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.
Oh this is magical and marvellous! So many wonderful details: using the 'traditional' swan-drawn ships (Arafin's nervousness about the trip is so sweet), singing the oysters open (amazing idea)... And that end took me by surprise and is adorable. Aw I'm smiling so much after reading this 🥰
Thank you!! I figure that if they took a larger ship it'd be too noticeable, and they wanted this to be a 'stealth' mission 😄
I'm so glad the ending was a surprise! And yes, little Arafin just barely old enough is all nervous about asking, but Elulindo is only too happy for him to become a brother 💖
Thank you! I figured this was the perfect opportunity to slide that detail in - swan-drawn boats! Why row when you can have some really huge birds just pull you along? Just like a horse and carriage 😁
Gorgeous image of the swan boat in its original form. I love the idea of the Feanorian lights being used for pearl diving and undersea exploration. And look at Feanor being helpful in more ways than one! Happier times. I did not expect the lovely ending! Delightful :).
The more I explored this idea the more little thoughts came like oooh using the lamps for diving! That actually was one of the first details I came up with, even though much of the rest of the fic changed drastically from my initial idea.
And yes, I think this is still before Melkor was released so perhaps not nearly the level of strife that the Finweans rose to in later years. Feanor might have been coaxed to be a tad more helpful, at least to his youngest brother. 😉
I love the small details, like the boat being drawn by swans, singing the oysters open, and Feanor not liking doing things for his little brother but unable to resist the stroking of his ego. I had some idea once I realized Arafinwë was after a pearl where he was going with it, but I wasn't sure until the very end.
Not to put the blame on Fingolfin, but it really seems that it was his and Feanor's feud more than Finarfin's. I like to think that they might have at least gotten along passably before things got really bad.
It's canon that he was friends with Earwen's brothers! I figured he might have been friends with them first and that they were only too happy for him to marry their sister 😊
I like the idea of Finarfin being very close to that whole family!
Aaaawwww. I love that. I love Elulindo being all eager to help (has he been watching them all the time and been like ’will you get a move on?!’?). I love how Arafin is really taking much upon himself to bring that ring into existance. A true symbol of what Eärwen means to him.
But oh, Fëanor making the ring has potential for even more heartbreak once all takes a turn for the worst. :( (even more so in my imagination, because I always headcanoned Elulindo falling on the Fëanorians hands.)
😧 ah! Okay I admit I am the first to turn anything to angst but that was just cruel!
But yes, he really did go all out to make both the effort himself but also the symbolism, using the materials that would be most meaningful. I love them so much 😭💖
And it’s so beautiful when people feel such love for certain characters ❤️ Idk if it’s like that for you too, but ’my’ elves are an important part of my life, especially when I’m feeling down. :)
Ahh, the reefs off of Valinor must be magnificent! Arafin almost forgetting why they're there in the first place is very cute, and I can't blame him! This is such a wonderful story. I loved the glimpse of Uinen and Osse dancing on the shore in the starlight.
Comments on To Hold the Future in My Hand
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.