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.
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: 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.
Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.
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.
Cultus Dispatches: Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey
Ten years of demographic data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey show consistencies in who reads and writes fanfiction, as well as a few key demographic shifts.
[Writing] From That Rubble by StarSpray
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…
[Writing] Explain This by Elrond's Library
Melkor demands an account of Mairon’s failures.
[Writing] Message in a Bottle by StarSpray
Over the course of his very long life he had found a handful of messages in bottles, but it had been a very long time. So when he found the glass bottle on his little stretch of pebbly beach, he picked it up with the intention of tossing it into his recycling. But it wasn’t, he found, just…
[Writing] Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously…
[Writing] A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray
When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.
[Artwork] Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard by Independence1776
A Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard.
[Writing] The Stars of Home by Idrils Scribe
Elrohir has been found after his long abduction by the Black Númenóreans of Umbar. He comes home to Rivendell, but all is not well: the Elf-child that was taken is now a Man grown. War and darkness have left Elrohir deeply scarred, and even at home there is danger...
An alternate universe…
Let the Games Begin!
Create a fanwork centered around games and contests. Read more ...
"The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far) by Dawn Walls-Thumma
The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies mark perhaps the most influential events in the history of the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. As the Rings of Power show approaches its third season, data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that it is not even close to matching the impact of the films ... yet.
Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Data from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows demographic changes in participant gender, age, and education and new revelations about neurodiversity.
Communities Do Comment: Expanding the 3C's of Commenting with SWG Data by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Expanding on my 2018 article "Why People Don't Comment," comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
[Writing] Down the Long Years by Isilme_among_the_stars
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…
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
Finwean Sibblings Prompt Fest 2026
A prompt-based fandom event aiming to focus on celebrating Finwë's children: Fëanor, Findis, Fingolfin, Lalwen, & Finarfin - ships, gen relationships, or character-centric
Tolkien Sapphic September
Tolkien Sapphic September is a month long event focusing on Sapphic relationships and characters in Tolkien and adjacent materials.
Gigolas Week 2026
Gigolas Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Legolas and Gimli
Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.
I absolutely love the conflict you have here between Umbar and Gondor. I like Avareth a lot actually. I can understand why she would have some misgivings with the Faithful after what happened to her betrothed. To think how many people lost loved ones to the the King's Men and all the other horribleness happening in Numenor. I love the political intrigue, the arguements, all that is very well done.
I got a huge kick out of the insults you used in this. I like how you looked into using something that made sense for Middle earth.
Thanks so much, Roisin, this was a lot of fun to write!
It's likely that the people who lived in ME would be reluctant to welcome the newcomers with their arms open wide, and I like very much the way in which Avareth expresses that.
Intriguing and very well written. :)
Thank you very much! I've got a bit more material written and in the process of being written on this time period - my thinking is that the Numenorean colonists in Pelargir and Umbar and other havens would have developed their own cultures and relationships with native peoples prior to the Downfall, and might have not been happy at the newcomers shaking things up. It's been fun to write, and I'm really glad other people are enjoying reading it!
Rather late I found this wonderful take on ther arrival of the Numenorians with all their imperial expectations and the clash with a population that had prospered on their own. Original point of view but very logical.
BTW, was the source of your creative insults Argentine? When I first read about the parrot, I couldn't help noticing the Argentine flavour - I don't know of any other Spanish speaker who swears by the female genitalia. You might consider adding "la concha de la vaca" (if there are cows in Umbar) and more original "del mono" (yes, male monkey!).
Thanks very much - when I wrote this I was wondering about the Numenoreans who'd settled in Middle Earth and whether or not they were really all that happy to see Elendil and sons. I thought it might be almost like if England suddenly went kablooey and someone from a cadet branch of the royal family showed up in Australia and said 'here we are, we're your new rulers!' Not everyone would necessarily be happy to see them.
Or if Spain blew up and what was left of their royal family tried to take over almost any country in Central or South America. ;)
The creative insults - the two attendings I worked with most closely as a surgical fellow were originally from Argentina and Venezuela. The Argentine gave me 'la concha de la verde lora' and the Venezuelan gave me a few others. ;)
Glad you enjoyed!
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Comments on The Men Who Would Be Kings
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