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] A Very Fire by Deborah Judge
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."
"The madness will not end," Feanor…
[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] Add Another Stone by StarSpray
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.
[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] 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.
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
B2MeM 2009
Back to Middle-earth Month in 2009 offered a daily prompt connecting our personal experiences to our creative work. 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 lovely story.
He's just been reembodied, right? Why didn't he see Maedhros in the Halls? Did Mae get out before he got there?
First of all, thank you so much for commentin. You have no idea how happy it made me to see this!
As for your question, Why Maglor hadn't seen Mae already is because of two things. The first is that, while it is only hinted at slightly in the fic, the idea I had in mind is that it has been a LONG time since Maglor cast the Silmaril into the sea. It was definitely past the 3rd age when Maglor arrived in Mandos. Therefore, it is unlikely that Maedhros was still there, but even if he was, in my headcanon when an elf first arrives in Mandos he is not immediately put out into the "group area" if that makes sense, and is instead given some time where he is alone, to sort out himself so to speak. As far as I know this is neither supported nor rejected by canon, but it is what happens in the version of Mandos's halls that exists in this fic.
I hope that explains things! Honestly, I played around with a few different ideas but this is the one I decided on. It's fairly ambiguous in the actual fic, and is left somewhat open to interpretation.
I can see that, drowning not immediately, but a long time after. You do achieve an interesting symmetry with Maedhros in that way (who is also "tombless"!).
I'm glad you let them meet again and begin life together again!
I really love your writing Himring, and am honored that you enjoyed mine!
Yes, I really wanted to combine his HoME fate with the one in the published Silm, and I thought this would be a good way to do that, both because it gives him that "symmetry" with Maedhros, and also fitting really well with my interpretation of his character.
I had to give them some form of a happy ending(although I'm not sure how much I believe in its canon likely-hood)! It came out as a sort of "life can find a way to begin again", which is part of the idea that "roads go ever on", which in my opinion is one of the central themes of Tolkien's legendarium. The truth is I didn't think about any of that while writing, while I was writing I just wrote, and it is only now that I'm replying to your comment that I think about any significance to what I wrote😂.
He did not know how much time had passed since then, in Mandos's endless halls. Time had long ago lost all meaning.
I rather enjoyed the mental state evidenced by thi line; Maglor being the one left in a kind of timeless limbo is very in-character
I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I feel it is in character too. I wanted to have Maglor survive the longest, but in a sort of empty, half alive state. Alive but not really living, as the endless years pass him by. "Timeless limbo" is a good way to describe it...
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Comments on Fire and Deep Water
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.