhere else.
Please, continue to write!
Thank you so much, Belegur! I've really appreciated your encouraging remarks.
"Please, continue to write!"
Admitedly I've not been writing much this year due to a few factors, but at least lack of ideas isn't one of them. I'm certainly not done with writing Tolkien fic by any means. More will come eventually. =D
(Re: Gelmir v. Renegade. Eee, I think it's so cool that my story caused someone to read Camus' story! Yes, it is possible to leave multiple reviews on a single story, but if you have a Livejournal please do feel free get in touch over there huinare.livejournal.com. Or at other places mentioned on my profile, but LJ is very discussion-conducive.)
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Comments on A Brief History of the Fall of Utumno
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