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
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.
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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.
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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
Wound Care by StarSpray [Writing]
He’d ventured into the little fishing village in search of food and maybe a dry place to sleep for a night of rain and wind—he hadn’t expected this, to be bullied into a hot meal and a healer’s attention.
Read more ...Swelling from the Sea by annarobots [Writing]
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A fill for the 2026 Rare Kink Buffet, a Bad Guys Made Them Do It story.
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Elros caring for Pengolodh after a terrible trauma.
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Laws and Customs (Cover and Art Edition) by AdmirableMonster [Multimedia]
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Of course it was a trap.
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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.
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He was dying.
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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.
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Read more ...One Flesh, One Soul. Part I by FellFireFan [Writing]
As beautiful as he is dangerous, Aegnor, an elven prince, stands against the looming shadows of Angband. Brother to Galadriel, he commands the siege with a fierce intensity, a duty that exacts a heavy toll on him. But beneath the iron walls he has built lies a broken soul, haunted by a devastating trauma and a well of deep, guarded secrets. His demons, kept at bay by his unyielding intensity that is both his greatest gift and his biggest curse.
Little does our Noldorin prince know that a chance encounter with a terrified young girl of men will set him on a collision course, igniting an extraordinary bond wrought with challenges, sacrifices, and intense love that threatens to unravel his guarded heart, and all he keeps within it.
Brace yourself for Part I of this captivating tale, where the primal power of love and devestating loss will tear lives apart forever.
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