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.
I love this! It is very... atmospheric. It captures the mood and feeling of a place in time in just a few short sentences. It also feels very homey, and sweet too the way Fëanor and Nerdanel kiss.
I forgot to add that I loved the juxtaposition of the solitude of Fëanor reading by candlelight, and the connection of sharing it with Nerdanel. I think it came across very well. It is very much in character, I think.
Maedhros' feeling more tortured by the look in Findekano's eyes and the loss of those he loved than anything Angband can throw at him, shows what type of Elf he was.
Nothing wrong with fried potatoes every now and then! I laughed at Celegorm's friends' jokes. And then the laughter sort of stuck in my throat when Celegorm comes home and knows that his father is going to disapprove of travelling and conversing with animals without the intention of writing about it later! Can't be easy to be a jock-type guy in that brainiac family. I really liked this!
I love the descriptions in this. I love Maglor's sense of disorientation, and Elrond following the stars rather than properly knowing where to find him. Above all, I love the idea that Maglor is going to find a home with Elrond, at least for a while!
Oh, gosh, thank you! I just need them to be happy! I like to imagine Maglor becomes official chief babysitter for his kids and lives happily ever after.
The light of the fire illuminates the soft curve of Haleth’s cheeks, catching the edge of the crinkles in her skin around her eyes and mouth—wrinkles, they are called. They are beautiful, he decides. She is beautiful.
This is adorable! I like to think Celebrimbor had a wonderful upbringing with his father and uncles before everything began to fall apart and the dradle fits perfectly into this as something Curufin would think to design for Celebrimbor to enjoy. Plus, children and candy...no surprises there.
This is rather nostalgic for me. I too was taught about Hanukkah as a child. Apparently I had a Jewish great grandmother on my father's side and my mother wanted to teach me a little about my background, including the dradle. I don't remember a lot of it now, though.
Thank you! I tend to envision Curufin pretty darkly, and I thought it would be a nice challenge to write something happy and loving for him. Like you point out, no one starts out that way, and not everything that happened to him was his fault. I enjoyed writing him this way!
I'm so glad the piece touhed you -- and if you ever want to play a game, just come visit! :)
Aww, it's so nice to see Curufin being a good dad! And if anyone would come up with a toy/gambling game involving letters, it's bound to be this family. Great idea! :D
Poor Amras. Losing a twin must be harrowing. Yearning to have that other piece of yourself there with you but not being able to feel it, or be one with it on a level he was used to, must be a type of torture.
I hope this musing doesn't sound weird in any way. Just trying to understand what being a twin means.
Oh! I love this! The Avari and Atani becoming Amrod's people.
It fits him perfectly.
I don't know why but I've always seen the twins as a bit of an oddity compared to their older brothers. Almost like they don't fit the Feanorion norm. Or don't fit into the mould of a Feanorion. I see them as a wild pair-maybe that's why the Avari and Atani suit them so much.
Thank you! I've always seen the twins that way as well -- they struck me as more independent than any of their older brothers (and far less interested in all the drama). Many peoples passed through or settles in their lands, and I'd like to think they enjoyed a happy relationship with those peoples. I'm American, so I grew up on the very idealized rhetoric of "the great melting pot," and so I saw an outlet for that in the context of fiction. :)
Comments on Deeds in Days of Old
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.