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 ...
Jumble Sale
Member-created prompts upcycle old challenges and prompts with additional new twists. 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!
That's a very interesting take on Nerdanel!
I especially like the description of their travels on the outer edge of Valinor and what it meant for them.
The idea of that doll is quite alarming--but it is believable that a sculptor might do this.
Thank you very much for your kind review; I'm very glad you liked the descriptions of the couple's travels and, most of all found this take on Nerdanel interesting, I worried it might fqall a bit flat.
As for the doll you are right, it is quite alarming still I'm glad you didn't find it unbelivable.
Thank you again.
I really like this! The whole thing has a very airy feeling to it, yet also focuses on difficult topics. Nerdanel has always been one of my favourite Silmarillion characters, though I haven't written much about her, sadly.
Thank you very much for having taken the time to read and review this fic. I'm extremely glad this managed to convey anything, moreso to a person who likes the character, I feared all effect was lost in the translation. Yes, the themes are difficult, still that seems to be bound to happen when you are in any way, shape or form related to Fëanor and his brood. Anyway I wanted to depict a person who managed to go on despite everything without bowing.
Thank you again for your review.
This is wonderful work. I found your characterization of Nerdanel to be very sympathetic and relateable, and the imagery you evoke is fantastic. "Swallowed by darkness like a wave by the sand" is just one of many turns of phrase that delighted and intrigued me. Well done indeed!
Thank you so very much for having taken the time to read and write such a kind review for this piece!
I'm incredibly glad you liked the characterization and knowing that someone who writes as well as you do finds some merit in what I write is an honor. I was worried about the style ending up being redundant in translation and kowing it can still evoke images is a relief.
Thank you again.
Comments: I've always been very fond of the concept of Nerdanel as a woman with a different beauty that the one generally recognized by the society she lives in. I think it's a very very important detail, and it gives her much more depths as a female character. And that's the first reason your fic appears as very important to me.
But I also really enjoyed the way you talked about sculpture and creation, and all the things you said about illusion. The parallels on this matter, the way you explained it and expanded the concept of illusion from her art to her reality (and to Fëanor's reality)... That's absolutely fantastic. That's a very clever way to talk about it, and I read avery single word of it with and increasing interest!
I've always been convinced that Nerdanel's difference was a strength rather than a weakness, that her body (which is suppose to be less beautiful than others') gives her a huge advantage comapring to others. Because, beyond the self-consciousness which haunts her, she's wise enough to maybe detach herself from it, and see beyiond the flesh (and when it's related to her work as a sculptor, it's fascinating)
So I loved reading your fic, which isn't only interesting in its content but also
wonderful in its form. It was beautiful in every way.
(Plus, Nerdanel and Fëanor as a couple always fascinate me; their relationship is so interesting and I love them so much *cries because feelings*)
(sorry for the looong review, your fic gave me so many feelings!)
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Comments on Nerdanel and the doll
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