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.
This was beautiful, Elleth! I had never thought of the possibility of Nerdanel and Celebrian meeting or how that might unfold, or even of their shared history. Details that I love: Celebrian's slowly giving away Elrond's library. The lineage of Elrond's traits, via Maglor and visible in Nerdanel. Celebrian's ability to still take the tone that "would have brooked no more discussion or objection."
(Also, I wish that book existed! And why am I thinking it would be a good idea to collect such stories and make one ...? :D)
Thank you so much, Dawn! I agree this is not such a common character constellation, but incidentally Indy herself wrote them together in her fic "Strength" as well (I think that may have subconsciously inspired me when I was trawling her fic to check something I wanted to write into the story), a wonderful and very different take than this. I'm glad you're enjoying this one, though, and that so many details stand out to you. :)
(You and me both! I've actually been thinking that might be a project to tackle at some point, though knowing my writing habits it would probably run away with me, and I'd be stuck following Maglor's footsteps for 6,000 years. :D)
You convinced me of family ties here, Elleth, of Nerdanel's connection to Celebrían as family, however tenuous in bloodlines that may be, but strong in heart. I love how Celebrían sees Elrond in Nerdanel, and how that speaks to Elrond's association with Maglor. I love to clear nod to Indy's RAFA-verse — or at least that is what I am seeing. Of course, I'm intrigued by the tales gathered by the Wandering Companies and transcribed by Elrond.
Thank you so much, Pandë! The found family aspect was something that appealed to me very much, so I'm glad that that connection felt real to you, and you are definitely not imagining the RAFA nod (in my own version it'd be Maedhros after his release from Mandos who brings Maglor home).
And there may yet be a glimpse at those stories, though I don't want to reveal too much yet! ;)
I love stories about Celebrian after she goes to Aman, I'm so glad you wrote this! I especially love her friendship with Nerdanel, which was really well done.
The book Elrond compiled about possible Maglor sightings was really touching, both in that he put it together and in that he sent a copy with Celebrian. And, of course, the fact that Celebrian gives it to Nerdanel. There are so many partings and deaths in the Silmarillion, so it's nice to see reunions or hints of them.
One thing you mentioned that I hadn't thought of was Celebrian meetings Celeborn's family reborn in Aman...every other story I've seen has her staying with her mother's family or with Elrond's. That was an insightful addition!
Thank you for taking the time to write up such a lovely review; I'm very glad you enjoyed the story. It was very interesting to work in this framework (especially with Celebrían's recent past) and still try and turn it a positive way, especially with two characters I love as much as these two.
And I'm glad you found the addition of Celeborn's family interesting. He gets so frequently overshadowed by his wife (and the Sindar by the Amanyar), and there is not much about his family (hence only the oblique mention), but we know they did exist, and Celebrían has more Telerin (that is, the Teleri as the entire Third Clan, making up various Sindar, Nandor and Amanyar Teleri) blood than Vanyarin or Noldorin, and I think she deserves to know both parts of that heritage - exploring that is one of the points on my long, long to-write list, but it will eventually happen. :)
Thank you so much! I enjoyed writing them very much (female friendships make me just as happy as femslash does, really), and considering that these two never interacted in canon, I'm happy you think the shape this took was plausible and palpable. :)
Comments on Patience Enough
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.