Just about twenty-one years ago, the SWG posted its first challenge, Strong Women. Back in 2005, we were just bumbling through the first months of starting a new Tolkien fanfiction group—one among many—and certainly didn't intend our first challenge to be A Statement, although it certainly did reflect the leanings of the SWG's small membership at the time toward a more inclusive reading of the texts. More than two decades later, the Strong Women challenge has been held up as the first example of many where the SWG used challenges, events, and our platform as a whole to broaden who was included in Middle-earth.
Recently, I found a proto-challenge that existed before Strong Women. Enthusiastically titled The "Ask A Character" Challenge!, it is a proto-challenge because it was in fact a reposting a LiveJournal meme and not an original challenge created for the group:
Chose one question you want to ask a character from The Silmarillion.
Post the name of the character in the subject line and the question as the content of the email and submit it to the group.
All writers are challenged to write a response, taking on the character in question and answering it from their point-of-view.
The challenge is to write a character that you may not always chose by your own accord and to bring them to life through the answer they are giving.
What I found interesting is that almost the exact same meme/challenge/exercise still circulates, now on platforms like Tumblr. Finarfin Appreciation Month similarly anticipates the appreciation weeks/months that fill the fandom calendar today. It leads one to wonder if, somewhere in a trove of fanzines collecting dust on a shelf somewhere, similar activities brought fan communities together in the fandom eras before the internet. There is nothing new under the Lamps.
What also comes forth in the proto-challenge was the intention that challenges be member-created. Ford_of_bruinen recommended this one, and digdigil would create the Strong Women challenge a month later. Believe it or not, we are quickly approaching the point where the challenge moderators will begin drafting the 2027 challenge schedule, so if you have an idea for one of our monthly challenges, hit REPLY and let us know!
Finally, a week from today, Anna (IdleLeaves) will host the next instadrabbling session on our Discord server on September 5, 2026 at 6PM/18:00 UTC (find this in my timezone). Instadrabbling is a long-standing community activity in the Tolkien fanfiction fandom where a group gets together on chat, someone throws out a prompt or four, and everyone writes a drabble (or whatever comes to mind) then shares their creations in the chat. It is a low-pressure, casual activity, and all Tolkien-based fanworks are welcome. If you're not a member of our Discord server, you can join here. We hope you can come make fanworks with us!
P.S.—Instadrabbling has also existed since at least the time of the Lamps.
SWG News
Character of the Month: Marach
There are few details in the texts about Marach, but he is noteworthy for his allegiances and his descendants, who would become pivotal to the history of Middle-earth and the eventual defeat of Morgoth and Sauron.
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.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Fanworks
An Alluring Offer by octopus_fool [Writing]
Tata is offered a solution to a grave problem, at a very low price...
Read more ...most days I don't recognize me by annarobots [Writing]
Of course, she knew that in the Blessed Land, true harm was unlikely to come to him. The Valar watched over them all, and the lesser spirits were everywhere. It was a great hound of Oromë who had found him happily splashing in the creek, in fact. But anyone could drown in mere moments, even in Valinor. Her heart needed a break.
A story about Nerdanel, the total self-obliteration of motherhood, and what comes after.
Read more ...Rise from the Ashes by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
In the wake of Sauron's death, his Mouth remembers Númenor.
Read more ...Crossing the Great Sea by elennalore [Writing]
He has perhaps made a great mistake, but it's too late now.
Read more ...The Die Is Cast by Fuin [Writing]
Thus, he lingers in this doomed city for yet another year—until he wakes to alarm bells ringing wildly and to the stench of smoke rising from the reeds.
Celebrimbor, at the Havens of Sirion.
Read more ...we twins of cursed fates by skywardstruck [Writing]
The Shadow was always meant to claim them both. Born the twin children of Celebrimbor and Sauron, Mirruin and Mírestel reflect on their doom before the end.
Written as a pair of sonnets in the Shakespearean style, and featuring artwork from 1rabong on Tumblr.
Read more ...Last Year's Bitter Loving by StarSpray [Writing]
Finarfin was always tired, but suddenly he was exhausted, just by this conversation. It would just go in circles if they let it, neither of them willing to concede to the other. He didn’t have the words for what he really wanted to say—and even if he did he wouldn’t say them. They would be a child’s words, just hurt that he had been left alone while his older brothers and sisters had gone off without him, taking everything with them that he had ever held dear.
Family is complicated, and Finarfin is tired.
Read more ...Heavy is the Crown by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Finwë received his crown from Manwë Súlimo himself, so he knows what it is to be betrayed.
Fëanor received his crown from Finwë, so he knows what it is to die.
Maedhros received his crown from Fëanor, so he knows what it is to burn.
Fingolfin received his crown from Maedhros, so he knows what it is to be broken.
Fingon received his crown from Fingolfin, so he knows what it is to despair.
Turgon received his crown from Fingon, so he knows what it is to stand firm.
Gil-galad received his crown from them all, and it’s too soon to know what he’ll do.
Gil-galad, burdened with the memories of all his predecessors, does his best.
Read more ...Jade Eyes by Elrond's Library [Writing]
Nienor contemplates the ephemerality of green things.
Read more ...Found at Last by StarSpray [Writing]
Sudden laughter startled Maglor out of his reverie.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
On Tides of Light by potorov [Writing]
On Tides of Light, Antariëarcalindalë, begins with Elwing's arrival upon the shores of Eldamar after her flight from the ruins of Sirion. After Eärendil goes alone into Valinor, Elwing is brought to Alqualondë. Rather than hurrying toward the celestial ascent of Vingilot, the core of the narrative is the salt-crusted halls of Alqualondë, where the Falmari must finally confront the devastating history of Beleriand's three kinslayings.
Elwing must plead the Teleri to bear the Host of the West across the Sea. Despite a mother, survivor and also bearer of a Silmaril - the First Age converged on her: the weight of its sins, its accumulated grief, and the grace through which salvation may yet enter history.
Read more ...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 ...The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new life and finds he has a queer connection with Maedhros, Himring's lord. As their intimacy grows, however, so do the dangers surrounding them, both without and within. What secrets are hidden inside the depths of Anniavas's lost memories--and how will those with whom he is forging and deepening bonds react, when those secrets are at last revealed?
Read more ...Eat, Pray, Love by AdmirableMonster [Series]
The Darkest Timeline AU for my Steampunk Númenor series.
In which the Mouth of Sauron is originally a Númenorean chemister rescued from Ar-Pharazôn's intimate attentions by Sauron himself.
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 ...Around the World and Web
LotR Week 2026
A week-long event for The Lord of the Rings
Fingon x Finrod x Maedhros Day 2026
A day to celebrate the relationship of the three eldest princes.
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
Tolkien Sapphic September
Tolkien Sapphic September is a month long event focusing on Sapphic relationships and characters in Tolkien and adjacent materials.
Finwëan Ladies Week 2026
Finwëan Ladies Week will run from September 21-27, 2026!