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: Gates of Summer Choose a summer-related prompt or prompts from a collection of quotes and events from Tolkien's canon and his life.
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Varda delle Stelle by Shadow Varda delle Stelle is the featured artist for cloudyhymn's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "The Design of Dragons and the Doom of the Dwarves." Shadow spoke with Varda about her own connections to the earth and concepts in cloudyhymn's presentation, her creative process, and her hopes for her Mereth Aderthad paintings.
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Kai by Shadow Kai is the featured artist for Maglor's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor." Shadow spoke with Kai about his wide range of interests and inspirations in the legendarium and why Maglor's presentation so intrigued him that he finished the art for it the first night.
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Reese by Dawn Reese is the featured author for polutropos's presentation "'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium" at Mereth Aderthad 2025. Dawn spoke with reese about the silences storytellers leave, mythology, and the appeal of alternate universe fanfiction.
Video and materials from our session on how to give a presentation at a Tolkien conference. The session covers how to practice, plan, and prepare for the presentation; what to expect on the day of the presentation; tips for participating in the Q&A; and how to plan ahead for common worries…
They passed out of Lhûn and the wider coastline of Middle-earth opened up before his eyes. He had wandered those shores for centuries, and even now he felt the pull of that same wanderlust, and knew he would miss them for the rest of his life. Their wildness, the untamed waves, the rocky…
Fish is the featured artist for Stella's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "Cherished antagonist, despised protagonist - a defence of Elu Thingol." Shadow spoke with fish about his creative process, the importance of both tragedy and eucatastrophe to Tolkien's works, and the appeal of "greyness…
As the featured artist for cloudyhymn's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "The Design of Dragons and the Doom of the Dwarves," Varda delle Stelle describes her idea for this presentation as springing fully formed as Athena from Zeus's head. Varda chatted with Shadow about what drew her to this…
Video and materials from our session on how to give a presentation at a Tolkien conference. The session covers how to practice, plan, and prepare for the presentation; what to expect on the day of the presentation; tips for participating in the Q&A; and how to plan ahead for common worries and mishaps.
Fish is the featured artist for Stella's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "Cherished antagonist, despised protagonist - a defence of Elu Thingol." Shadow spoke with fish about his creative process, the importance of both tragedy and eucatastrophe to Tolkien's works, and the appeal of "greyness" in Silmarillion characters like Elu Thingol.
As the featured artist for cloudyhymn's Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation "The Design of Dragons and the Doom of the Dwarves," Varda delle Stelle describes her idea for this presentation as springing fully formed as Athena from Zeus's head. Varda chatted with Shadow about what drew her to this presentation, her approach to painting, and her hopes for her Mereth Aderthad work.
Part of our Themed Collection series for our newsletter, this collection features fiction, artwork, and essays that transcend the idea of Orcs as the enemy, instead considering their humanity.
They found Elrond’s sons with Legolas and Gimli, and with Éomer King and Lady Éowyn, standing before an enormous fresco of a charging army of horsemen. “Why, isn’t that what just happened, the way it was told to us?” Sam exclaimed, looking up at it.
Once upon a time, JRR Tolkien wrote a fairy-tale retelling, an attempt to reconstruct an alternative version of the ancient poem called Beowulf, and he called it Sellic Spell: 'strange tale' or 'wondrous tale'.
Once upon a time, on the long road home from the Lonely…
Kidnap Fam Survey
Polutropos is collecting survey data as part of her research on the "Living Legendarium", i.e., how the legends of Arda, from their earliest drafts by Tolkien to the posthumously published Silmarillion edited by Christopher Tolkien to the creative engagements by fans, are inherently indeterminate and mutable, inviting many and diverse interpretations.
Tolkien Native Language Appreciation Fest 2025
This Tumblr event aims to celebrate the diversity in the Tolkien fandom by giving all creators a chance to use their creativity to explore and experiment with all languages.
Russingon Week 2025
Russingon Week is a Tumblr and AO3 event for fanworks that center a romantic or queerplatonic relationship between Maedhros and Fingon.
Tolkien South Asian Week
Tolkien South Asian Week is a fandom-wide event on Tumblr to celebrate South Asian peoples, cultures, and lives through Tolkien’s Legendarium.
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 like how you brought out the parallels between the first age and the third through the eyes of one of the few who had seen both. I can see a lot of thought went into this and I'm a reader who appreciates that. Well done and I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your work.
When it came to the section for Aragorn before the Morannon I was completely absorbed in movieverse, despite the set up you had given the reader, I could not have been farther in my mind from the First Age, and then you hit me with the comparison to Fingolfin calling out Morgoth. Nor had I ever seen the comparison to the War of Wrath when the eagles arrived. Very nice work.
Lovely! It is so good to see you here, Compa_Mighty! There are a few places where the wording stumbles, but the overall effect is magnificent - this is history writ large, a perspective that no one else could have. Seldom do we see the Valar active in the events of the Third Age, but through Gandalf's eyes, that seems clear. I loved how you compared Theoden to Oromë - straight off the pages of the original, but now in a new light! Good job, and I hope to see more from you.
Hello MithLuin, it was great to see you participate in the contest as well. I am sorry for not answering sooner to your post, but I have been really busy. I would very much appreciate for you to tell me where the wording stumbles. Any feedback is always good.
First of all let me say that I found this well written and very interesting. It was a new take on something very familiar and it was cleverly done, however I am afraid that for me personally this is still a Lotr story rather than a Silmarillion story, whcih of course doesn;t make it any less, just for me personally made it feel a bit misplaced. Still very nice work. :)
This story has a lovely touch of AU, I mean Oromë on Pellenor! That would have been so awesome, it would feel like him to ignore Manwé’s will for a good fight, then again I can see Tulkas doing this even more so! As I was reading this and all the allusions you wove into the retelling of the Siege of Minas Tirith and the final battle against Sauron, I suddenly started to miss Túrin in all of this, as much as I like Beren, Túrin stature as a warrior was greater and there were moments where the mentioning of Beren felt a bit off, imho. Anyway, this was a nice peace that paid tribute to all of Tolkien’s works – including the Hobbit.
Let me thank you for all these good comments, I really appreciate them! I also appreciate your feedback, as it will, no doubt, allow me to improve my style and adequate storytelling, with everything that implies.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed my story. It was a real pleasure sharing with you and participating in the contest.
I am writing this review to say I edited the story for a few "where" that were actually "were" and slipped past the first revision. I hope it is better now, and I would appreciate you telling me any other mistakes you might find.
A much belated review here and one that comes from a circuitous route at that!
This is a great view from "30,000 feet" for all that ties to the War of the Ring. And how better to achieve this than having Olórin as narrator? That is a very effective device. As a dedicated Silm-geek (and also one who relishes the very weirdest bits of the History of Middle-earth), I loved the way you brought in all the past events into the light.
With regard to fan fiction or even a more orthodox reading of the trilogy, my opinion is that the better stories written in the Lord of the Rings milieu are informed by those who have read (and even re-read) The Silmarillion et al. since this is the foundation mythos for the trilogy. Your story is a perfect illustration of why this is so.
Very nice, and seeing as how this is your lone offering, I hope that you will consider writing more and posting your work here.
Comments on Echoes from the past, reflections of yesterday
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.