Just as the title says, tomorrow is the opening day of our inaugural year of Tolkien Meta Week! TMW is part of our ongoing effort at showcasing the brilliant thinking, writing, and creation that Tolkien fans do on the legendarium and to emphasize that Meta Is for Everyone!
If you're hearing about this for the first time, here's the elevator pitch: Tolkien Meta Week will run between December 8th and 14th on the SWG archive and our tumblr. ALL meta is welcome: all subjects, all formats, and all levels of completion and polish. We will offer four daily meta prompts, but these are entirely optional. Do them on different days! Mix and match! Skip them entirely! Any nonfiction content about Tolkien is welcome for this event.
Tomorrow's (purely optional!) prompts are theory, infographic, The Silmarillion, and the Tolkien fandom. So share your theories about how the various details of the text work together! Or make a visual to share information about a favorite character or topic in the legendarium. Or share something nonfiction about The Silmarillion: a headcanon, a list of favorite resources, or a favorite bit of canon and what it means to you. Or talk about Tolkien fandom: what you notice about what we do, what brought you and keeps you here, or a favorite piece of your fandom history. Or something else entirely! (Prompts really are optional ...)
Here are the prompts for the week:
December 8: theory | infographic | The Silmarillion | the Tolkien fandom
December 9: open letter | podcast/audio | The Lord of the Rings | Tolkien's non-Middle-earth writings
December 10: literary analysis | wiki article | The Hobbit | adaptations
December 11: character study | video | Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, The Nature of Middle-earth, and The Fall of Númenor | books, articles, and meta about Tolkien
December 12: headcanon | meme | The Three Great Tales: The Children of Húrin, Beren and Lúthien, and The Fall of Gondolin | compare Tolkien to another text
December 13: ship manifesto | personal essay | Tolkien's art | apply real-world disciplines to Middle-earth
December 14: research | list (including link collections) | The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien | Tolkien fanworks (with permission!)
Remember, if you are posting on Tumblr, tag #tolkien meta week so we can reblog your work. If you're posting on the archive, select Tolkien Meta Week as your challenge. (Meta shared on our archive should follow the usual rules about "Silmworks" unless you have posting access to our Beyond the Silmarillion section, in which case go wild.)
See the Tolkien Meta Week challenge for full details and prompt explanations!
SWG News
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.
Instadrabbling Sessions for April, May, and June
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Fanworks
The Endless Years by by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Elwing reckons with the passage of time.
Read more ...dye me, nocturne by by skywardstruck [Writing]
Maglor without Maedhros, Daeron without Lúthien. Alone, they are nothing, but together, they can be something more.
Where do you turn, when you have no one else left?
Written for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2023, featuring artwork by athlai.
Read more ...a life freely given, a favor returned by by skywardstruck [Writing]
Finrod and Bëor stop for a while on the road to Nargothrond to rest. The bodies of the Secondborn often grow weary, and Finrod laments, massaging Bëor's back and renewing his beloved's vigor with the work of his hands. But Finrod has other burdens of his own, Bëor soon discovers, returning Finrod's favor in the best way he knows how.
Read more ...Til We're on the Other Side by by StarSpray [Writing]
It was only the second time Finwë had come out foraging with them, and of course this would happen—of course the Hunter would come, the Dark Rider on his steed with its terrible, heavy footfalls, and the deep-throated laughter that held no mirth, only malice.
In the dark woods near the Waters of Awakening, Finwë's brothers are taken.
In Valinor, when the Trees wither, Finwë is slain.
In the Fourth Age, things take place long thought impossible.
Read more ...The Long Arm of the Law by by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Turgon cannot be above the law.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
Despair and Shadows by by octopus_fool [Writing]
Haleth leaves to find her brother, even though her father does not permit her to.
Read more ...Hill and Water Under Sky by by StarSpray [Writing]
a collection of drabbles and mini ficlets in the meanwhile the world goes on 'verse that aren't long enough to stand on their own
Read more ...A Hundred Miles Through the Desert by by StarSpray [Writing]
“Come on.” Maedhros grabbed his hand and pulled him along down the path, both of them quickening their pace now, until the trees opened up into a wide meadow filled with flowers, bright yellow celandine and dandelions and sweet-scented pale chamomile mingling with cornflowers and irises. On the other side of it was a larger party than Maglor had ever seen in Lórien—five figures sitting in the grass. Huan barked again, and they all looked up. “It seems everyone has come to fetch us home,” Maedhros said, laughing, as all their brothers scrambled to their feet.
After years in Lórien, Maglor and Maedhros are ready to return to their family and to make something new with their lives--but to move forward, all of Fëanor's sons must decide how, or if, they can ever reconcile with their father.
Read more ...Beyond the Silmarillion Fanworks
The Mirror of Galadriel by by skywardstruck [Artwork]
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
Read more ...Bar-en-Eladar by by Gabriel [Writing]
Out of the shadow, light is born anew.
A Chieftain is dead. And whilst the events surrounding his death are unclear, a son tries to come to terms with his loss.
Read more ...Around the World and Web
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
Barduil Month 2026
A month-long Tumblr events all about the relationship between Thranduil and Bard the Bowman.
Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026
The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is back for another summer of collaboration between artists and writers!
Leaf & Lore: A Tolkien Writing Month
Start a story, work on a WIP, finish a fic, dabble in drabbles, pen a poem, type a tale, or otherwise wrestle with words. Set your own goal: Leaf & Lore is all up to you.
Gondor Week 2026
A Tumblr week event focusing on the history of the realm of Gondor.
Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
Crablor Day
A day dedicated to everyone's favourite warcriminal crustacean - April 26, 2026
