Back in June, we published the first part of Melesta's biography of Húrin. In this article, they make the case that "Húrin's story is one of the backbones of Tolkien's legendarium, whose influence is felt in the narrative ages after his passing," specifically finding connections between Húrin's character and those of Tolkien's later heroes, including Aragorn, due to the influence of estel on Húrin's early life and outlook.
But this is the First Age, and things never fail to get grim fast. If you are reading this, you know that estel is a shaky concept in The Silmarillion compared to Tolkien's later and more eucatastrophic works. In the second part of Húrin's biography, Melesta traces the next half of Húrin's life, which is marked by tragedy, suffering, and betrayal*—yet as Melesta points out, Húrin's courage and loyalty to those he loves never wavers.
* In Húrin's story, we see Tolkien prefigure Kurt Vonnegut's later exhortation to writers to "be a sadist" to even the most likable of characters.
Of course, Húrin is an apt illustration of why Vonnegut's advice is so well-known among writers. Through Húrin, Tolkien unfolds what happens to an exceptional person when put under exceptional duress. And, as Melesta notes, the ending of Húrin's story is left vague, so we can never be entirely sure what our hero was really made of. Yet through Húrin's story and what he endures and how he endures it, many of Tolkien's most important themes—among the many reasons readers have loved his work for the better part of a century—are unveiled, defining heroism in such a way that will be remembered across the ages in the legendarium.
You can read the second part of Melesta's biography of Húrin here (and make your own decision about how you interpret the ending).
SWG News
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.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
A Project for Oshun
This week, we learned the our longtime member and lead biographer Oshun has been experiencing health issues that have left her unable to access her friends and communities online. After months of attempting to reach her without success, we finally did get a lead this week that resulted in a couple of us speaking to her on the phone.
Oshun was one of the first members of our archive back in 2007, a prolific author who brought her readers so much delight, and was our lead biographer for many years, authoring over one hundred of our collection of character biographies. Not surprisingly, upon hearing that she has been experiencing difficulties, the first response of many of our community was, "What can we do to show our love, care, and support for her?"
Elfscribe and polutropos have organized the collection of messages to Oshun, which can either be written or recorded. These will be compiled and sent to her as an audio recording that she is able to access. If you have elfscribe's or polu's contact, feel free to send contributions directly to them. If you do not, you can reply to this message or reach out to the SWG moderators, who will forward these messages to them.
We've also set up a channel on our Discord for organizing efforts for Oshun. If you're not a member of our Discord, you can click here to join. Scroll down to the Fandom Events section and look for the #for-oshun channel. Questions and contributions can always be sent to the SWG moderators (we'll make sure they get where they need to go!) simply by reply to this email or using any of our other contact methods.
New Fanworks
Explain This by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Melkor demands an account of Mairon’s failures.
Read more ...Message in a Bottle by StarSpray [Writing]
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 another beer bottle.
Read more ...Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard by Independence1776 [Artwork]
A Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
The Stars of Home by Idrils Scribe [Writing]
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 for the Under Strange Stars series, in which Elrohir goes with Glorfindel instead of running away from him after the events of Under Strange Stars. This story can be enjoyed without having read the original.
Many thanks to Grundy and Marchwriter for their excellent beta-reading and brainstorming.
Read more ...A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]
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.
Read more ...From That Rubble by StarSpray [Writing]
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 have much else to do. I need to build something new there,” he said after a few moments. “To do that, I must first clear away the old and broken things.”
Decades out of Mandos, too many things in Fëanor's life remain broken. He can't do anything except wait for his sons to come to him, but he can do something about the old and crumbling house where they once lived.
Read more ...Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael [Writing]
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 thought on the matter who the Ainur are, who Eru is, how he matches our own religious pantheon, and this has been conducted after serious research of many esoteric teachings of our own planet's heritage.
Read more ...Around the World and Web
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
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.
Tolkien Sapphic September
Tolkien Sapphic September is a month long event focusing on Sapphic relationships and characters in Tolkien and adjacent materials.
