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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
I love all the little details about this - it makes their world feel very fully realized, and lifts it above the romance. Indis as a runner, the convincingly adorable girl Findekano meets in the street...it shows both an awesome command of the legendarium and a great imagination.
This pairing is a favorite of mine, but I hate when it's treated as the defining trait of either of them. You do an excellent job of capturing what it means to be a prince of the house of Finwe, and that there's a little more to it than kissing your cousin. Best of luck in completing this in the summer challenge!
Oh, thank you for such a lovely review! I've been basking in it all day, and it's about time I replied! First of all, thank you! I was conscious of trying to expand Tirion into a place where people would really live -- and have problems that happen in cities everywhere. And I agree about Fingon/Maedhros, which is a pairing I love a lot, and that's because they're two great characters who had rich and complicated loves beside Their Great And Tragic Love. (Not that I don't adore reading and writing about that. I totally do.)
Anyway -- thank you for reading and reviewing. You've brightened up my day!
This fic is more convincing and thoroughly realized with every passing chapter! I feel like your focus is growing instead of narrowing, and in a very good way - Findekano's world doesn't close in around Maitimo, although I am definitely eagerly waiting for them to meet again, and I am very invested in the adventures of the minor characters as well. I like your Ecthelion. I don't think I've seen many authors who incorporate Argon into their world, but adding him gives the family this air of hubbub and barely-controlled chaos which is very appropriate for a wedding.
I like the unhurried pace of it--and how you are taking your time over things here: sibling interactions, sculpture garden, library books, cooking. And how the love story happens in the middle of all that. And the stew gets burnt...
That final image is lovely. I like them together in this way and without the maelstrom of Feanor and Nolofinwe etc. There are some lovely bits of humour in this too and you've made me laugh several times. There's a gentle longing and you catch the stage of love that is quite adolescent in its fumbling naivety and slightly clandestine nature, the jealousy that goes with it. THe backdrop of siblings works well and is all in all, very enjoyable.
That final image is lovely. I like them together in this way and without the maelstrom of Feanor and Nolofinwe etc. There are some lovely bits of humour in this too and you've made me laugh several times. There's a gentle longing and you catch the stage of love that is quite adolescent in its fumbling naivety and slightly clandestine nature, the jealousy that goes with it. THe backdrop of siblings works well and is all in all, very enjoyable.
That final image is lovely. I like them together in this way and without the maelstrom of Feanor and Nolofinwe etc. There are some lovely bits of humour in this too and you've made me laugh several times. There's a gentle longing and you catch the stage of love that is quite adolescent in its fumbling naivety and slightly clandestine nature, the jealousy that goes with it. THe backdrop of siblings works well and is all in all, very enjoyable.
Ah, those damned Silmarils are nothing but trouble, but I like how they valiantly attempt to struggle on despite it - Fingon especially. And of course the chapter is your usual quality. I'd also love to read more about the Maglor-Fingon friendship; these two seem like a good match (in a friendly way) themselves. I can't wait to see where you take this, even if I know a little (the perks of being a beta reader).
I've often thought Tolkien skipped over so much and its wonderful to read this introduction to the Silmarils. But the real jewel is the relationship of course between Maitimo and Findekano- and there are some asture observations, such as Findekano realsing he talks all the time about Maitimo as Finwe does about Feanaro. LOve the stage its at- the fumbling clumst depseration andthe the slight awkwardness of the morning and how that gradually eases into a steadier, more trusting and deeper relationship.
It is so rare to get stories set around this time, and even rarer to get the quailty as well as the subject. Thank you for sharing this, but I very much hope you will continue to.
Comments on Racing Towards the Start
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.