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.
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.
“When we die, all we have is our works to live after us. We can remember the person who originally made this scene. We can honor those who came before. There are those who speak of Hope in these troubled times.”
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I agree, that passage was the heart of what I was trying to get at: what is the purpose to fight entropy and save old things and memories? I think it has great value.
Thank you very much for your comment and for reading! I am glad you liked the alpaca. The scene is directly taken from when I was very small- my grandfather (a magician) made the cuckoos hop up a ladder into the cuckoo clock.
Oh. Wow. This is truly a little piece of magic. I really enjoyed the elements of magic incorporated as natural everyday stuff. The setting and Andreth's occupation is so apt. I really love the way the tapestry tells the Tale of Adanel, with the frayed missing edge.
This is so beautifully written, I was immediately there with the scent of dust and old things, and the light, the slight clutter of her workroom, the texture of Finrod's suit, and the pair of them so easy in each other’s company.
I'm really partial to Andreth and particularly the Tale of Adanel, and this is such an original little gem. Thank you!
I am so glad that the mood and details came through. I was trying to conjure the feelings of all the grand old museums I've been to in my life. Andreth is one of my favorite characters as well. There is so much going on there to unpack.
Ah, I am so happy that you feel I captured the spirit of it. I love the story, but wanted to make it slightly less of just a long conversation about Tolkien's philosophy and more of a story. I love Latin American magical realism, and wanted to come up with something like a cross between House of the Spirits and Encanto with a little bit of Sesame Street: Don't Eat the Pictures or Moon Knight (without the deities trashing the place)
Thank you for reading and commenting! It makes me very happy that you feel the AU setting is a good fit. I thought of "what sort of lore could she know that was specialized and someone from another culture might be curious about?" And then I remembered a formative experience when I was very very small and my grandfather (a magician) made the cuckoos hop up a ladder into the cuckoo clock.
Aaaaaah this was magical, I love it so much. Your descriptions are beautiful, I could picture everything so well in my mind. And Andreth as a museum curator is so perfect!
Augh, that goodbye though T-T Heartwrenching in the best way.
I love writing descriptions more than anything, so I am glad they worked for you! The end of the Athrabeth does seem so final, although it says in the footnotes that they all lived for at least 50 more years, etc. I guess everything does work on a longer scale, just as Finrod and Andreth talk about! I just knew that her magic/secret knowledge was going to be about bringing exhibits to life when I randomly drew Museum and Magical Realism from the list. I mean, who wouldn't want to pet a real live mastodon? (Well, there might be some people who would wisely run, but I would stay)
Comments on Tapestries and Fate
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.