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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
Oh goodness - with the prevalent discussion in the tumblr-based part of fandom being (once again) Tolkien and sexism, "Annoyed" very much hit a nerve for me - giving the erased women their much-deserved voices. It may be breaking the fourth wall more than I'd be strictly comfortable with in other fic, but in this it serves a great purpose, and it's... a very satisfactory drabble on the whole.
On a lighter note, I'm still laughing about the crossover ficlet. It made me giggle during the bingo challenge, and didn't fail to do so again. :D
(Trying this again… I think I hit the wrong button.) It broke the fourth wall more than *I* normally feel comfortable with. (But the Bingo challenge seemed ripe for that sort of thing.) I'm glad you find it satisfying, especially given the Tumblr discussion. (Which I'm honestly glad to be missing.)
This is an interesting bit of world-building. I like the setting and the village and Maglor setting his routine. There are a lot of nice touches--it actually sounds fairly pleasant to me, although it must lonely and lacking in excitement. I don't really know what it would feel like being a Feanorian after all hope has been lost.I haven't tried to write that yet. (I've stuck to the before and much later!)
Thank you! It's meant to be pleasant, actually. I wanted to write a non-angsty (well, minimally angsty) wandering tale for once! I actually don't think it's lonely: Maglor's an introvert who's spent the paste few centuries alone. And he has relatives and friends who won't let him sink back into his shell. Plus, there is a war brewing. (And after everything that happened in Beleriand, a lack of excitement would be a good thing.)
I also don't think it's "after all hope is lost." He *chose* to give up the Silmaril. Not having it or the Oath hanging over his head gives him a chance to start over (once Lill knocked the idea of "shouldn't be here" out of his head, anyway). But this is me and my perpetual love of Maglor wandering stories talking, so I may have a different perspective on the whole thing. :)
I remember several of these from 2012 (particularly the haiku, which I got a kick out of), but I don't seem to recall the Jedi one.
"...their cover story of a traveling duo of singers/songwriters. And all to infiltrate a crime syndicate based on a backwater planet who used the entertainment industry as their cover."
Haha! cracktastic, yet well considered. Rival Jedi musician Elves would need some reason to be on a ship together.
Thank you about the haiku; I was fairly sure it's forgetable, so I'm glad to know it's not.
You actually reviewed it on LJ! (I'm not surprised you forgot, given how busy the comm was. I honestly can't tell you a single fic I reviewed then, though I know I did.) Cracktastic all the way! :D Thank you!
This sounds like a fairly pleasant interlude in Maglor's life, aside from the possibly ominous hints of skirmishes to come. The dog is a lovely touch. I like the inclusion of Maglor living in a cabin as well--that seems very "relevant to your interests," as they say. =)
Awww! Lalwen, how sneaky - but what a lovely idea, since she knew that both Maglor and Nerdanel happened to be on the island.
Of course, now I really wish I could read what happens next! What are they going to talk about? Will Maglor decide to go home with Nerdanel? Will they part, but stay in touch while they can? Where is he going to go next? And what will Lalwen do? So many questions! :D
My Lalwen is very sneaky! I tend to think of her as a bit of a prankster.
I'm going to disappoint you: I ended the story when I did because I couldn't figure out how to write their conversation (writing is hard!) and also because the ending was them parting with her sailing back to Aman and him back to Endor and I wasn't in the mood to write sad. This was supposed to be a much longer story when I came up with the idea a couple of years ago, but the details kept changing and then they leaked out of my head almost entirely.
I can say that the two of them spend rather a lot of time together over the course of the next couple of weeks, that Maglor gets invited to a private dinner with Tar-Elendil and his family (awkward conversations ensue), that there's a small museum of artifacts from the founding, that Lalwen is also around because she's just as interested in what Maglor's been up and maybe repairing a bit of the family relationship. Maybe even Elrond is there, but I tend to think that the Elves in Lindon didn't sail to Númenor, and I like it better with just the Aman Elves.
Comments on Indy's B2MeM Stories
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.