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April Challenge Tolkien Short Fanworks

Here is the tolkienshortfanworks challenge for April.

Thematic prompt:

Fool, foolish, to fool: write about somebody being a fool or being fooled or wrongly accused of foolishness.
While this is obviously inspired by the date of 1 April and you can certainly write about a prank, if you like, you may also want to consider that foolishness is a wider theme in Tolkien's works, especially in The Lord of the Rings, which often asks what is true foolishness and true wisdom?

Optional quotation prompts (all well-known and I am sure you can think of more):
1)
Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!
2)
Just a fool's hope
3)
Thou fool. No living man may hinder me! 


Formal challenge:

Inspired by the form of haibun, which is a combination of a prose piece and a following haiku on the same subject: write a short piece of verse (any form you like) to go along with a prose piece, for example as a summary or introduction.


As usual, these two prompt sets can be filled separately or combined.

Usual reminder that in order to post the fill to this community or to the related collection on AO3 (linked in a sticky post at the top), the fanwork can only have a word count up to 1000 words and must be linked to a Tolkien fandom.
Rec lists and podfics can be posted as fills for thematic prompts, as long as the fanworks concerned meet those conditions.

Also we continue to welcome other pieces unrelated to any challenge, of course, including cross-posts and older stories, as long as they meet the criteria!

DaeMags Day

What is Daemags Day?

A one-day mini-event to encourage the creation and enjoyment of the ship Daeron/Maglor.

How can I participate in Daemags Day?

1.

Create and post fanworks on (or around, no one's checking) April 12, 2026 centring a romantic/sexual relationship between Daeron and Maglor. Writing, art, meta, headcanons, playlists, podfics, etc etc are all welcome. Find the AO3 Collection here. As the collection is also a "Prompt Meme" (see 3, below), you will need to add non-prompt works through the Post New / Edit Work page. Look for "Post to Collections / Challenges" and search for daemags_day.

2.

Spread the love with Daemags recs, comments, and shares on Tumblr, Discord, or wherever you find your fandom joy!

3.

Post and/or fill prompts in the collection. More about prompts.

Are you posting prompts on the blog?

No, but there's Daemags inspo queued on the blog leading up to the event, and you can check what others have prompted in the collection!

Are 'Daeron & Maglor' works eligible for this event?

This event is for exploring a romantic/sexual relationship between the characters, but works which explore where lines blur between romantic and platonic are welcome. As long as you would tag it Daeron/Maglor, it's eligible!

What about works that also feature other ships?

Multishipping is very welcome! Your work should centre Daeron/Maglor but other characters can definitely be involved with one or both of them, and background relationships without either of them are also allowed.

Still have questions? Send an Ask!

Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026

• FAQ
• Event Rules
• How-To Guides

Schedule 

• March

  1: 2025 Gallery Opens

  The Gallery for 2025 is live! Enjoy the beautiful pieces created for last year’s TRSB!

  22: Suggestion Form Opens

  This form gives potential authors (or anyone else who wants to play!) the opportunity to suggest characters, places and scenarios they would like to see in the submitted art. We will post a link to the form on our Tumblr and here on the website. The answers will feed into a publicly available spreadsheet listing the ideas submitted; artists can peruse this to get inspired!

• April

  12: Sign-ups Open

  We post links to our sign-up form on all the usual platforms. You can then sign up as an artist, an author, a beta, a cheerleader, a pinch hitter, or as two or more of these. Please see the ‘Sign-ups’ section of the FAQ for more details on what these terms mean.

• May

  3: Artist Sign-up Deadline

  9: Art Draft Due

  Participating art submissions must be sent to the mods by this date to be eligible for the Claims Gallery. 
  For more details on how to do this, see the ‘Art Submissions’ section of the FAQ. Artists may submit up to two pieces of art, for claiming by two separate authors.

  10: Discord Server Opens

  Come hang out with your fellow participants!

  15: Art Previews Open

  Our online gallery of art prompts will be visible to signed-up participants only.  Signed-up authors can browse the artworks and see which pieces appeal to their muses!

  16-17: Discord Art Talks

  These are live chats on Discord with mod presence – start times to be announced – where we go through the beautiful gallery and admire the work of our artists. It has been great fun in past years!

  20: Author Signups Deadline

  23 (Saturday) 17:00 UTC: CLAIMS

  Authors submit a ranked list of the artworks they would like to claim to write fic for. Claims are on a first-come, first-served basis. One artwork will be allocated to each claiming author; the mods will email you to confirm which piece you have successfully claimed and how to get in touch with your artist. See the ‘Claims’ section of the FAQ for more information.

  What time is that for me?

  TBA – Additional Claims

  If any artworks are left unclaimed, we will hold one or more additional claiming rounds as needed. Generally, there will be 24 hours between rounds, but the timing is at the mods’ discretion. The additional round(s) will be announced to signed-up participants by email and on the TRSB Discord.

  31: Post-Claims Check-in

  The mods will email each artist/author pair to ensure that you have successfully established contact – even if you are not planning on a close collaboration, it is polite to check in with your partner, say hello, and make sure you’re both clear on must-haves and do-not-wants. One person from your pair must respond and confirm that you have done this!

• June

  14: Free Rein Art Due

  We know some artists like to give their authors as much creative freedom as possible, and we have a dedicated collaboration option for this (see ‘Art Submissions’ FAQs). However, this means we require these artists to share the final art with their authors much earlier than artists who are prepared to be more involved.

• July

  12: Check-in #2

  The mods will email each pair to ensure everything is on track. One person from your pair must respond – see ‘Check Ins’ in the FAQ.

• August

  9: Final Art Due

  Artists must share the final art with their authors – but don’t post it yet!
  Don’t email it to the mods.

  16: Final Check-in (#3)

  Deadline to abandon your fic to a pinch hitter. There will be no penalty for dropping out on or before this date. This year we ask both collaborators to contact the mods at the final check-in.

  The mods will email all participants beforehand to ensure everything is still on track. We will ask you to confirm:

  • Whether the art is complete (Artists: did you share it with your author? Authors: have you seen the final art?)
  • Whether you have discussed posting logistics (ie, have you talked about how the art will be posted (embedded and/or posted separately to the collection), who will handle promo posting, any specific posting needs)

  26: Art Can Be Posted

  Artworks can be posted to your preferred platform on or after this date (but before they are due in the collection).  Hype your collab wherever you like and get the excitement going! Artists should ensure that their author has received a link to the art for embedding or linking in the finished fic as agreed upon before August 30th (deadline for posting the fic to the collection).

  30: Fic Due In Collection

  Authors should post their stories in our AO3 collection with the artwork embedded or linked. See the “Posting fic” section of our FAQ.

• September

  5: COLLECTION REVEALS

Leaf & Lore: A Tolkien Writing Month

Start a story, work on a WIP, finish a fic, dabble in drabbles, pen a poem, type a tale, or otherwise wrestle with words. Set your own goal: Leaf & Lore is all up to you. 

🌿 🌿 🌿

Welcome! Brought to you by @idleleaves, Leaf & Lore: A Tolkien Writing Month is a Tolkien-centric writing challenge that runs from the 1st-30th of April and the 1st-30th of November.

Any and all parts of the Legendarium are welcome, from The Hobbit, LotR, and The Silmarillion to The History of Middle-earth series to film and TV adaptations of Tolkien's works.

Leaf & Lore is choose-your-own-goal - you can go with a traditional fic word count goal (from the easily achievable to the truly challenging) or you can participate in another way. Maybe you'd like to set a goal of editing a long fic instead, or complete a set amount of chapters, or even write meta? Goals can be changed or updated at any time, too. And if you're more of a reader than a writer, come join in as a beta or a cheerleader!

The Discord server will have both scheduled and impromptu write-ins, weekly low-pressure check-ins, plus channels for Tolkien chat, fic chat, snippets and sharing, and of course an off-topic channel as well. You can ask for a beta or a cheerleader at any time, too! 

🌿 🌿 🌿 

APRIL 2026 SCHEDULE:

• March 20 - Discord server opens! Time to sign up and declare your goals! There will be a sign-up form posted here so you can be e-mailed the invite link to the Discord server.
• Check-Ins - April 9, 16, 23, and 30.
• Official Write-In Sessions - April 11 and 25 at 16:00 UTC and 20:00 UTC each time.
• May 10 - Server closes! See you in November!

🌿 🌿 🌿 

FAQ is right here!

🌿 🌿 🌿

Feanorian Week 2026

Feanorian Week Reminder (2026)

Hello Silmarillion Fandom! This is your reminder that Feanorian week will be taking place next month. Below are updated prompts (you are still allowed to suggest prompts)! When is it?:   March 23rd, 2026—March 29th, 2026       

The prompts are as followed:

• Day 1- Maedhros - > Childhood, Kingship, Angband, Coping, The Union, Relations with Different Races
• Day 2-Maglor -> Childhood, Spouse,  Music & Songs of Power, Elrond & Elros, Kingship, Maglor’s  Gap, Redemption
• Day 3- Celegorm - > Childhood, Hunting, Orome & Huan, Strength & Beauty, Luthien, Nargothrond
• Day 4- Caranthir - > Childhood, Spouse, Betrayal, Lordship, Dwarves & Humans, Marriage, Appearance
• Day  5- Curufin - > Childhood, Spouse, Celebrimbor, Forge Work
• Day  6- Ambarussa - > Childhood, Lordship, Regrets, Twin, Hunting, Nandor
• Day 7- Nerdanel and Feanor-> Mahtan, Finwe & Indis, Marriage, Reunion, Traveling, Creation, Healing

Rules: You are allowed to post anything fanrelated on the days.  If the prompts are not to your liking, you can do your own thing.  The tracktag is #feanorianweek.  Tag your work accordingly!  Have fun and be nice to others. Disrespect towards others will not be tolerated. 

March Challenge - Tolkien Short Fanworks

Thank you for your engagement with this community during the past month!

Here is the tolkienshortfanworks challenge for March.

It is the 20th anniversary of B2MeM (Back to Middle-earth Month) this year, so I am picking prompts with this (and with this year's event running throughout this month) in mind.

Thematic prompt:

Spring or Autumn.
Below is a selection of relevant (optional) quotation prompts from B2MeM 2014: Seasons of Middle-earth.
You can find more seasonal prompts to revisit on this page:
https://b2mem.livejournal.com/247842.html

1) "The dragon was dead, and the goblins overthrown, and their hearts looked forward after winter to a spring of joy." (The Hobbit, "The Return Journey")
2) "Spring surpassed his wildest hopes. His trees began to sprout and grow, as if time was in a hurry and wished to make one year do for twenty." (Return of the King, "The Grey Havens")
3) "And these trees grew and grew, till the shadow of each was like a green hall, and their red berries in the autumn were a burden, and a beauty and a wonder." (The Two Towers, "Treebeard")


Formal challenge:

Your response should respond to the number 20, as: 20 lines, a multiple of 20 words, 20 sentences or sections, etc.


As usual, these two prompt sets can be filled separately or combined.

Usual reminder that in order to post the fill to this community or to the related collection on AO3 (linked in a sticky post at the top), the fanwork can only have a word count up to 1000 words and must be linked to a Tolkien fandom.
Rec lists and podfics can be posted as fills for thematic prompts, as long as the fanworks concerned meet those conditions.

Also we continue to welcome other pieces unrelated to any challenge, of course, including cross-posts and older stories, as long as they meet the criteria!

Celegorm and Curufin Week 2026

HELLO EVERYONE and welcome to the THIRD(!!!!!) year of Celegorm and Curufin week! Much like Celegorm and Curufin, I do not know when to quit. Our event will take place once again in the third week of March, from the 16th to the 23rd.

Rules

(bonus bingo)

Prompts

Mar. 16 - 17th: Celegorm | Reunions

I think he deserves something nice so here is something nice for Celegorm. Or perhaps it can be an utterly miserable reunion— there are many crimes for Celegorm (or Curufin) to answer to, and many relationships that he’s abandoned that may come back to bite him once more. This prompt can utilize both themes, or just one of them. Or even none!

Mar. 18 - 19th: Curufin | Betrayals

Because that is what Curufin does best. This prompt can utilize both themes, or just one of them (or neither if you dare!). What sort of betrayals, both metaphorical and literal, were committed for Curufin (or Celegorm) to get to where they are today?

Mar. 20 - 21st: Himlad era

Celegorm and Curufin’s reign in Himlad is glossed over quite heavily in the Silmarillion. What were they doing in that cool plain? What the fuck was Celegorm during the Aredhel event? How the hell did Curufin meet Eöl? What was the founding of Himlad and the fortress at Aglon like?

Mar. 22 - 23rd: Relationships

Celegorm and Curufin didn’t just hang out with eachother (or maybe they did?). What was their relationship like with their parents, brothers, cousins, uncles? Who were their unnamed friends and enemies, possibly even lovers? Just who were Celegorm’s cruel servants?

Tolkien Fashion Week 2026

Welcome to Tolkien Fashion Week!

✨The week for clothes and jewelry in Tolkien's world✨

RUNNING FROM THE 16TH TO THE 29TH MARCH

This event is held by @tar-thelien

This week is dedicated to honoring the world Tolkien wrote about in his books.

To participate, tag your submission #tolkien fashionweek 2026 and/or #tolkien fashionweek and mention this blog. This event does allow film adaptations, which I will tag as #tolkien fashionweek film adaptation, so while not a must, I would appreciate it if those submitting those would tag it (read reason in How to Join & Allowed Content) I will be sharing late submissions when I see them, so if you don´t finish in time, no need to fear :)

How to Join & Allowed Content 
Prompts & Days 
Rules & Tag System

Day 1 - Races┃Ainur & Elves & Orcs & Men & Dwarves & Hobbits 

Day 2 - Cultures┃Different groups in Races 

Day 3 - Classes & Professions┃Working class & Upper class & Uniforms 

Day 4 - Seasons & Weather & Climate┃What is worn in different seasons and weather & What effect does climate and flora have 

Day 5 - Casual┃Under clothes & Layering & Daily life & Children and adults 

Day 6 - Formal┃Holidays & Celebration & Rituals 

Day 7 - Import & Export┃What materials are imported and what is exported 

Day 8 - Differences & Meetings┃Interactions & Trade 

Day 9 - Off the Map┃Lands not named & Immigration/Migration & Nomads 

Day 10 - Across the Ages┃Years of the Lamps & Years of the Trees & First Age of the Sun 

Day 11 - Across the Ages┃Second Age & Third Age & Fourth Age 

Day 12 - Hair & Makeup┃Hairstyles & Makeup trends 

Day 13 - Fiber & Jewelry & Material┃How is it made & Who makes it & What is it made out off 

Day 14 - AU┃AU designs

Tolkien Sea Week 2026

Have you ever noticed how many of Tolkien's characters are connected to the sea? Or that quite a few water-related events take place throughout the ages? Have you ever wanted to explore elven sea-longing or the vast mystery of what goes on underneath the waves in your work? Do you love characters like Ulmo, Elwing, Maglor and Tuor? then come join Tolkien Sea Week! A week for celebrating the repeated water and sea motifs in Tolkien's work. The event will run on Tumblr and AO3 from February 22-28, 2026.

Rules

Prompts

Tolkien Seminar 2026 – Call for Papers [EN] & Scholarship

Environment, the World around us, and the Connatural World in Tolkien’s Works

Call for Papers for the 22^nd Tolkien Seminar of the German Tolkien Society 16-18 October 2026,
at the Environmental Education Centre in Augsburg

Paper requirements

“I am home among the trees.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter “The Old Forest”)

Forests, rivers, mountains and meadows are much more than mere backdrops in Middle-earth: they are carriers of history, mythological significance and ethical orientation. At the same time, many stories in Tolkien’s oeuvre are marked by environmental destruction, industrialisation and the loss of ways of life close to nature – topics that are gaining new relevance in light of current ecological crises.

The 22^nd edition of the Tolkien Seminar is dedicated to the topic of “Environment, the World around us, and the Connatural World in Tolkien’s works”, because Tolkien always constructs ‘world’ as a multi-layered structure of ‘environment’, ‘the world around us’ and ‘connatural world’. His narrative structure and ethical orientation are based on an interplay of these dimensions: the environment calls for preservation, the ‘world around us’ calls for critical reflection on boundaries, and the ‘connatural world’ calls for solidarity and responsibility. This semantic differentiation not only allows for deeper insights into Tolkien’s narrative worlds, but also links them to contemporary discourses on ecology, community and transcendence.

Tolkien addresses ecological issues early on, particularly in his portrayal of nature and technology, for example in the contrast between the Ents and Saruman’s industry. In this light, ‘the world around us’ becomes a poetic admonition: the world is not just our surroundings, but our ‘fellow beings’. At the same time, the semantic differentiation highlights Tolkien’s philological thinking, in which the deconstruction and revitalisation of language functions as an act of cognition. Reflection on ‘the world around us’ and ‘connatural world’ can thus be understood as a Tolkienesque approach to the ethical, linguistic and ecological depth of his world-building.

The aim of this seminar is to bring together academic contributions from various disciplines that deal with questions of the relationship to nature, ecological ethics and the representation of the environment in Tolkien’s works. An interdisciplinary view of Tolkien can offer a holistic perspective on sustainability issues in their ecological, economic, social and cultural complexity. Both textual analyses and interdisciplinary approaches – for example from ecology, sociology, philosophy or media studies – are welcome.

The conference will take place at the Augsburg Environmental Education Centre, the central location for questions of sustainability, environmental issues and the future in Augsburg. The Environmental Education Centre is located on the edge of Augsburg’s city centre, but also borders one of the largest urban drinking water and nature reserves in Europe, thus enabling spatial proximity to complex questions about the ‘environment’ and ‘connatural world’.

Possible starting points for lectures could be:

• What surrounding, engulfing and separating significance do rivers, lakes and seas have in Tolkien’s mythology?
• How are they staged symbolically, narratively or geographically?
• To what extent can ideas of sustainable economic and living practices be recognised in Tolkien’s depiction of rural life, for example in the Shire?
• What ideals and warnings does the work convey with regard to the treatment of the natural environment?

Seminar and entry informations

The 22^nd Seminar of the German Tolkien Society is supported by Walking Tree Publishers and will take place in a hybrid format (predominantly in person but with online options) at the Environmental Education Centre Augsburg on 16-18 October 2026.

Interested applicants are requested to send a short abstract (no longer than one page) and a short biography as well as their preference (attendance in person or online presentation) to Thomas Fornet-Ponse by 31 May 2026: hither-shore@tolkiengesellschaft.de

DTG Conference Scholarship

The DTG offers one conference scholarship for early career researchers in the field of Tolkien studies for the 22^nd DTG Tolkien Seminar (Augsburg, 16 to 18 October 2026).

The following specifications apply:

• Applicants must be students, PhD candidates, or PostDoc researchers with (at the time of application) no more than one academic publication in the field of Tolkien studies, and be no older than 35 years.
• Applications, consisting of a brief CV and a short presentation of any Tolkien-related research or other activities, can be submitted together with the abstract for the conference presentation.
• The Board of Editors of Hither Shore, in consultation with the Board of the DTG, awards the scholarship. The Board of Editors of Hither Shore decides about the acceptance of submissions for the conference independently, so that applicants who did not succeed in securing a scholarship may still be invited to present their paper at the conference.
• The scholarship is meant to cover all travel and accommodation expenses connected to the conference, as well as the conference dinner costs, up to but not exceeding € 500. The scholarship holder is reimbursement after the seminar and once the receipts have been submitted. Each scholarship holder receives a certificate of achievement at the conference.
• The scholarship holder is to submit his/her paper for publication in Hither Shore. It undergoes the same peer-review process as all other submissions.

Please send scholarship applications for the 22^nd DTG conference on ‘Environment, the World around us, and the Connatural World in Tolkien’ (Augsburg, 16 to 18 October 2026) till 31 May 2026 to:

Thomas Fornet-Ponse: hither-shore@tolkiengesellschaft.de