A Sense of History: Thálatta! Thálatta!
While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
SWG News
Choose a Name for Our New Column!
Our temporarily titled "location bio" will focus on the landscapes and locations of Middle-earth. We need your help naming it!
New Challenge: Tengwar
Each day for thirty-six days, we feature a randomly chosen letter from the Tengwar as a prompt.
A Sense of History: Crossroads
In the ongoing series on towers in Tolkien's work, a thread runs through "The Lord of the Rings," revealing the divine assistance of Varda in the travails of the Fellowship.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Tengwar Acrostics by Himring
Responses to the Tengwar Challenge in which first letters spell out the name of a tengwa.
1) Early Encounter (Nerdanel, Indis)
2) Numenorean Lullaby (Almarian, Aldarion)
[Writing] Tengwar: To The Letter by cuarthol
For the Tengwar prompt challenge. To be updated as new prompts are completed.
Current up through '…
[Writing] Tengwar Drabbles by cílil
A collection of Silmarillion-centric drabbles written for the Tengwar Challenge. Short and sweet!
[Writing] If i get home before daylight by BloodwingBlackbird
a traveler meets a stranger at a crossroads.
[Writing] I Stood Aside by Flora-lass
Maedhros' horror at the burning of the ships. Inspired by a painting (see notes).
[Reference] Thálatta! Thálatta! by Simon J. Cook
While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
Current Challenge
Crossroads of the Fallen King
Create a fanwork that crosses with a second text or fandom. Read more ...
Tengwar
A daily prompt of a Tengwar letter per day. Read more ...
Random Challenge
B2MeM 2009
Back to Middle-earth Month in 2009 offered a daily prompt connecting our personal experiences to our creative work. Read more ...
New in References
Thálatta! Thálatta! by Simon J. Cook
[]While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
[]
With Gildor Inglorion we finally climb the stairs of Elostirion and look on the view, and what we see appears to reveal a hidden thread in the story of Frodo Baggins. This post reads two annotated translations of two Elvish songs to step through a crossroads in the narrative to arrive at the tower on the margin of the story, wherein is a stone that is a window onto Valinor.
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
[]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.
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Waybread (The Waybredlik) by Himring
[]Lembas speaks out.
[Series] Apr 1st Stories by Uvatha the Horseman
[]Once a year on April 1st, a canon character from LOTR or the Silmarillion gets pranked.
[Writing] Crossing Forest River by Dawn Felagund
[]Bilbo recounts, in verse, the attempt of Gandalf, Beorn, and him to cross the Forest River after the Battle of Five Armies. Written for the Hungarian Tolkien Society's 2024 Mailing Competition.
Around the World and Web
Teitho May/June Challenge: Joker
For the May/June Teitho challenge, you can pick ANY of our past challenges that stir your imagination and write a story or create art for it.
Monstrous May 2024
Monstrous May is a Tumblr event where, for each day of the month of May, there is a prompt involving and invoking the monstrous.
Fellowship of the Fics: Modern AU May
During May, Fellowship of the Fics offers modern AU prompt lists for setting, character occupation, and dialogue on Tumblr.
May challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The May challenge has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. Thematic challenge: name; formal challenge: acrostic. As usual, these can be filled independently and freely combined with other prompts such as the SWG challenges. New participants welcome!
May 2024 Calls for Papers
Conferences and publications that have open calls for papers in May 2024.
Awesome Ladies by daughterofshadows
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Belladonna - her life and the road
This is mostly fluff!
Belladonna has a wandering soul, but she finds her home not just on the road, but also in Hobbiton.
The road stretches out before her, inviting her, teasing her with the adventures she knows lie beyond the bend.
Belladonna sets off with eager feet.
As the distance grows, her worries shrink, until she can barely remember why they concerned her in the first place.
The road has no expectations, it does not care about marriage, about fauntlings or society.
Here, it only matters how far her feet can carry her.
Belladonna relishes in the freedom it brings.
This is where she belongs.
Not in a smial, or a kitchen, but under the open sky, the world at her feet.
She makes it all the way to the sea.
It’s a grand thing, the ocean. Grand enough to make a hobbit feel very small, but it’s also wild and beautiful, and Belladonna is glad she came.
She sits on the beach, and just listens for a while. To the seagulls, and the waves crashing against the shore.
Distantly, she can hear the sound of a harp, and she briefly debates to go looking for the harpist, for it is sure to be an elf.
In the end, she decides against it. The beach is too peaceful to leave just yet.
Being married to Bungo changes everything, and still so very little.
She is still a wandering soul, still feels most at home on the road, but now she no longer dreads the return.
Bungo makes space for her and in turn, she comes home to him every time.
She finds a place to rest by his side.
Together, they turn Bag End from a hole in the ground into a smial they can be proud of.
It’s a refuge. A place, where they can just be themselves.
For the first time in a long time, the Shire feels like home.
Belladonna looks down at babe in her arms, staring wide-eyed at the world.
Her son. Somehow, they have created this miracle together.
She still cannot believe it.
“He has your eyes,” Bungo whispers into her ear, arm tight around her shoulder.
Belladonna squints.
“Perhaps. He’s got your hair though.”
“Ten perfect toes on fuzzy feet, and ten fingers, too, and the cutest nose in all of the Shire. I think we did pretty well with him, my love.”
“We certainly did.”
Belladonna smiles, and Bungo presses a kiss to her hair.
“I hope he’ll have your sense of adventure, too.”
Chapter End Notes
A few Easter eggs were hidden in this one, tell me if you can guess what they were XD
One is a nod to one of my all time favourite Tolkien fics, the others are for some of my own fics.
The prompts were:
Belladonna Took +
1. Back where I belong
2. Long road
3. Feeling like myself again
4. Home at last
