Founded in 2005, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild exists for discussions of and creative fanworks based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and related texts. We are a positive-focused and open-minded space that welcomes fans from all over the world and with all levels of experience with Tolkien's works. Whether you are picking up Tolkien's books for the first time or have been a fan for decades, we welcome you to join us!
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.
Finrod and Bëor stop for a while on the road to Nargothrond to rest. The bodies of the Secondborn often grow weary, and Finrod laments, massaging Bëor's back and renewing his beloved's vigor with the work of his hands. But Finrod has other burdens of his own, Bëor soon discovers, returning…
Maglor without Maedhros, Daeron without Lúthien. Alone, they are nothing, but together, they can be something more. Where do you turn, when you have no one else left?
Written for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2023, featuring artwork by athlai.
It was only the second time Finwë had come out foraging with them, and of course this would happen—of course the Hunter would come, the Dark Rider on his steed with its terrible, heavy footfalls, and the deep-throated laughter that held no mirth, only malice.
“Come on.” Maedhros grabbed his hand and pulled him along down the path, both of them quickening their pace now, until the trees opened up into a wide meadow filled with flowers, bright yellow celandine and dandelions and sweet-scented pale chamomile mingling with cornflowers and irises. On…
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Crablor Day
A day dedicated to everyone's favourite warcriminal crustacean - April 26, 2026
The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.
Celebrimbor will probably make a few more appearances in Maedhros and Fingon's world, and Maedhros will probably visit his workshops in Tirion and Formenos. This particular Celebrimbor prefers to spend time in the North.
Oh, what an excellent explanation how Maedhros's attempt to decorate the room with lilac came about!
I was just sitting in the sunshine today with the printout of the next chapter of Midwinter's Feast and thinking what a wonderful cousin your Celebrimbor is to have, for Celebrian, despite all the looming issues.
And here, he is, being equally wonderful, extending understanding, encouragement, and forgiveness!
I think Celebrimbor is a very good cousin to Celebrian and I think he'd be a good kinsman and friend to Maedhros here. They've certain similarities in experience and in temperament that I think would help them to understand one another.
Celebrimbor, in A Midwinter's Feast, is an interesting character to write; we see him from Celebrian's perspective so it is a little softer than it might be from another view, much as that of her mother is sterner than might appear from another angle. I think, in the last chapter or two, there are certain complexities that may be more apparent about him and some of which are difficult, but he means so very well.
I think that is a lesson that Celebrimbor was, for understandable reasons, slow to learn, and I do not think he would want someone else to wait as long as he did to accept the fact and gift of being loved in whatever form love comes.
Himring's Maedhros and her Celebrimbor, though this one is a partly my own rendering, are very lovely, and I am very glad she asked for someone to play a little in the world she's made.
Thank you. It was lovely to write and to play in Himring's world of Maedhros and Fingon for a little while. I think, in this case, Celebrimbor would have a lot to offer his uncle.
Comments on In Bloom
The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.