New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
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: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
Cultus Dispatches: Communities Do Comment
Comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Challenge: Scavenger Hunt
In this Matryoshka-with-a-twist, you will solve clues that point you to the challenge prompts.
[Writing] Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365
Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.
He was dying.
(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the…
[Writing] From That Rubble by StarSpray
Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I…
[Writing] Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously…
[Writing] Wrensong and Roses by Isilme_among_the_stars
Concerned by his responses to the paraphernalia of healing, Fingon steals Maedhros from his room for an impromptu garden excursion. Maedhros battles with dark thoughts.
[Writing] The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster
Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new…
[Writing] Bon(e)fire by Fuin
On the night before the battle, Caranthir and his ally share thoughts about their peoples' traditions:
Burning bones ward off evil.
Epic 80s
Create a fanwork using on of our righteous prompts based on popular culture from the 1980s. Read more ...
United They Stand
Emancipation and equality can be found in the Professor's words, and we would like to challenge you to create a fanwork about this process. Read more ...
Communities Do Comment: Expanding the 3C's of Commenting with SWG Data by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Expanding on my 2018 article "Why People Don't Comment," comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
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.
[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.
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026 to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.”
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
Tolkien Native Language Appreciation Fest 2026
A Tumblr event to celebrate the linguistic diversity of the Tolkien fandom.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
I've often wondered if Curufinwe might not have been relieved when Celebrimbor refused to follow him from Nargothrond. I'd like to think that was the case. Interesting character study!
I'm of the rather firm persuasion that he didn't WANT him to follow, didn't WANT him to swear the Oath and throw his life away like the rest of them on an unwinnable goal - at this point, he has no illusions that they'll succeed in claiming the Silmarils... So my reading is rather influenced towards Nargothrond being his last-ditch attempt to be a Father to Celebrimbor...
I've even seen pieces in which the very public disagreement was scripted by curufin & Celebrimbor together, a way to limit the losses - after all, all of the people who had followed C&C Sr remained in Nargothrond with Celebrimbor... and of course, that might come down to "we won't follow you no more" but it might as easily be "Command is passing to him, you now owe my son your allegiance" type of thing.
Help, now I'm full of feels!
This is wonderful. I love your take on Curufin as a father - a great change from the much more frequent controlling, demanding, self-absorbed depiction of Curufin. Love the idea that Curufin was proud of Celebrimbor for taking a different road.
This is very much the Curufin of my Memory Lane fic ;) and I don't tend to see him in such a terrible light(if even Tolkien agreed that he was depicted as worse than reality in the luthien tale, who am I to argue?) so my Curufin is... Not glad, because he is going to miss his son, but at the same time there is no longer the threat of Celebrimbor taking the Oath hanging over him, which is a profound relief. He is also quite proud that he managed to raise a good man (a better man than himself, at least)... I still haven't decided how the argument panned out, but honestly I wouldn't put it past Curufin to have staged the whole thing with or without Celebrimbor's knowledge, just as a last attempt at saving him from the fate that awaits him and his brothers.
Part of him also thinks that perhaps Telperina will forgive him for getting her killed if he manages to save their son - an unspoken thought that has been his driving force since alqualonde in my head...
Thank you for commenting :D
Heartwrenching and lovely. Especially touching is the part where the letter mentions a possible child of Celebrimbor--one that never came to be.
In my verse it did! I reject your reality and substitute my own ;)
I think there is a richness in imagining Curufin as having other sides than the seemingly awful, scheming person he comes across in canon, especially the idea that a figure as sympathetic as Celebrimbor must have experienced something of love and nobility in the family whose star and creative tradition he kept.
I'm very firmly not in the Curufin-was-horrible-to-the-bone camp of fandom even though it does seem quite pervasive... I firmly believe that - as you say - Celebrimbor's later actions and subtextual readings of his character tells us a lot about the internal family dynamics of the Fëanorians, particularly in regards to Curufin (even Tolkien admitted that he was tarred with a rather too dark brush in the Beren/Luthien tale, after all)...
And also he's my favourite son of Fëanor XD
I don't really want him to be an utter horror as a person - so this was written in that frame of mind. I'm semi-convinced that the final blow-up between them was entirely orchestrated by Curufin in an attempt to save Celebrimbor from the Doom of their house - anything to keep him from taking the Oath alongside them - whether or not Celebrimbor was aware and played along, or his father was just manipulative/scheming/knew him well enough that HE fell for the ruse along with the rest of Nargothrond... one day, I shall write that scene, probably. And the scene where Celebrimbor finds the letter...
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