New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
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: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
Cultus Dispatches: Communities Do Comment
Comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Challenge: Scavenger Hunt
In this Matryoshka-with-a-twist, you will solve clues that point you to the challenge prompts.
[Writing] Is it raining with you? by AdmirableMonster
In the last days of Númenor, two very different men meet in Umbar and fall in love.
(Please note that while this work is heavily inspired by Disco Elysium, no knowledge of the game is necessary to read the fic!)
[Writing] Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365
Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.
He was dying.
(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the…
[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] 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] Wrensong and Roses by Isilme_among_the_stars
Concerned by his responses to the paraphernalia of healing, Fingon steals Maedhros from his room for an impromptu garden excursion. Maedhros battles with dark thoughts.
[Writing] The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster
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…
[Writing] Bon(e)fire by Fuin
On the night before the battle, Caranthir and his ally share thoughts about their peoples' traditions:
Burning bones ward off evil.
Epic 80s
Create a fanwork using on of our righteous prompts based on popular culture from the 1980s. Read more ...
Kings & Kink
Throughout history, wherever there is writing, there is erotica. This challenge pulls its prompts from "vintage" works of romance and erotica. (Nonromantic and nonsexual options are also available.) Read more ...
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.
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.
[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.
[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.
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026 to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.”
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
What an original take of the difference between Elves and Man, and so intriguing too! Finrod's explanation makes sense, and I remembered of your poem about Eruhini that the Elves envy Men their wings.It's funny too how the elves are puzzled about fictional works. and the funniest thing is... I imagine if they happen to read our fanfics about them. Why, I believe they will be very very mad indeed. It's good that they cannot return to Middle Earth, eh?
But if they are incapable of creating fictional work, for they cannot imagine what isn't, then how about telling lies? Isnt lies at their core is fictional stories?
Anyway, on to the 2nd chapter.
That's for the review, Naltariel! I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
Yes, lies are a type of fiction - but a pretty minor one. My Elves in this story have some imagination - they can tell lies, and visualize things like "What if Feanor had had red hair?" - but their ability to really stretch their imaginations beyond the most obvious 'alternate realities' is extremely limited. Creating the United Federation of Planets or Spider-Man is a stretch too far for them - those things are just too 'unreal' for them to imagine on their own. Every meet someone who wants to be a writer very badly but just doesn't seem to have any interesting ideas to write about? That's my Finrod at the end. And Melenbrethil (who is a more typical Elf than Finrod) has his parallel in the sort of person who sees no point in fiction and only reads nonfiction books 'because they're true'.
So you think about ff.net as well! :D
Sure do! I look at that endless sea of bad Mary-Sue stories with a lot more respect now. ;-)
Seriously, one thing I did want to do in this story was to give our kind a 'strange gift' that is actually worth having. The ones we actually see in Tolkien (a body that falls apart in all sorts of nasty ways, and death) - well, if those are gifts, i want to know where the Returns Department is. True creativity, on the other hand, and the ability to take great pleasure in the making and viewing of imaginary realities - to me, at least, that's a true and meaningful gift, not a booby prize.
What a wonderful idea! But Clark Kent at those times?
Okay, in fact, you may have different views of the world, if you are supposed to join it, really, forever, and there is no place to where you can fly from it.
You would not only try to change it, make it better, while you are young, but all the time, and probably fail the same way, but could not leave it this way.
Yes, I often deny elves from ever being young, do not suffer of deseases or old age problems, but if I want to face everlasting battle against entropie, I do not know...
Yes, you recognize, I spent lots of thinking about, I did, indeed!
Oh my God I found it again! A casual comment on tumblr made me remember your story from when I read it ages ago, and absolutely loved it (I was to shy to comment back then). Your take on the differences between men and elves makes just so much sense to me, and has since been firmly lodged in my personal headcanon. Kudos to you, and thank you for sharing this story!
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Comments on Flights of Fancy
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