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!
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.
Finrod and Bëor stop for a while on the road to Nargothrond to rest. The bodies of the Secondborn often grow weary, and Finrod laments, massaging Bëor's back and renewing his beloved's vigor with the work of his hands. But Finrod has other burdens of his own, Bëor soon discovers, returning…
Maglor without Maedhros, Daeron without Lúthien. Alone, they are nothing, but together, they can be something more. Where do you turn, when you have no one else left?
Written for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2023, featuring artwork by athlai.
It was only the second time Finwë had come out foraging with them, and of course this would happen—of course the Hunter would come, the Dark Rider on his steed with its terrible, heavy footfalls, and the deep-throated laughter that held no mirth, only malice.
“Come on.” Maedhros grabbed his hand and pulled him along down the path, both of them quickening their pace now, until the trees opened up into a wide meadow filled with flowers, bright yellow celandine and dandelions and sweet-scented pale chamomile mingling with cornflowers and irises. On…
Haleth leaves to find her brother, even though her father does not permit her to.
Current Challenge
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Halls of Mystery
Explore the place and ideas behind one of the most mysterious locations on Arda, the halls of Mandos, or the ideas of Elven "death" and rebirth. Read more ...
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.
For most of my life, when reading Lord of the Rings, I read it through the perspective of Gandalf's words about Éowyn, that she'd spent years trapped as a caregiver, watching the realm she love fall from honor into disgrace.
But what if Éowyn was also a student of history?
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Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
Gondor Week 2026
A Tumblr week event focusing on the history of the realm of Gondor.
Crablor Day
A day dedicated to everyone's favourite warcriminal crustacean - April 26, 2026
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.
Thank you so much! I feel like, if one were an in-universe child in Arda, and the Silmarillion stories are something like a mix between your culture's epics and their holy texts, there are going to be those who's strongest reaction is "but that's not fair!' and want to go back and save everyone.
Oh, this is beautiful! I love the scene, and Gilraen's temper and need to fix the things that unfortunately couldn't be fixed, and how she reasoned with her brother. Wonderfully written, heart-warming and touching story! Thank you :)
Thank you so much, so glad you enjoyed. "Needing to fix things that couldn't be fixed": yes, my reaction to this prompt was a bit "meta"--in some ways this impulse lies behind so much great SWG writing! But I ended up seeing it through the eyes of one who hears these stories, in-universe.
You're welcome! So glad you enjoyed. I think that often we have some of our most pure reactions to stories when we were children: what made us sad, what we saw as unfair; because we haven't become inured to the world and its injustices.
In LOTR, I love the way characters like Aragorn access memories of the First Age through song, through stories & lays; then when you read the Silmarillion, it becomes like a fascinating geology of layers underneath the Third Age.
And I'm glad you liked the dynamic between girl and father; I drew on certain memories of being read to, as a kid.
What an original perspective to discuss subcreation, free will, Aragorn's relation with his kids and what the stories of the Elder Days mean to later people in Middle-earth.
Thank you so much! Aragorn would have an especially poignant, lived relationship to this question, which is woven throughout the early Silm chapters: why Morgoth, and in his turn, why Sauron?
Comments on In the Beginning
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.