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
Song of Exile
Create a fanwork about exile or exiles. About being exiled. About the people who are exiled. About the decision to exile, the leavetaking, the consequences. About metaphorical or symbolic exile. 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.
These two are such a great couple it makes me sad they didn't get their shot. I love Finrod's cockiness and Amarie's unsuccessful attempts to get him to reign it in. I'd love to see a follow up with him charming the parents. That would be a lot of fun.
They must have liked it him enough at first to let her continue to see him, even if they did not like him enough to allow her to go with him into exile. Not a very profound snippet, but very entertain to write. Thanks for reading!
This is just so entertaining and vividly drawn out. Your Amarië and Finrod just have such great chemistry together! He is so irrepressible, with a wicked sense of humour to boot; I can totally see why Amarië is both exasperated by him while also head over heels attracted to him. I really love all the details about the cultural differences, such as the Noldor's penchant for flashy jewelry and clothing vs Vanyarin modesty. (Also that idea of Indis enthusiasticaly embracing Noldorin ways rather than being just a stuff Vanya--yes!)
This is my favourite part, I think:
“Oh, my love! The things I will do to you. I will tease you until you beg me to take you. Then I will fuck you so long and hard.” She jerked her head back and clapped a hand over his offending mouth.
I could picture it all so clearly, and it had me in giggles. So perfectly outrageous!
You are great, Klose. So supportive and encouraging. Thank you are so much for crawling through the draft of this story and making corrections.
I am so happy that you enjoyed. I had a lot of fun working on this story. I love playing on the contradictions Amarië's contradictory responses to this guy who must have seemed overwhelmingly flashy to her in so many ways and yet fell for him, loves him, believes he has a good heart. I am so glad those kinds of things come through to you.
OMG. I love your choice above--example of how outrageous he seems to her--offends her sensibilities and is still irresistible. She's head-over-heels for him, but not blind.
That was really the perfect prompt for you! I added romantic comedy (and bromance!) to the Genre category imagining that they would generate fun stories to read, and that has already begun to bear fruit. :)
I really enjoyed this. (I really needed this ...) Your Finrod is just adorable (and hot!) I loved this line:
Arafinwë was generally well-liked, but known among the more traditionalist of the Vanyar for his obsession with the Teleri, for his pretty, flighty wife, and their gaggle of wild, unconventionally-schooled, overly cunning children.
This comes through so well in your writing of the Finwions.
Oh, thank you so much. I am thrilled that you singled out that part--I love how you unerringly cite back at me parts of stories that I wanted people to notice. Thank you. (I was initially inspired so much by your House of Arafinwe when creating so much about these characters. I have to send you and couple of other people that "sharing imaginary friends" birthday card.)
(I really needed this ...)
I would dance on a table playing a ukelele wearing a Feanorian battle flag if I thought I could make you smile for just a moment. I thought of you the moment I woke up this morning.
Considering that Amarië was not allowed to go into exile with Finrod, I'm guessing things did not quite go as hoped. (Yes, I'm hoping to encourage your muse!)
Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment. I think that particular evening went as well as could be expected (not terribly well), but they did not order her not to see him. But there would not have been enough warmth for Finrod amongst her family to have weathered the scandals and strife generated by the Finweans in years to come. So, no they would not have been able to tolerate her leaving with him.
I suspect that I will revisit this relationship in the future and expand some of the story threads hinted at in this story.
Thanks so much for reading. This was my stab at the rom-com genre, and it felt surprisingly comfortable for me to write.
Who could resist this Finrod? I can so see this as a movie, a la Hepburn and Tracy (love their banter and it so reminded me of those old films)! I wonder if Finrod ever got invited to another dinner after he was re-embodied? I always hope they got together then but...he had been through so much. This Finrod though? He's entirely capable of coming out of Mandos' Halls with his cockiness intact! Love it, Oshun. As always, you tackle whatever you set out to do, with panache.
Another review! I love this so much. Thank you. I had so much fun writing this little piece. I like to think of Finrod as having been cocky and light-hearted before he was forced to decide to leave Valinor or stay. A few years ago, I was quite certain that I wanted to re-unite Finrod and Amarie after he left the Halls of Mandos. I still think it could be done, but it would not be a simple, straight-forward story.
Comments on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
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.