New Challenge: Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration.
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.
Instadrabbling Sessions for April, May, and June
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Challenge: Famous Last Words
For our March challenge, our moderators will assign you a famous last line to use as a prompt.
[Writing] a life freely given, a favor returned by skywardstruck
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…
[Writing] dye me, nocturne by skywardstruck
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.
[Writing] Til We're on the Other Side by StarSpray
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.
In the dark…
[Writing] A Hundred Miles Through the Desert by StarSpray
“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…
[Writing] Hill and Water Under Sky by StarSpray
a collection of drabbles and mini ficlets in the meanwhile the world goes on 'verse that aren't long enough to stand on their own
[Writing] The Long Arm of the Law by Elrond's Library
Turgon cannot be above the law.
[Writing] Despair and Shadows by octopus_fool
Haleth leaves to find her brother, even though her father does not permit her to.
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Idiomatic
Raining cats and dogs. A short fuse. Up a creek without a paddle. A piece of cake. Sometimes colorful, sometimes puzzling without backstory or explanation, these delightful turns of phrase enrich our language—whichever one it happens to be. Prompts this month are idioms from languages around the world.
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.
[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.
[Writing] Why did Éowyn ask Faramir if he'd rather have a "woman of the race of Númenor"? by Quente
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?
…
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
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
April Challenge Tolkien Short Fanworks
Tolkien Short Fanworks is running a challenge around the theme of "fools," "foolishness," or "being fooled."
I like this! Maedhros was certainly broken after the Fifth Battle, and you have Maglor explain why he went along with it so well. He will not forgive himself, I don't think. Interesting that he mentions Miriel, not Finwë, at the end. I can see how that fits.
Glad you enjoyed it! I always saw Maedhros as being broken by the Fifth Battle in a way he wasn't before and so he no longer kept himself or his brothers back from following the oath. In fact I tend to suspect he ahd a deathwish himself.
Maglor intrigues me because he is the only one to survive which to me makes him a bit harder and smarter than the others, not neccssarily altogether nice but fascinating ;)
This version of Maglor at least sets down the problems of the family in particular and noldor in general to Miriel's choice. After all had she chosen to live things would have been very, very different.
Thanks for the fb
*hugs*
Uli
I don’t know how I didn’t find this sooner, but I absolutely love it... It fits with my vision of post-Nirnaeth Maedhros perfectly, and your characterization of Maglor was excellent. This was a good explanation of why Maglor is the survivor – “I still missed you, I ached for you every day and night during the years that followed, I still do, but I was unable to break.” And the bit about Miriel at the end was interesting: it all comes back to her, doesn’t it? So overall, very nice work.
Thank you very much :)
I'd say there was certainly something broken about Maedhros after the Nirnaeth whatever the reason was, after that he seems to have stopped holding his brothers' back. Maglor I think, in one way, was the hardest of the brothers, He was the one that survived, the one that just kept going. I think there may have been a streak of cynism in him to be completely honest.
And yes, so much of the history of Beleriand was set off into motion with the death of Miriel...
What a dark, sad tale of Maglor's fate. The way you described Maedhros' and Maglor's emotional state towards the end was also gripping: "He had been broken so long and he was the only one I had in these shores." and "they crushed whatever life was still left in him and after that he merely existed." A sad, sad end to a once-proud and noble house. What I like the most about the Feanorians is that they are so tragic and so "human". Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much for reading :)
I am glad you liked it. And yes I like the humanity in the Feanorians (or maybe that should be the Finweans) as well, makes them a lot more interesting to me than someone like Luthien who was just too perfect. And the tragedy of Feanors house is that all that promise and brilliance in the end came to nothing.
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Comments on Yet another winter
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