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.
Feanor and Fingolfin, from their youth to their fall.
"I will do this gladly," Fingolfin said, whispering into Feanor's mouth, grasping for reasons and sense. "Gladly, if it will bring peace between us. If it will end the madness."
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.
The thing about forgiveness, he thought, was that it was so much easier when the object of it was far away—or dead. It was so much easier to let it all go when those responsible were far away and unable to do any more harm.
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.
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.
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've always loved the Athrabeth! I really liked this study of the languages and nuances of linguistics that your fic focused on and how each of them views these issues. Finrod just becomes more fascinating with each interpretation.
i am always feel sad when I think of Andreth. Even if it was only for a brief time she could have had some joy in her life with Aegnor. It strikes me as monstrously unfair that Aragorn, Tuor and Beren got to marry their true loves but Andreth did not.
There is a bit of a linguistic angle to the Athrabeth itself, in particular to Finrod's explanation of amdir and estel. But it seemed to me that even more could be said about that side of it, perhaps. I'm glad you enjoyed this attempt to do so!
Yes, it's sad about those two. Maybe Aegnor would have willingly chosen mortality to be with Andreth, if that option had been on the table.
of all the complex shapes in the universe, the shapes of thought are easily the most elaborate, and elusive.
this is a good discussion about one of the trickiest topics in philosophy; the indeterminacy of translation is still generating tons of tomes. but i like the way you ended with a slop bucket, philosophers say 'remember the table'.
language is impossible, obviously, but you know what i mean...
i like your 'devastatingly sincere' Finrod. reminds me of Professor Kirke from Narnia, as though you have channeled 🙈 C.S.Lewis. of course, i havent read the Athrabeth.
I'm glad that this makes sense to a reader who hasn't read the Athrabeth! (The summary I linked is a good one, if you haven't got access to the text, but of course it isn't in the Professor's voice.)
I feel I've only touched on the topic, almost, really.
Tantalising! I wish they could have discussed this at greater length, although I definitely understand Andreth's discomfort at trying to explain this to Finrod (not just because she might pick it to pieces, but simply because it is hard to put into words what she means, especially without the linguistic terms to start with!). And the ending was heartbreaking. Andreeeth. ;_;
I'm really glad that someone undertook it. I wish I could remember their name--I saw it in that Tumblr post I mentioned, but couldn't remember exactly what I'd read, afterwards.
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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.