Every year, we run a challenge called a Matryoshka challenge. Like the eponymous nesting dolls, completing one prompt in the challenge reveals another so that participants build a fanwork progressively, using between two and seven prompts. This year, our Matryoshka challenge comes with a twist, and we need SWG creators' help in making it a success!
May's challenge will be a scavenger hunt. Clues will point to pages on the site, where participants can collect prompts. And what are the clues? Well, the clue can be ... you! If you sign up to hand out prompts to participants, a clue will point to your page on the archive (or a specific fanwork if you prefer), the participant will comment on your work, and you will hand out a prompt for the challenge.
Writing and art can be lonely, so we like to offer the occasional challenge that involves an element of collaboration so that we can discover new creators, support each others' work, and problem-solve challenges together. Furthermore, we hope that members willing to hand out prompts will be rewarded with comments on their work and new readers or viewers!
Maybe you think this sounds like fun but have some misgivings. "What if I'm not good at making up prompts?" No worries! The moderators will provide a list of possible prompts to give out to anyone who requests them. "I'm just not able to be online every day and don't want to leave participants hanging." Likewise, if you aren't able to respond, they can contact the mods, and we'll assign them a prompt. "What if I can't make a fanwork for the challenge?" You can hand out prompts even if you aren't able to participate in creating for the challenge!
If you want to provide prompts for the challenge, you can sign up here. If you have additional questions, just reply to this email!
The Scavenger Hunt challenge will not begin until May 15. In the meantime, our Everyman challenge is running if you missed last week's announcement: create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration.
And next week is our monthly instadrabbling session on our Discord server, hosted by the wonderful Anna (IdleLeaves). The session will run on May 2, 2026 at 6PM/18:00 UTC (find this in my timezone). You can find out more about upcoming instadrabbling sessions here. And if you're not a member of our server yet, you can join our Discord server here.
SWG News
New Challenge: Scavenger Hunt
In this Matryoshka-with-a-twist, you will solve clues that point you to the challenge prompts.
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.
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
Somber Reflections by Artano [Writing]
Finrod ponders on the mortality of Men and how few he has met, and Bëor is there to pull him back to reality.
Read more ...The Spruce Tree by Dagstjarna [Writing]
A young Celegorm and Curufin befriend an old Spruce tree.
Read more ...Otornassë by vulpeculi4r [Writing]
In the aftermath of the third kinslaying and the death of Amrod and Amras, Maglor needs to reassure himself that Maedhros is still there with him.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
I Sit and Think of Times There Were Before by Erdariel [Writing]
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.
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 ...Hill and Water Under Sky 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 ...One Flesh, One Soul. Part 2 by FellFireFan [Writing]
The fate of lovers has been sealed. After Aegnor pledges his love to Andreth, he seeks out council one last time from his wiser and more grounded eldest brother. However, his hopes that Finrod would join him in this newfound happiness are quickly dashed and it does not go well between the brothers. Finrod finds himself forced to navigate his ferocious and unhinged younger brother with extreme caution, plunging even his own safety into uncertainty. Aegnor finds himself faced with an agonising decition, one that will rip his entire being asunder. Yet hope may remain, and it rests in the palm of none other than Illuvatar himself who, through the sheer force of Aegnor's undying love for one mortal, takes notice. Bending the very stars in the heavens..
Read more ...On the Nature of Time by Elrond's Library [Writing]
A series of half-drabbles using the one word prompts for the March/April 2025 Birthday Bash Challenge, looking at the perception of time through the eyes of Maiar (in general), Maedhros (specifically), and Aragorn and Arwen (specifically).
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 ...White Horn Tower by Himring [Writing]
After the fall of Dorthonion, Edhellos (originally named in Quenya Eldalote), Angrod's wife, has chosen to move to Barad Nimras, the tower that Finrod built in the Falas on a headland west of Eglarest.
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 Native Language Appreciation Fest 2026
A Tumblr event to celebrate the linguistic diversity of the Tolkien fandom.
Boromir Week 2026
If you are Boromir girlies/gents/stans/simps, then this event is for you! So, come join us, and bring your fanfiction, art, gifs, moodboards, and headcanons that highlight everything you love about our Captain of Gondor!
Silmarillion Epistolary Week 2026
Silmarillion Epistolary Week is a Tumblr challenge dedicated to creating fanworks to tell the story of the Silmarillion in the style of an epistolary novel.