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 ...
Soap Opera
Create a fanwork using our prompt generator that includes stock characters, common plot scenarios, settings, and episode types that are frequently featured in soap operas. 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!
A collection of Middle-earth cryptids! I love how many "lost" characters you brought into this story, with Dior's twins and the Entwives, Maglor and (perhaps? later?) Daeron - and Nellas and Tom Bombadil and Goldberry! So nice to hear about them alive and happy... at least in the beginning! This started out as such a cheerful adventure, and then took a more unsettling turn - but I have to admit that I really liked Eluréd's encounter with the Nazgûl - specifically, the way in which he first falls under their spell of fear and darkness, and then recalls his great ancestors and shows his power! But the ending makes me worry. Is it a dream? Is it reality? And did Eluréd really nearly die?
This starts with such good humour (Elurin tackled to the ground by children and looking like a hedgehog!) and gets so dark. That scene with the Wraiths is thoroughly scary. And rather than having to be hunted down in some dark hollow, Daeron helps to save the day!
I'd like to see what happens next.
This was very good! It started out so fun, and felt realistic too! All the dialogue, references and the journey seemed to flow so naturally. The scene with the wraiths was done well, with a palpable fear when he first noticed the weaiths in the dark.
It’s a small thing but I like how you referred to the river as being alive ,in a sense. And I loved the idea of the river “getting to know you.“ If I remember correctly, it is never explicitly said in Tolkien’s Legendarium that this is so, but it’s an idea I like and I think it fits really well. After all, for there to be a “river’s daughter” there must be a mother too. And other landscapes(Caradhras) are reffered to in such a way as well.
There aren’t enough stories set in the Second Age, and the way you subtly made it clear that this is the case was really well done, like I said earlier it felt natural in the flow of the text.
The ending does make me wonder though. Was is it all a dream? A precognitive dream perhaps? Or did Daeron really just appear in the night? If so, where he and Elúred really singing?
I’m a sucker for anything to do with dreams, and uncertainty of reality, so I thought that was a great, somewhat surprising way to end it. It left me wanting to see more, to see what they said and did upon finally meeting Daeron.
Well done!
You continued this! Awesome. Really liked your version of Daeron - communicative, competent, not grumpy, and I enjoyed his interactions with the "youngsters". Elurín joining with Daeron's song gave me goosebumps! Great story.
(Now I just hope Daeron won't be cast back into moping and melancholy by the mention of Dor Firn-i-Guinar!)
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Comments on The Nights Your Heart Shivers
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.