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.
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.
Instadrabbling Sessions for April, May, and June
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
[Writing] How Tolkien Presents Ordinary People in "The Silmarillion" by Dawn Felagund
Inspired by collecting the prompts for the Everyman challenge, this essay considers how ordinary people are subsumed and silenced in The Silmarillion, which begins a three-book arc that ends with the rise of the humble and ordinary.
[Writing] Blessed are the Leave-takers by Isilme_among_the_stars
As prince Curufinwë Fëanáro makes an historical speech from the high court of the King upon Túna, those at the back of the crowd strain to hear.
A silly little scene inspired by Monty Python's "Blessed are the Cheesemakers" scene from The Life of Brian, written for …
[Writing] After the Kinslaying by Deborah Judge
A Teleri fishing boat captain turns to farming on abandoned Noldor lands after her ship is stolen. A Noldor farmer returns with Finarfin to find that his land belongs to the Teleri now.
[Writing] I Sit and Think of Times There Were Before by Erdariel
In his old age, Isildur's former esquire Ruinamacil, known to later histories only as Ohtar, writes his own account of his escape from the ambush at Gladden Fields and journey to Imladris, and the history of his friend whom Isildur ordered to flee with him.
[Writing] Until the Stars are All Alight by Dagstjarna
Reembodied in Aman, Celebrimbor decides to return to Middle earth to help heal the darkness and hurt wrought by the ring.
[Writing] a riot of shadow and shine by Elrond's Library
These were simply flashes, a hint of a wider, greater world. A tantalizing glimpse of more, always at the edge of awareness, never within reach. Míriel would grasp it, if something as intangible as the concept of color could overflow in bounteous wonder over her hands.
But…
[Writing] The Exchange by Elrond's Library
An exchange is made during the Great Journey
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Crackuary
"This idea is completely unworkable, but I bet I can make it work." With that philosophy in mind (if so dignified a word can be used here), create a fanwork using a bingo card with the most bizarre, silly, and crackiest prompts we could conjure. Read more ...
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.
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
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.
Tolkien, Lunatic Physicists, and Abnegation by Cynthia (Cindy) Gates
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.
[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.
Week of Kiliel
A Tumblr event dedicated to the relationship between Kili and Tauriel.
Aspec Arda Week 2026
This week-long event celebrates asexual and aromantic spectrum interpretations and headcanons of Tolkien’s Legendarium.
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026
The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is back for another summer of collaboration between artists and writers!
He hasn't stopped being passionate about things, your Elrond, has he? Even though the First Age is now so long ago...
You describe his feelings very vividly.
I don't think it's possible for him to stop. XD
And thank you. :)
I loved this story! I think you wrote both Elrond and Earendil really well, and their discussion seemed very in character - I loved Elrond's lines, especially when he was challenging Earendil's beliefs. The writing was also very good!
'their discussion seemed very in character'. That's funny. I had someone else tell me it was out of character (which is sort of what I intended)!
Thanks for the review! :D
I really liked this piece. The tension is built nicely at the very beginning and I particularly like how you conveyed through physical reactions the mixture of hope, nerves and sheer stubbornness Elrond feels while waiting on his father's doorstep. As for the description of the house itself it is beautiful and now I cannot stop imagining Ingwë's pompous portrait. As for the encounter itself I loved it. It manages to convey a multitude of emotions at once nicely unraveling, bit by bit, the tension built in the beginning, moreover the dialogues sound very realistic, quite a difficult feat given the subject of this fic. I kept feeling Eärendil was fighting more with the part of himself that agreed with Elrond than with his son (who is right shamelessly Fëanorian opinion).
As for the ending is almost cathartic and the figure of Celebrían fits it perfectly with her calm and quieting presence.
Congratulations.
Wow! Thanks so much for the detailed review. :) I really appreciate it. You're fairly right about Eärendil struggling with himself, even as he struggles with his son.
Wow! You write tension really well. Haha, it was almost hard to read without getting anxious myself :)
I really like the descriptions you put in of Elrond's movements and the way he notices small details. It really got accross how tense and conflicted he was feeling.
I can't help wondering what was going through Earendil's head here, though. He seems to be trying very hard to be formal (I mean, he hasn't seen his son in 6000 years, and doesnt come and meet him at the door himself?) and is clearly nervous as well. The part where he slips up and doesn't know if Elrond likes tea or not was especially touching. Elrond's reaction (and then insistance that he does like it, even though he doesnt want any when it comes out) is even more so.
Anyway, great story!
Sorry to write you two reviews on the same story, but I realized at work that I forgot to mention the parts I liked best in your story!
These lines:
"I wait to feel some innate bond of kinship. I felt it with my brother. I felt it when I married Celebrían. I felt it when my children were born. I even felt it – Eru forgive me – when I grew close to Maglor."
"I clench my hands. Calm down. He's your father, he's your father, he's your father don't be angry fool youarethelordofImladrisandthisisadisgrace..."
I think they just showed so much emotion and personality and struggle. The second one was poignant, but the first was very insightful (that feelings for someone don't exist because they "should") and touching.
Also the part where he switched into loremaster mode and drops all pretenses was great :)
Again, sorry to write two reviews...I couldn't figure out how to edit my other one. This is why I shouldn't write reviews at two am...and possibly why I shouldn't be allowed on the internet at all, haha.
Anyway, I really like your story....I'll stop babbling now...
Thank you so much for your kind reviews, Athrabeth. :) I'm sorry I'm not very articulate with responses, but I really appreciate your comments!
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