If you look around yourself in Tolkien fandom, who do you see? Who is reading stories? Who is writing them?
Every five years, Maria K. Alberto and I run the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey. We are now on our third iteration of the survey, spanning ten years, and over the coming months, I will be sharing our findings each month in the Cultus Dispatches column, beginning this month with the demographic data from the survey.
I always have mixed feelings about working with the demographic data. On the one hand, it rarely feels revelatory, especially compared to some of the survey items still to analyze. It usually seems to describe what we all already know. (Because it involves a lot of free-response items, it's also a lot of work!)
On the other hand, as the survey traces ten years of Tolkien fanfiction history, the demographic data offers insights into how the fandom has changed in that decade. Who participates—and who doesn't—often indicates broader patterns in the Tolkien fandom, fanfiction fandom, and the world beyond.
Ten years is not a long time given the longevity of Tolkien fanfiction, which has been written for at least sixty-six years, yet that decade has seen demographic changes that quite likely parallel what we are writing about and how we engage with Tolkien's works. In other instances, the changes the survey has documented upend the "canon" of fanfiction studies.
If you want to learn more about the demographics of Tolkien fanfiction fandom, according to the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey, check out Six Demographic Takeaways from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey.
Finally, don't forget that today is our monthly instadrabbling session on Discord, led by Anna (IdleLeaves)! If you're not a member of our Discord, you can join here. The session begins on Saturday at 6PM/18:00 UTC (find this in your timezone).
SWG News
New Challenge: Allusive
Literature and art constantly refer back to each other using allusions, and this month's prompts are inspired by allusions to literature, myth, art, and history.
Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.
New Challenge: Building Middle-earth
Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Fanworks
Explain This by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Melkor demands an account of Mairon’s failures.
Read more ...Message in a Bottle by StarSpray [Writing]
Over the course of his very long life he had found a handful of messages in bottles, but it had been a very long time. So when he found the glass bottle on his little stretch of pebbly beach, he picked it up with the intention of tossing it into his recycling. But it wasn’t, he found, just another beer bottle.
Read more ...Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard by Independence1776 [Artwork]
A Nerdanel/Nienna moodboard.
Read more ...That Cometh Beyond Hope by Idrils Scribe [Writing]
A young Elrohir has disappeared, and Erestor throws himself into the search. Elrond's son must be found. For his family's sake of course, but the old Fëanorian has reasons of his own...
A prequel to Under Strange Stars as a gift for my excellent beta Grundy.
Many thanks to Grundy and Marchwriter for beta-reading.
The Stars of Home by Idrils Scribe [Writing]
Elrohir has been found after his long abduction by the Black Númenóreans of Umbar. He comes home to Rivendell, but all is not well: the Elf-child that was taken is now a Man grown. War and darkness have left Elrohir deeply scarred, and even at home there is danger...
An alternate universe for the Under Strange Stars series, in which Elrohir goes with Glorfindel instead of running away from him after the events of Under Strange Stars. This story can be enjoyed without having read the original.
Many thanks to Grundy and Marchwriter for their excellent beta-reading and brainstorming.
Read more ...Building towards Faith by octopus_fool [Writing]
Freshly re-embodied, Glorfindel realizes that Tol Eressëa has changed, and not just in terms of its architecture.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]
When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.
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 ...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 ...Under Strange Stars by Idrils Scribe [Series]
Barely a long-year after the Last Alliance all is not well in Imladris. Elrond's household has been dealt a crippling blow: a very young Elrohir has disappeared. After decades of false leads he is found in the Far South of Middle-Earth. Can Glorfindel rescue the House of Earendil once more? His task is not an easy one: Elrohir has no memory of who he was, and little interest in leaving his people's fight against the Black Nùmenoreans of Umbar ...
Read more ...Beyond the Silmarillion Fanworks
Piukka by Himring [Artwork]
Blackberries of Eriador.
Edited photo.
Read more ...Around the World and Web
Finwean Sibblings Prompt Fest 2026
A prompt-based fandom event aiming to focus on celebrating Finwë's children: Fëanor, Findis, Fingolfin, Lalwen, & Finarfin - ships, gen relationships, or character-centric
Gigolas Week 2026
Gigolas Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Legolas and Gimli
Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.
Tolkien Sapphic September
Tolkien Sapphic September is a month long event focusing on Sapphic relationships and characters in Tolkien and adjacent materials.