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!
Character of the Month: Marach There are few details in the texts about Marach, but he is noteworthy for his allegiances and his descendants, who would become pivotal to the history of Middle-earth and the eventual defeat of Morgoth and Sauron.
New Challenge: Allusive Literature and art constantly refer back to each other using allusions, and this month's prompts are inspired by allusions to literature, myth, art, and history.
New Challenge: Building Middle-earth Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.
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…
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…
Of course, she knew that in the Blessed Land, true harm was unlikely to come to him. The Valar watched over them all, and the lesser spirits were everywhere. It was a great hound of Oromë who had found him happily splashing in the creek, in fact. But anyone could drown in mere…
Across three surveys and ten years, the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey has document when authors began writing. These data reveal trends in how film promotions, the films themselves, the books, and other historical contexts have influenced not only who writes but how long they stay.
Current Challenge
Allusive
Choose from our list of allusions to history, literature, mythology, and art to create a fanwork. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Rise Above
Create a fanwork using a quote from a woman who made contributions in science. Read more ...
Across three surveys and ten years, the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey has document when authors began writing. These data reveal trends in how film promotions, the films themselves, the books, and other historical contexts have influenced not only who writes but how long they stay.
There are few details in the texts about Marach, but he is noteworthy for his allegiances and his descendants, who would become pivotal to the history of Middle-earth and the eventual defeat of Morgoth and Sauron.
A dissenting voice in Marach's alliance with the Elves of Beleriand, Amlach experiences a change of mind after a mysterious twist in the story reorients his priorities toward enmity with Morgoth.
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.
Loaded with fabulous details that define setting, characterization, and backstory. I am no expert on architecture or design, but you've convinced me of the authenticity. Love the discussion of the strangeness of adjusting to the new light. Beautifully paced and lovely language.
Loaded with fabulous details that define setting, characterization, and backstory. I am no expert on architecture or design, but you've convinced me of the authenticity. Love the discussion of the strangeness of adjusting to the new light. Beautifully paced and lovely language.
Thank you so much! I'm still at the point in my fiction writing where I'm doing it by instinct, and I get very nervous when I have to put some of it out there for other folks to see. It's so much easier to do that knowing there is appreciation for what I am trying to do. The story I want to tell (which is at heart about thingmakery/subcreation) is perforce set at a time of enormous social and even cosmic change. It's important to me that I both stick as closely as I can to whatever canon is available and also make some attempt to have my characters grapple with what is going on around them, from delight to PTSD and everything in between.
Glad you like it! I'm trying to imagine how it must have been for a princess to be as displaced in as many ways as Galadriel was at the beginning of the First Age.
Thanks! One of the things I want to explore about Galadriel is her identity as a sort of Yavanna-Jesuit, that is, one of the most deeply educated in the branches of knowledge for which Yavanna is renowned. (As I look at her history in Middle-Earth I see the influence of that early education playing out across especially Eldarin but also Edain culture, and I will be writing more about it as this series develops.) I imagine that her meeting a sentient being who is also clearly tied to Yavanna would have set up a form of religious resonance for her, especially in the first full spring season of Beleriand under Anor. Perhaps Galadriel's hunting cousins would have preferred to meet Ents rather than Entwives, given their shared ties to Oromë!
Wow, it's a really interesting and original idea that the elves could communicate to the trees like this, and that they could mutually shape trees' future. Well done!
Thanks! I feel like I've always known how Galadriel (and others) would and could talk to trees, but this is the first time I've had to consider at length how she might have gone about "encouraging" them.
As for Teleporno, well, he's an old-fashioned kinda guy. He'll probably not let that phrase slip again for years!
By rights it should be, yes. :-) But honestly, I don't think I am ready for the emotional turmoil of telling Galadriel about her family's woes. It's hard enough writing her side of things, which she is repressing very determinedly.
Comments on The Fairest Vessels That Ever Sailed
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.