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.
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 & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Flower in a Guarded City by Zdenka
The Eagles find a woman in the wilderness and bring her to Gondolin, and Maeglin's feelings are thrown into confusion.
[Writing] Until the Stars are All Alight by Dagstjarna
Reembodied in Aman, Celebrimbor decides to return to Middle earth to help heal the darkness and hurt wrought by the ring.
[Writing] HongyueG's Tolkien Drabbles by HongyueG
A compilation of Tolkien-related drabbles.
[Writing] Those Who Linger by Finitely Venerated
Turgon yearns for happier days, days before he knew cold. But he knows in his heart that some things are forever lost, and wonders if he, too, is merely a remnant of the departed, a spent husk to be cleared if spring should ever bloom again.
[Writing] The Gift of Swans by annarobots
There on the shores of the Lonely Isle we abode under the stars, and yet within sight of the radiance of the Blessed Realm.
[Writing] A golden ribbon, a golden key by skywardstruck
"It is a fictional world, but so many readers, deep down, cannot help but entertain the possibility that in some universe, these stories may in fact be true..."
At a Tolkien conference in the Seventh Age, Findekáno listens to the inspiring words of a curious Quenya scholar among…
Current Challenge
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
10th Birthday Celebration
In honor of our 10th birthday, we introduced our Silmfic prompt generator and solicited fanworks made using it. Read more ...
New in References
Fandom Draws the Line: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn Felagund, Grundy
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.
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
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.
Tolkien, Lunatic Physicists, and Abnegation by Cynthia (Cindy) Gates
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.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
[Writing] Bar-en-Eladar by Gabriel
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.
[Writing] Why did Éowyn ask Faramir if he'd rather have a "woman of the race of Númenor"? by Quente
For most of my life, when reading Lord of the Rings, I read it through the perspective of Gandalf's words about Éowyn, that she'd spent years trapped as a caregiver, watching the realm she love fall from honor into disgrace.
But what if Éowyn was also a student of history?
…
Around the World and Web
Aspec Arda Week 2026
This week-long event celebrates asexual and aromantic spectrum interpretations and headcanons of Tolkien’s Legendarium.
Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
Gondor Week 2026
A Tumblr week event focusing on the history of the realm of Gondor.
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026
The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is back for another summer of collaboration between artists and writers!
HongyueG's Tolkien Drabbles by HongyueG
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May 2nd, 2026 Drabbles (Departing for Aman, Morwen and Laughter)
Drabbles written based on prompts from the Silmarillion Writers’ Guild’s May 2026 instadrabbling event.
Prompt #1
sea, rise, bright, fate
The sea was glistening? No, that felt too cliche. There had to be more words to describe the dazzling sight before him. To depict the way the waves rose to the horizon, brushing the bright twilight sky. And, oh, the stars. Barely gleaming in the deeper purple that hovered above. But there was something more to this beauty, too. A fear, a longing, a loss. Was this truly his fate to leave? To go West? He had felt that pull, that yearning for that other land. Yet now that he was here, on this shore…he watched the waves roll on.
(drabble: 100 words)
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Prompt #2
How could I have known I would need to remember your laughter
What had her son’s laughter been like? She could almost picture him running on the grass with Lalaith—no, Urwen—trotting after him. His dark hair all tangled from tussling outside and his hands brown from the dirt he had tumbled in. She thrust the memories aside. Those recollections would do her no good now. So many people she had lost…She hugged Nienor, her only child still with her, tighter to her breast. Would this girl grow up to laugh, too? Or would there only be silences to share between them, filling in for all their missing spaces. Morwen loosened her grip.
(drabble: 100 words)
Chapter End Notes
Thank you to IdleLeaves for the wonderful prompts!
