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: Scavenger Hunt In this Matryoshka-with-a-twist, you will solve clues that point you to the challenge prompts.
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.
She is one and many, the heroine and the victim, the courageous and the victim, the dead and the living, her feelings and sufferings are felt and shared together, and no justice, divine or earthly could mend her pain in the aftermath.
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…
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.
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."
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.
I loved the moment you chose to portray, charged with expectation and such significance. You showed what a hard decision it was for Inziladun, and the courage and strength of will it must have taken. It was a very interesting look into a very momentous occasion. Thanks!
I felt that this moment was the most important in Inziladun´s life because all else flows from his attempt to make amends towards the Valar, little realizing that it was too little, too late. To me, this is the most poignant moment in all the history of Numenor. I am glad you liked this, Fireworks. Thanks for letting me know and thanks for being such a faithful reviewer of these stories. AinA is my first introduction to SWG and I am glad it has been such a positive one. Your kind reviews have made it especially so. Hopefully I will be posting more stories here on SWG in the future.
Thanks, Raksha. I am glad you enjoyed this story and that I made excellent use of Adunaic. It is not an easy language to master, especially when we have so few words to work with. I spent hours, literally, working out these simple sentences and trying to make them make sense in English as well.
I especially liked your having Gimilkhad call Palantir the Valar's fool. It reminds me of some things I read in the bible about being a fool for God and his actions do fit that rather well. However, I doubt Gimilkhad meant it as a compliment...
No, he diefinitely did not mean it as a compliment, but certainly Palantir was willing to act a fool for Eru and the Valar if it meant tha the breach would be healed, though that did not happen. Thanks for reviewing, Aiwen. I much appreciate it.
A good reconstruction of an important, although ultimately futile, moment in the history of Numenor. It must have been a difficult road for Tar-Palantir to take and that comes over well here.
This is an interesting episode to pick. I am not well read in fiction about Numenor, but I believe when Tar-Palantir appears it is more often at the end of his life or even as a memory only, viewed from the perspective of the following reign. His relationship with his brother and father is certainly worth looking at, and it is interesting to get a glimpse of a few other members of the royal family such as his mother and his wife as well as his daughter, and of his relatives from Andunie. Tar-Palantir appears very determined and courageous in this story, if perhaps not entirely diplomatic - not that it is clear by any means whether diplomacy would have served him better under the circumstances he found himself in. His story is ultimately almost as sad as Amandil's. The use of Adunaic in this story and the way it is contrasted with Sindarin is in itself a well-thought-out feature, which clearly has taken a lot of work
Comments on To Stand Fast Against the Night
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.