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.
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Akallabêth in August
Every August, we focus on one of the most tumultuous times in Arda's history: the Second Age and the rise and fall of Númenor. Any story that is or might conceivably be part of the Akallabêth is acceptable for this challenge. Read more ...
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.
Thank you! I did; I couldn't resist. (I really hope she doesn't disappoint in the movie.) It's a complete stand-alone. For some reason that I have yet to figure out even months later, the prompt combined with something I read in a magazine and out sprung the story. Though I'll probably end up using the Avarin communication network in something else; I like the idea too much to leave it alone.
Again this is such a wonderful and smooth read. I just love the differences between father and son, the strategic exchange of information and Maglor checking the room for anything that could help him if he will be attacked.
This was every bit as good as I expected it would be. It's great to have the occasional (additional) glimpse into Maglor's wandering, and even though you fitted in a lot of different elements, the story made for a fitting whole.
Thank you! I honestly worried-- even as I posted-- that the two halves were two separate stories rather than a unified whole. So to hear that you thought otherwise was wonderful.
This is a very plausible situation; Maglor would have every reason to worry that his presence among the Elves in the West would do more harm than good with Sauron arisen again. The dialogue between Thranduil and Maglor is great.
I really like this! It's an interesting look into Maglor's life in the Third Age. I like how even though he's mostly separated from the elves he still kind of keeps tabs on them, to know what's going on and how they're doing. The way he's always thinking about who he might run into and how to avoid that show how stressful that balance must be.
The interaction with Thranduil was interesting...there's definitely some hard feelings there, but Thranduil doesn't really dredge them up. Seeing Tauriel in the story was great!
Thank you so much! I really like the network the Elves have among the clans; it'll probably pop up in other stories of mine eventually. I tend to think the Avari are a bit more accepting, but Maglor's too much of a wanderer to feel comfortable settling down anywhere.
I think, after that long and having to deal diplomatically with people he doesn't like for the sake of his kingdom, Thranduil's more than able and willing to give Maglor a chance to explain himself and give him a chance to not cause trouble. I could not resist a Tauriel cameo despite this story being otherwise entirely bookverse.
Comments on In the Darkness
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.