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.
Do I need to say how much I like this? :^) As in very, very much like it?
Annatar and Celebrimbor's individual voices and dialog are great. Love the remarks about the lanterns in Nargothrond. The interaction of these two craftsmen rings true to the common ground that scientists and engineers, who may be strangers to one another, can so quickly find.
...designing everything from better forges to better mousetraps.
Yes, the practical things first and then...lower the boom.
A good glimpse at the beginning of the professional relationship between Annatar and Celebrimbor! Too bad at how it will turn out in the end.
I liked these parts a lot: "It was much more useful than hiding away in Valinor...Celebrimbor never had seen why they should all have to live in poverty because they had the misfortune to live in the wrong place..."
...Annatar smiled. "Oh yes, it is important to show solidarity. On the other hand, I can quite appreciate your desire to automate that function as much as possible!"
"...No matter how many I made, they always wanted more. I got so sick of making them in the end that I broke Feanorian secrecy and taught other people how to make them." My father did not speak to me for nearly two months after that. (LOL!)
I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I have started work on another longer story about Celebrimbor that will go up here in awhile. It is about what happened immediately after he realized that Annatar had betrayed them.
I like your character of Celebrimbor, so very Feanorian yet tempered, just like the Celebrimbor in the Silm who "repudiates his father," recognizing that the people of Nargothrond have a right to his family's secret knowledge for aiding them as refugees. This is a really nice detail and shows so much of what I think makes Celebrimbor a fascinating (and tragic) character.
I'm glad you like the ending. Like so many of the silmarillion characters, Celebrimbor is quite complicated when you start to look at the implications of everything he did. I feel rather sorry for him - would you want to grow up in the house of Feanor? I certainly wouldn't. I think he could've done a lot worse with what he was given. Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad it was enjoyed.
Here on the recomendation of Pandemonium - I like this. I like that Sauron gains Celembimbor's trust by offering to help him make things better. I like that Celebrimbor isn't depicted as being rebellious against the Valar for rebellion's sake, but because darn it, everyone deserves the advantages of certain technology - and I like that your Annatar doesn't come across as entirely evil, but with a bit of moral ambiguity. I enjoyed this!
I am glad that you enjoyed this. Celebrimbor is one of my favorite characters. I find his insatiable curiosity very understandable but it did make him terribly vulnerable to Annatar. However, it he hadn't been there I think Annatar would've gone after somebody else with a strategy targeted to their weaknesses. Look at Ar-Pharazon. I am working on some more things about Celebrimbor that should be up in a while.
I can see that first meeting occuring like this. Celebrimbor is so eager to work with someone who can teach him; he's used to being the authority and he wants to know more, it's sad. And perhaps Annatar is regretting the waste even as he contemplates using Celebrimbor and then destroying him. Nicely done.
I'm glad you liked it. Annatar is thinking of the waste involved. I also think he may also be remembering Aule, who I picture as being a little like Celebrimbor in personality. I'm hoping to one day write another fic where Celebrimbor and Aule meet and have a discussion about what happened. But then there are far too many things I would like to write. Thank you for the review.
Poor Celebrimbor. So well-meaning, so fair-minded, so curious and forward-looking - and so doomed. You do a nice job here of showing how Sauron uses all the man's best qualities to lure him into his trap.
In many ways I find Celebrimbor among the most tragic characters in Middle Earth - possibly the most tragic. I wish more was written about him. Thanks for the feedback.
Comments on Pivot Point
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.