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.
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.
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.
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.
These were simply flashes, a hint of a wider, greater world. A tantalizing glimpse of more, always at the edge of awareness, never within reach. Míriel would grasp it, if something as intangible as the concept of color could overflow in bounteous wonder over her hands.
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
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 ...
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.
Miuro is a very charming kitten and his fanclub is growing rapidly. I am so glad that you liked the threads from Elrond's past, I couldn't resist to add a bit of Maglor's compassion here :)
Awww ... how sweet, Rhapsy! :) There is hope even for the smallest critters in Middle-earth, it seems. What a nice little story to start my day--thank you!
Any time. I hardly write fluff, but this little critter shoved everyone else aside and charmed me immensely. I was thinking about the fall of Eregion and wondered: perhaps more than elves found a safe haven in Rivendell and before I knew it this plot-kitty had climbed into my legs.
Thank you Indy, Pandë was a strong advocate for Miuro to snuggle on Elrond's lap, so with a bit of re-writing... But it feels right somehow, Elrond having a feline companion!
As I told a friend... of all the things: I at least know cats! But my pleasure, after I wrote this I really started to miss having a cat around :) And yes, I thought about it and tried to portray Elrond as someone who wants to pass on the good things that he experienced (like having a warm foster parent) instead of re-living the dark times constantly.
Rhaps, I had a chance to read this and just wanted to say I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of a certain Elf Nurse sitting with a kitty or two seated on his lap.
I enjoyed this very much, the imagery is beautiful! I want to snuggle the kitty!
Awww, yes you have a live example at home, including some ninja-kittens. This leaves me to ponder how Miuro would be as a daddy-cat, hehe. I am glad you enjoyed it and thanks for reading!
Comments on The Prince of Hearts
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.