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.
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: 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.
Cultus Dispatches: Communities Do Comment
Comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
[Playlist] Yacht Rock Silmarillion by Dawn Felagund
Have you ever wondered what would happen if the characters in The Silmarillion were smoooooth like they were sippin' a Sex on the Beach on a party barge in the harbor at Alqualondë? The "Yacht Rock Silmarillion" retells The Silmarillion as though the characters all had perms…
[Writing] and let's be winners by mistake by atlantablack
"Move farther north," Caranthir says to her a month after the attack, gaze steady on her even as his hands continue briskly gutting fish. "There is plenty of land closer to my fortress, and my people can help protect yours if there is another attack."
Haleth looks up from her…
[Writing] Changing Styles by StarSpray
“What did you do to your hair?”
[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?
[Writing] From That Rubble by StarSpray
Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I…
[Writing] Star of Hope by Fuin
A new star shines in the sky. They claim it brings hope.
Epic 80s
Create a fanwork using on of our righteous prompts based on popular culture from the 1980s. Read more ...
Inspiration
Your characters inspire you--but what inspires them? Consider what inspires your characters to act and create. Read more ...
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.
Fandom Draws the Line: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn Felagund, Grundy
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.
[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.
Celedriel Week 2026
A Tumblr event week focusing on the relationship between Celeborn and Galadriel.
Esoteric Tolkien Week 2026
A fandom event dedicated to the strange, otherworldly, and inexplicable in Middle-earth and beyond.
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026 to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.”
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
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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