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.
Such a well-written triptych. I loved the imagery you've chosen, and I loved your Maedhros, Maglor and Fingon. (Mairon, not so much! But that comes with his job description. ;))
Thank you! I don't usually write Mairon - I think this might actually have been the first time I've written him? - so I'm glad he was sufficiently evil! :)
Thank you! I was really inspired by how, in the fic I linked in the notes (Weep and Be Burned), Melkor and Mairon try to convince Maedhros that his predicament is his own fault. And I figured since he's Feanor's son, making him forge the band that holds him to the side of Thangorodrim would be the kind of think the Angband crew would do. Because irony.
I always figured Maedhros came to the decision to pass on the kingship pretty quickly once he knew Fingolfin and co. had arrived. I imagine that he knew the Oath was going to have to come first, and he didn't want to have that kind of conflict of interest as High King.
Oh, so very poignant! I particularly liked the interaction between Fingon and Fingolfin, and the former's resolve to do as his mind and heart told him even if it went against his entire family (and people). And, of course, the lullaby in the end... beautiful!
I really like how you used the allegory of metals. This was hard to read but so very well-done! You also did a great job with Mairon - he is terrifying here.
Their whole interaction was really heartbreaking. Seeing Maitimo like this is never easy and still you managed to bring Finno's undying devotion to his cousin so beautifully. I really loved it!
Thank you!! :) I wrote this quite a while ago but I definitely remember it making me really emotional while writing. Maedhros' decision to give the crown to the Nolofinweans is one of my favorite events to explore - it says so much about his character - and I think it would definitely have been something he told Fingon as early as possible.
Comments on Thangorodrim Triptych
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.