New Challenge: Allusive
Literature and art constantly refer back to each other using allusions, and this month's prompts are inspired by allusions to literature, myth, art, and history.
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: Allusive
Literature and art constantly refer back to each other using allusions, and this month's prompts are inspired by allusions to literature, myth, art, and history.
Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.
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.
Cultus Dispatches: Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey
Ten years of demographic data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey show consistencies in who reads and writes fanfiction, as well as a few key demographic shifts.
[Writing] From That Rubble by StarSpray
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…
[Writing] Explain This by Elrond's Library
Melkor demands an account of Mairon’s failures.
[Writing] Message in a Bottle by StarSpray
Over the course of his very long life he had found a handful of messages in bottles, but it had been a very long time. So when he found the glass bottle on his little stretch of pebbly beach, he picked it up with the intention of tossing it into his recycling. But it wasn’t, he found, just…
[Writing] Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously…
[Writing] A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray
When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.
[Artwork] Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard by Independence1776
A Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard.
[Writing] The Stars of Home by Idrils Scribe
Elrohir has been found after his long abduction by the Black Númenóreans of Umbar. He comes home to Rivendell, but all is not well: the Elf-child that was taken is now a Man grown. War and darkness have left Elrohir deeply scarred, and even at home there is danger...
An alternate universe…
"The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far) by Dawn Walls-Thumma
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.
Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Data from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows demographic changes in participant gender, age, and education and new revelations about neurodiversity.
Communities Do Comment: Expanding the 3C's of Commenting with SWG Data by Dawn Walls-Thumma
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.
[Writing] Down the Long Years by Isilme_among_the_stars
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…
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
Finwean Sibblings Prompt Fest 2026
A prompt-based fandom event aiming to focus on celebrating Finwë's children: Fëanor, Findis, Fingolfin, Lalwen, & Finarfin - ships, gen relationships, or character-centric
Tolkien Sapphic September
Tolkien Sapphic September is a month long event focusing on Sapphic relationships and characters in Tolkien and adjacent materials.
Gigolas Week 2026
Gigolas Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Legolas and Gimli
Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.
A powerful description of Irmo.
I guess I do regret a bit that you didn't develop the theme of Namo's reaction to having proclaimed the Doom of the Noldor--maybe there will be a companion piece, one day?
Thanks! He's always been one of my favorite Valar/Ainur in general (also, I value sleep).
I regret it, too; the pieces are still there, I think, in how he refuses to speak and ignores Manwe's summons and has gone out searching for Irmo, but they never really came together in the end. (Irmo sort of hijacked the scene.) If the bug ever bites there will be a companion piece, probably from Irmo's point of view...
Insert up arrow here. That would be called me mising up the review and respond functions. I don't know how I managed to do that, but... yeah. In case I figure out how to delete the self-review in the next five minutes, here's what I (tried) to say:
I love how the 'audience,' as it were, never hear Námo speaking, yet we can still follow him somewhat through the action and Irmo's dialogue. The way you've characterized them both is great, and the scene has a very surreal quality.
I'm glad that worked for you! When I started writing he had short lines of dialogue, but they slowly disappeared as the piece progressed, and when I was typing it up I just cut his lines altogether, since they weren't necessary (also having him speak would have been against the original point). I've become a bit more interested in how the Valar/Ainur interact amongst themselves, and Irmo and Namo have always been my favorites. Thanks for your review!
These two are so interesting! I like how you portray Irmo as "whimsical," and all the discriptions of his gardens. The way the brothers interact is nice, too; slightly teasing but also reasuring and nonjudgemental.
Thank you! (And for your entire reviewing spate; it means a lot :) )
Namo and Irmo have fascinated me for a long time. I don't really know why; part of me is just really captivated by Tolkien's decision to have the Doomsman of the Valar related to the guy in charge of dreams and rest. And both of them separately are very interesting characters to me as well. (Namo has the interesting distinction of being I think the only character in Tolkien's myth that I claim as a favorite while simultaneously wanting to smack Every Single Time he does something in canon. I'm not entirely sure how my version of him diverted so sharply from the one Tolkien wrote and I ???? should probably figure that out at some point honestly oops.)
But yes, I find them very interesting, so I'm glad the portrayals here worked for you.
Thank you once again!
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Comments on The Sleep of Reason
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