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
Discovery
In this challenge inspired by the Polynesian wayfinders, choose a video, song, or historical fact as inspiration to create a fanwork. 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.
chrissystriped has requested the following types of constructive criticism on this fanwork: Setting, Spelling, Grammar, and Mechanics. All constructive criticism must follow our diplomacy guidelines.
This was very good. I enjoyed how the different parts of the story were linked together, but I especially loved the last part. The moment when he started to tell his story to Finrod, and the story was cleverly linked to the beginning. It was very emotional story, and heartbreaking. Great use of the prompt!
That moment was actually the point were the story started at first, I'd intended to end it with their death. But then Finrod decided to save that fea by dragging it with him to Mandos and I thought it best to rearrange the whole fic.
Thank you! I was remembering that line where Tolkien says that the werewolves were spirits imprisoned in wolf shapes and was thinking that not all of those spirits might have been unwilling, if that meant they'd have a body. He's been going down a dark road for a very long time. Finrod decided very quickly he couldn't just leave him behind when he realised he was an elf once and he doesn't regret it, even after he's heard the whole story. Namo, I think, would accept anyone in his halls who comes to him and be just -- if and when they can leave again, is another matter.
Something that is so very real, how an early emotional wound that one is not fully aware of can drive one to committing acts that are against one's nature, and when those misguided attempts fail to assuage the hurt, more and more damaging actions are tried, until one becomes vulnerable emotional prey, loathing oneself, losing oneself, yet unable to stop oneself. An origin story of addiction, come to think of it — and (thank you!) redemption.
It's so in line with Finrod's character, at least the way I view him.
The whole story kind of sneaked up on me (which is fitting with him being a wolf), revealing only bit by bit what was going on and who he was.
I had a really bleak ending in mind, but Finrod had other ideas. I think he's a very understanding person and someone who'd give everyone a second chance who asked.
I'm glad you like the name! Elfdict gives both 'white' and 'cold' as translations for ninque and I liked that double meaning for him and the rabbit in contrast to what he would become.
And thank you so much for the corrections! (English comma rules are my bane and life/live is something I know how to use in theory but seem always to forget to apply.) I rephrased some sentences and hope it's clearer now.
The only thing I left is 'fea' because that's a concious decision. I don't use the diaeresis on principle, because in german (my native language) ä and ö are differently pronounced than a and o. Pronouncing names like Eärendil or Eönwë the way Tolkien intended them to be pronounced, threatens to break my brain because it insists on reading them in german ;-).
Oh! I like how Ninquelopo now waits with bated breath... the poor elf must be beside himself with nervousness!
Ah, yes, Cold White Rabbit is an even better name for a hot blooded dark wolf. Ai, poor Ninquelopo, it's going to be a long road to recovery.
That's interesting about the pronunciation of the diaeresis in German, I learn something new! But please don't let it break your brain, I like what it makes!
The story of how he came to be a wolf - refusing the call to Mandos - is fascinating. Finrod, of course, is as wonderful as usual - showing both empathy and forgiveness (something Uncle Fëanor needed to learn really).
Comments on The Binds of Death have been Unwound
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.
chrissystriped has requested the following types of constructive criticism on this fanwork: Setting, Spelling, Grammar, and Mechanics. All constructive criticism must follow our diplomacy guidelines.