Character of the Month: Marach
There are few details in the texts about Marach, but he is noteworthy for his allegiances and his descendants, who would become pivotal to the history of Middle-earth and the eventual defeat of Morgoth and Sauron.
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!
Character of the Month: Marach
There are few details in the texts about Marach, but he is noteworthy for his allegiances and his descendants, who would become pivotal to the history of Middle-earth and the eventual defeat of Morgoth and Sauron.
New Challenge: Allusive
Literature and art constantly refer back to each other using allusions, and this month's prompts are inspired by allusions to literature, myth, art, and history.
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.
[Writing] A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray
When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.
[Writing] An Alluring Offer by octopus_fool
Tata is offered a solution to a grave problem, at a very low price...
[Writing] The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster
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…
[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] most days I don't recognize me by annarobots
Of course, she knew that in the Blessed Land, true harm was unlikely to come to him. The Valar watched over them all, and the lesser spirits were everywhere. It was a great hound of Oromë who had found him happily splashing in the creek, in fact. But anyone could drown in mere…
[Series] Eat, Pray, Love by AdmirableMonster
The Darkest Timeline AU for my Steampunk Númenor series.
In which the Mouth of Sauron is originally a Númenorean chemister rescued from Ar-Pharazôn's intimate attentions by Sauron himself.
[Writing] Rise from the Ashes by AdmirableMonster
In the wake of Sauron's death, his Mouth remembers Númenor.
Allusive
Choose from our list of allusions to history, literature, mythology, and art to create a fanwork. Read more ...
Soundtrack
While usually the scenes are filmed first and the soundtrack is composed later, this month we want to challenge you to create (or continue) a story after listening to one of our musical prompts. The prompts will be pieces of classical and instrumental music. Read more ...
Speak Friend and Enter: Trends in Fandom Entry Year by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Across three surveys and ten years, the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey has document when authors began writing. These data reveal trends in how film promotions, the films themselves, the books, and other historical contexts have influenced not only who writes but how long they stay.
There are few details in the texts about Marach, but he is noteworthy for his allegiances and his descendants, who would become pivotal to the history of Middle-earth and the eventual defeat of Morgoth and Sauron.
[Artwork] A Memento of Faery by Grundy
TRSB26 art 144 - an artifact brought back from Faerie by a Starbearer.
[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…
LotR Week 2026
A week-long event for The Lord of the Rings
Finwëan Ladies Week 2026
Finwëan Ladies Week will run from September 21-27, 2026!
Fingon x Finrod x Maedhros Day 2026
A day to celebrate the relationship of the three eldest princes.
Forgotten Ground Regained Features Tolkien-Inspired Alliterative Poetry
The quarterly journal "Forgotten Ground Regained" publishes alliterative poetry and, in Issue 11, turns to focus on poems written about Tolkien's world, including several pieces by SWG poets.
Sindar Week 2026
A Tolkien event week for the Sindar, the Grey-Elves, from the Years of the Trees to the Third Age.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Loved poor Namo's irritated discomforture at his "condition" and Manwe's response. "Alluring endowments" indeed. "‘I need you to kill me,’ pronounced the Lord of Mandos darkly."
I especially enjoyed Varda's interest in the proceedings. Good grin material.
Thank you, elfscribe!
I felt a bit sorry for the Lord of Mandos myself, but I thought it was high time he got brought down a peg or two. Too much Doom can be harmful... and I can be ruthless too. *** evil cackle***
Thanks for taking time to review, made my day!
Heh!
Mandos surely had that bit of humbling down coming to him. What is it with him and his dislike of my most beloved Feänor. :D
Wriggling bits. What an image!
I guess Mandos got terribly busy after Feanor got started with the Oath. He was used to just speaking doom and little else, suddenly there are all these dead elves coming back to be judged and all the rest. *** giggles *** Glad you enjoyed the wriggling bits...
I thought I'd leave my MEFA review of this fic here. Cheers!
Russandol not only writes stories of velvet darkness such as Chasing Mirages, but ones that display her wonderful sense of humor as well. I particularly enjoyed this one in which a disgruntled Námo shows up at the gates of Ilmarin to present Manwë with an unusual, er, problem. This story opens in a seemingly serious manner, much like a Monty Python Holy Grail sketch, in which a mysterious cloaked and hooded stranger arrives with a letter of introduction with inexplicably bad penmanship (ooh foreshadowing) from the Lord of Mandos, demanding to see the head dude. The impudence of the petitioner mightily pisses off Manwë, and from there the somber mood of the story begins to degenerate. [The room shook with his wrath, making Varda’s crystal bead lamps tinkle loudly. He was most proud of the humbling effect this trick usually had . . .]
As the story progresses, we discover the, er, source of Námo's trouble and his unorthodox proposal to cure it and begin to cackle along with Manwë. I enjoyed Námo's wrath at his minions and his creative punishments, Manwë's initial prodding of Námo's creation, and his horror at being asked to commit the unthinkable kinslaying, and Námo's whinging pleas. Varda's discovery of the exact nature of Námo's problem, and her subsequent desire to see her husband duplicate it, was entirely hoot-worthy. Plus any story that manages to work the word vië into it gets my vote. Thanks for the grin, Russandol.
This is a wonderful review, thank you, elfscribe! Your support at the MEFAs and outside them means a lot to me. This story was actually a most unexpected spin off from Mirages, a persistent, most annoying plot bunny. I could not think of anything else fanfic-wise until I wrote it to get if off my mind. I hope Námo has forgiven me, I've been dreading his revenge ever since I revealed his secret...
Great idea about copying MEFA reviews, by the way! I should do the same.
Ha ha, I loved reading this! Excellent writing, lovely sick humor, and it was quite impossible not to laugh at poor Námos predicament (likewise, it was impossible to stop imagining what he Manwë saw when he opened his cloak)! But Varda, hm... she has a peculiar taste, doesn't she? Lol!
Yes, Varda freaked me out a bit too, but there you go, the Ainur obviously have a different wiring in their brains. Funnily enough, the idea originated from my musings about Really Serious StuffTM like Elvish re-incarnation, when I was writing my current WIP. It went downhill from there.
Sick humour is a perfect description of Kinslayer, ask Namo and he will corroborate. But sometimes I am sane, I promise.
Thank you for reviewing!
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