This is a rare newsletter where I have neither a new article nor a new challenge to announce, so it seems a good opportunity to do my semi-regular State of the SWG, which really amounts to an update on areas where we currently need volunteer help.
Open Volunteer Roles. I've posted two new volunteer roles this morning, in addition to the "evergreen" roles that always accept new people. We are looking for both a social media manager and an Around the World and Web editor.
The social media manager will work with the moderator team to ensure that announcements posted to the site make it onto our social media accounts on Discord, Tumblr, and Dreamwidth.
The Around the World and Web editor ensures that that section of the site is updated at least weekly. Both roles require about 30 minutes to an hour of time commitment per week. SWG moderators and volunteers always work together to ensure that we cover time off for each other when needed.
We also have "evergreen" volunteer roles that are always open to join: Around the World and Web scouts, inclusivity committee members, and newsletter contributors and committee members. The volunteer page has more information on all of these roles, including more detailed job descriptions for the two new postings. If you are interested or have questions, just hit REPLY on this email and let me know!
Character of the Month. Oshun responded to a call much like this in 2007, asking for someone who would be willing to write up a paragraph or two each month about our featured Character of the Month. Over the fifteen years that she was our lead biographer, she evolved from "one or two paragraphs" to ... quite a bit more. Our character biographies are one of the favorite parts of our site, and it was Oshun who consistently raised the bar to create this wonderful resource for all of us to use.
In those fifteen years, we have covered almost all of the major Silmarillion characters and quite a few minor characters as well. We are beginning to sunset the project, which means that we want to first ensure that all major characters have biographies on the site, at which point the column will drop from monthly to periodical, when there is interest in writing about minor characters.
Major characters we are looking to have written are Elendil, Gothmog, Yavanna, Eönwë, Manwë, Hador, Nienor, Melkor, Curufin, Marach, and Olwë. You do not need to have experience with research writing; we are glad to support newcomers, so if you want to give it a try, hit REPLY and let me know the character you want.
Fandom Voices. We have a new Fandom Voices question up, asking about your experiences with fanon. Fandom Voices is a sub-project of our monthly Cultus Dispatches column on Tolkien fan studies, and it seeks fan input on topics related to the Tolkien fandom. This month, if you read, view, or create fanworks, we want to know all about your thoughts, perspectives, and experiences with fanon! You can learn more or send your thoughts on fanon here.
Thank you. Finally, this is a good opportunity to recognize that many people already help keep the SWG not only running behind the scenes but a vibrant Tolkien fan community. Thank you to all of our volunteers, past and current, who have given their time to making our community what it is today!
SWG News
New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
Cultus Dispatches: Communities Do Comment
Comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Fanworks
Is it raining with you? by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
In the last days of Númenor, two very different men meet in Umbar and fall in love.
(Please note that while this work is heavily inspired by Disco Elysium, no knowledge of the game is necessary to read the fic!)
Read more ...Wrensong and Roses by Isilme_among_the_stars [Writing]
Concerned by his responses to the paraphernalia of healing, Fingon steals Maedhros from his room for an impromptu garden excursion. Maedhros battles with dark thoughts.
Read more ...Bon(e)fire by Fuin [Writing]
On the night before the battle, Caranthir and his ally share thoughts about their peoples' traditions:
Burning bones ward off evil.
Read more ...McShady by Babblecat [Writing]
Melkor has himself a bad time in the Void.
Read more ...
Updated Fanworks
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 ...Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365 [Writing]
Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.
He was dying.
(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the days between the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, meets the sons of Feanor, Thingol and his ilk, many Laiquendi, many Dwarves, and Men besides, and THEN decides to solve the drowning of Beleriand himself. This has nothing to do with his personal problems. Nope. Not at all. Erestor is having regular feelings.)
Read more ...Until the Stars are All Alight by Dagstjarna [Writing]
Reembodied in Aman, Celebrimbor decides to return to Middle earth to help heal the darkness and hurt wrought by the ring.
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 ...The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new life and finds he has a queer connection with Maedhros, Himring's lord. As their intimacy grows, however, so do the dangers surrounding them, both without and within. What secrets are hidden inside the depths of Anniavas's lost memories--and how will those with whom he is forging and deepening bonds react, when those secrets are at last revealed?
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
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026 to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.”
