When I first came into possession of the data from the 2025 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey, one of the questions I was most curious about concerned the impact of the Rings of Power television show. After all, I am a film-first fan myself, so I know firsthand the power of a good media adaptation, and as a historian and researcher into the Tolkien fanfiction fandom, I know the impact of the film adaptations through that lens as well.
Cultus Dispatches is the SWG's monthly column on fandom history and fan studies. This month, I use data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey to get a first look at the impact of The Rings of Power.
And so far ... it isn't much.
But that "so far" carries a lot of weight in that sentence. The 2025 survey was the third iteration of the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey, meaning that we have longitudinal data now across a decade of the fandom's history. Looking at data around the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, the distance afforded by ten-plus years shows that enduring influxes of new authors occur mostly in the years immediately following the trilogies' ends. With three seasons left to go, The Rings of Power is nowhere near the point where previous data would predict an influx in fans.
At the same time, though, the films impacted the Tolkien fandom before they ended, and The Rings of Power isn't showing that same influence. Using Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data. So far.
If you're interested in reading more about the impact of the TV series so far, check out the article "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far).
I'm also pondering the next direction to head for future research using the survey data. If you use Tumblr, check out the poll here to choose your favorite topic for my next deep dive into the data!
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.

Featured Article
"The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far) by Dawn "Felagund" Walls-Thumma
The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies mark perhaps the most influential events in the history of the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. As the Rings of Power show approaches its third season, data from the Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that it is not even close to matching the impact of the films ... yet.
Art by Jillvalart (Instagram)
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
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Gigolas Week 2026
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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.