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: Building Middle-earth Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.
He’d ventured into the little fishing village in search of food and maybe a dry place to sleep for a night of rain and wind—he hadn’t expected this, to be bullied into a hot meal and a healer’s attention.
Tuor and Elwing’s recreational sailing excursion goes terribly awry when a carnivorous siren casts her gaze upon their vessel. With her song, she enchants the mariners and boards with evil intent. She kills and eats their crewman, she demands Tuor’s hand in marriage, and for dessert…
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…
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…
As beautiful as he is dangerous, Aegnor, an elven prince, stands against the looming shadows of Angband. Brother to Galadriel, he commands the siege with a fierce intensity, a duty that exacts a heavy toll on him. But beneath the iron walls he has built lies a broken soul, haunted by a…
The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies mark perhaps the most influential events in the history of the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. As the Rings of Power show approaches its third season, data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that it is not even close to…
Archetypes
Prompts for this Matryoshka challenge are based on the archetypes that pepper myths, legends, and literature found around the world. Read more ...
The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies mark perhaps the most influential events in the history of the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. As the Rings of Power show approaches its third season, data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that it is not even close to matching the impact of the films ... yet.
Data from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows demographic changes in participant gender, age, and education and new revelations about neurodiversity.
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.
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 hope she gets her walk along the beach in before it hits - and that the hatches are well and truly battened down, even if she is in a tower rather than a ship. (Although if it's out on a promontory like a lighthouse, it could quite possibly be battered by towering waves driven ashore by those winds!)
What a novel idea to bring the shipping forecast in here. Although I personally found the shipping forecast a little too mindless for my mind to perch on, the irony, that it's warning of hectic weather conditions and yet many people find listening to it relaxing enough to send them to sleep, appeals to me.
And I'm intrigued now to learn what this is a prologue to!
It is more or less the current winter weather around the North Sea (and I hope everyone out there stays safe!). It is not the most placid stretch of ocean even at the best of times.
Osse is clearly doing his thing here, without much restraint by Uinen. Some of the canonical descriptions of the sea up in Nevrast are pretty formidable, too...
I guess the gale that's headed Edhellos' way is actually the fall of the Falas in the attack after the Nirnaeth! Except that this fic isn't being at all cooperative. That is why the summary and tags are so cagey: I didn't want to put in anything that I might not get around to even hinting at, even by the amnesty deadline. It is also why I posted the prologue, to encourage myself a bit.
There may be some more literal rough weather in the fic, too, though!
Something that tickles me a bit, listening to the radio in bed, is the part where so often the voice goes: "Good, occasionally poor", with such calm conviction. It makes perfect sense for shipping, of course, but gains some kind of larger applicability somehow.
Oh my, I like the idea of the weather forecast being a metaphor of what's to come, emotionally as well as materially.
I hope this fic starts playing nicely with you, and if it'll be helpful, I'm very happy to be a sounding board.
The "good, occasionally poor" is just so... yes, it carries a special je ne sais quoi. I know saying things like this can be either a motivator or add pressure, so I hope it's the former: I can just see you entwining that like magic into your fic!
Also, I wasn't thinking of it before, but as soon as I saw your comment, I was suddenly reminded of your artwork showing the cliffs and the female figure in a strong wind!
Oh! You know, I've always wondered what it is that she's holding in her hands, and now I believe it's an elvish anemometer. (I mean, it's so obvious now: how else would they get the forecasts!?)
Y'know, there is something almost magical about this! The slight mundanity of the reporting but it just... you can feel the wind and smell the brine and see the waves crashing over the rocky shores...
It's like Shipping Forecasts: Osse's In A Mood
Are you familiar with the podcast 99% Invisible? He did an episode on this and I was honestly reading this in his voice! (which is very soothing if you are not familiar) Now I'm imagining Roman Mars as the voice of Cirdan and I doubt I can be convinced otherwise!
This is is a bit of a disaster zone (or feels like it, at the moment), as my brain refused to address the prompt fill straightforwardly and started haring off in different directions, including this prologue! If you want to get an idea where this is meant to go, there are some bits of WIP on my Dreamwidth journal under f-lock that might give you an idea... I'm sure it will come together eventually!
I really appreciate the very different tones in each letter. (And the different descriptions of Captain Feinnen, who clearly is an annoyance, at the very least; I hope he gets over his predjuces, or whatever is actually eating him.)
In her letter to her brother-in-law, I love how she starts right off the bat about none of them being fine: that carries a little healing power there, or at least aids in coping.
And I can feel her relief (there's a better word but it's not coming to me) at her freedom to walk the cliffs truly alone, and I can imagine her feeling the sea winds scouring her grief, clearing it out each time it builds up and threatens tears. (She is not idle, but I don't think there are no tears, even if they're only on the inside.)
Comments on White Horn Tower
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.