Around the World and Web includes announcements and items of interest from beyond the SWG.
Ainur Week 2026
Ainur Week will be returning from November 16 to 22, 2026.
Glorthelion Week 2026
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
Hello everyone and welcome to another year of Glorthelion week! An entire week dedicated to Glorfindel and Ecthelion relationship.
The event will run on Tumblr from November 16th to November 22nd. All creations are welcome, as long as it is created by you. Don't forget to tag #glorthelionweek and mention the blog (to make sure I can see your creation in case tags don't work).
Prompts are not mandatory! You can follow them, be inspired by them or let your imagination go wild and create whatever you want! Event rules can be found here.
Prompts 2026:
↳ Day one: A Glance across the Square | The Bells of Festivals | Gifts of the Heart
↳ Day two: Words in the Dark | Following the Star | The Weight of the Sword
↳ Day three: Silver and Gold | Sun and Moon | The Roar of the Waterfall
↳ Day four: Silver Flutes | The Language of Flowers | Water Mirrors
↳ Day five: A Final Glance | Entrusted Secrets | "I will find you again"
↳ Day six: Ashes and Sorrow | Waiting in Mandos | Forever Changed
↳ Day seven: Beyond the Circles of the World | Constellations | The Promise Kept
Happy creating!
Nolofinwëan Week 2026
Nolofinwëan week welcomes fan creations centering any members of the House of Fingolfin and their descendants through the ages.
Nolofinwëan week welcomes fan creations centering any members of the House of Fingolfin and their descendants through the ages.
To Participate:
- Create fanfiction, fanart, headcanons, close readings and musings, moodboards, photography, rec lists or anything else that inspires you to celebrate Nolofinwëan characters.
- Mention the blog @nolofinweanweek in your post and include the hashtag #nolofinweanweek2025 in the first 10 tags.
- If you would like, add your work to the AO3 collection.
- Take inspiration from the nonmandatory daily prompts.
- Complete one or more of the community challenges.
Rules & Requirements:
- There are no minimum or maximum requirements; anything goes!
- There are no content restrictions or rules on tagging beyond what AO3 requires of you. If you post to tumblr and your fill is Mature or Explicit, and/or falls under one of AO3’s major warnings, please provide tagging on your post, though!
- That said, please refrain from using genAI.
- This fest operates firmly under the premises of ‘don’t like; don’t read,’ ‘ship and let ship’ and ‘your kink is not my kink but that’s okay’ (if you’re unfamiliar with these concepts, see this post). We will not tolerate any shaming, harassment, or attempts to police content.
The mod runs on CET, but folks can post content or interact with the blog at their convenient time.
All prompts are non-obligatory—feel free to interpret as loosely or closely, to cross-match, or to ignore altogether!
Day 1: It Was But a Dream
- Characters: Turgon, Anairë, Idril
- Silmarillion Phrase: “poured forth their joy in music and song”
- Inspirational art:
Amber Fort, Jaipur #1 Photograph by Inger Hogstrom
Day 2: Breath of Darkness
- Characters: Elenwë, Argon
- Silmarillion Phrase: “there was now no returning”
- Inspirational art:
The Night Is Stirring (Anger) by Zao Wou-Ki
Day 3: Light Splinters the Sky
- Characters: Eöl, Eärendil, Gil-galad
- Silmarillion Phrase: “as a naked flame”
- Inspirational art:
Day 4: Embraced in the Mist
- Characters: Fingon, Aredhel
- Silmarillion Phrase: “green things even among the pits and broken rocks”
- Inspirational art:
Shan-Shui style painting by Yang Tianyou
Day 5: Flames Arising in Might
- Characters: Fingolfin, Maeglin
- Silmarillion Phrase: “shadows of madness and despair”
- Inspirational art:
Burning the Slums of Nairobi by Kiure Francis Msangi
Day 6: The Sea’s Embrace
- Characters: Elros, Elwing, Tuor
- Silmarillion Phrase: “still hope may seem bright”
- Inspirational art:
Moon Trace Art Installation by Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
Day 7: New Beginnings; Old Longings
- Characters: Elrond, Celebrían, Peredhil Descendants
- Silmarillion Phrase: “love would lead me”
- Inspirational art:
14th International Tolkien Mailing Competition
The Hungarian Tolkien Society invites you to join the international “Quendi” category of the Tolkien Mailing Competition: five rounds of quizzes, riddles and creative tasks. This category is organised in English, open to any individual participant, and also to teams of 2–5 people. The five rounds of the competition will last from November to April. Application deadline: 5 November, 2026.
The Tolkien Mailing Competition ("TLV" abbreviated from its Hungarian equivalent "Tolkien Levelező Verseny") takes place for the 21st time this year—and it is international for the 14th time. In the first years it was organised only in Hungarian, and only for groups of Hungarian students aged 10–18-years. As many people above this age group became interested in the competition, we launched a separate category for individuals in Hungarian, and at the same time we decided to go international. The outcome was definitely encouraging. In the past few years the international Quendi category had many participants (and for a while even an organiser) from various foreign countries: you can see here the final results of the previous competition.
(Click here for the Hungarian article about all categories.)
In the international Quendi category both the challenges and the communication will be entirely in English—but you don't have to be perfectly fluent in English for taking part in the competition. You only have to be able to understand the texts by Tolkien, and maybe to write a story or an essay—it does not have to be of academic level. The competition was originally devised for middle and high school students, and we did not make big changes in the style, but it is open to anybody who feels young enough for it. You can always choose to count your years by Elvish standards!
Participation in the Quendi category requires a thorough knowledge of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Other works by Tolkien may be needed occasionally, as some questions (riddles, quizzes, etc.) can refer to those, but you will have about four weeks for each round, that is, plenty of time to look up in the books everything you might need.
Besides the quizzes, there will be creative challenges. For example, you may be asked to describe a situation, write a short poem, make a drawing or take a photograph, etc. We would like to be proud of our participants, so we ask you to share the rights of your creative productions royalty-free (and you accept this condition by your registration for the competition). Your works—with due credit to authors/artists—might be published by the Hungarian Tolkien Society, e.g. on our website, www.tolkien.hu, or in our journal, the Lassi Laurië. (You can read about Lassi Laurië in English here.) Please do not publish these works yourself without consulting us first, and especially not before the end of the competition. (Artwork submitted by teams is credited as teamwork by default, but you can add the name of the actual author/artist for each piece.)
You can participate in the Quendi category alone as an individual competitor, or you can participate as a member of a team of 2–5 people. The individual competitors and the teams will receive the same set of tasks, but the winner will be announced separately for individuals and teams.
As an individual competitor, you can make the decision to solve only the quizzes or only the creative tasks in each round: besides the absolute winners of the individual and team subcategories, the separate winners of the lexical and the creative parts will also be announced. This choice is only available for individual competitors, teams are expected to do the full version!
We will go on with the team competition only if we receive at least 5 applications from teams. If we have to cancel the team competition, team members will have the opportunity to compete on their own or to withdraw their application. There is also a maximum limit of 60 competitors (individuals and teams counted together) in the Quendi category (and we got quite close to this limit last year).
The contest starts in November and continues until April. Every month you will receive the questions of the next round (five rounds overall), and you will have to submit your solutions until the indicated deadline (you will have about four weeks for each round). Communication is done via e-mail. Our e-mail address is tlv[at]tolkien.hu: questions and comments are always welcome there. We are happy to answer all your questions about the competition—except disclosing the solutions of the actual tasks.
Not submitting your solutions for two consecutive rounds means quitting the competition.
There will be no prizes in the international category, only the public announcement of your achievement and a certificate sent by e-mail. There is no registration fee, either.
If you want to participate, please fill in this online registration form.
Registration as an individual competitor: choose the “I am competing alone.” option on the form.
Registration as a team: each team member should fill in a registration form separately, choose the “I am a member of a team of 2-5 people.” option, and provide the same team name. We also need a contact person for each team. Please agree on a unique team name and choose a contact person from the team before starting the registration.
You should see an automatic confirmation message after the successful registration, but if you are in doubt about the success of your registration, ask the organisers via e-mail whether they have received your registration or not! You should receive the first round of tasks during the week after the application deadline. If you do not receive it, write to us!
The application deadline is:
5 November, 2026
Tolkien Food Week 2026
Tolkien food week 2026 themes
2nd of November- Dùnedain travel food
3rd Nov- plant-based
4th Nov- hobbit hole recipes
5th Nov - Elven feasts
6th Nov - at the Prancing pony
7th Nov- Dwarven banquets
8th Nov - at the Valar's table 🦅
Fics, recipes, ficlets, art, photos, polls, crack... have fun
These are mere suggestions ofc, you absolutely can post when you want on theme or not 😉
(Headers/banners here if you want)
The White Oliphaunt 2026
Sign ups will open on November 1st, 2026. See the blog linked in this announcement for more details.
Around the World and Web Archive
Events listed here are no longer active but are listed on the site for historical purposes.
Ainur Week 2023
Ainur Week will be taking place Friday, September 1 to Saturday, September 9 on Tumblr. This is a Tolkien fandom week dedicated to the Ainur, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional species. The Ainur, including the Valar and Maiar, are the first beings created by Eru Ilúvatar in the Professor’s lore. They are powerful, mysterious, and even controversial. Come celebrate the Ainur by creating fanworks centered around them!
You can create art, fics, graphics, playlists, meta, headcanons, or any other type of fanwork. When you post your work, make sure to mention this blog (@ainurweek) and put “ainur week” or “ainurweek” in the first 20 tags.
Prompts
Day 1
Manwë | Varda | Eönwë | Ilmarë
Power dynamics | Life among the stars | Flight
Day 2
Aulë | Yavanna | Curumo | Aiwendil
Craftsmanship | Relationship with Nature
Day 3
Ulmo | Ossë | Uinen | Salmar
Romance | Relationship with Elves
Day 4
Oromë | Vána | Arien | Tilion
Hunting | Family dynamics | Legends
Day 5
Mandos | Vairë | The Blue Wizards
Death | Fate | Travel
Day 6
Lórien | Estë | Melian
Dreams | Healing | Friendship
Day 7
Tulkas | Nessa | Balrogs
War | Dance | Darkness
Day 8
Nienna | Olórin
Grief | Mercy | Light
Day 9
Melkor | Mairon
Chaos | Corruption | Redemption
Code of Conduct
1. Do not repost other people’s fanworks without their explicit permission.
2. Respect other people’s interpretations of Tolkien’s characters and relationships. Do you disagree with a certain ship or a creator’s perspective on a character? Please keep that to yourself.
3. Fanworks that are bigoted/ prejudiced in their messaging are not allowed. You may, however, depict instances of bigotry/ prejudice in your fanwork. E.g. You can write about characters experiencing sexism, but fanworks that endorse or promote sexism are not permitted.
Violation of these rules will result in your being blocked.
August Challenge at tolkienshortfanworks on Dreamwidth
The August Challenge has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth.
We are doing something slightly different this month.
Co-mod Lferion has very kindly offered us an image prompt, featuring their lovely artwork.
The piece is called Elven Elements.
New participants welcome. For more details on the challenge go to the linked post.
Innumerable Stars 2023
Innumerable Stars is a Tolkien fandom gift exchange for all works by Tolkien or associated with Middle-earth.
People Who Participate in Innumerable Stars are:
★ Interested in and excited about multiple Tolkien-based canons.
☆ Interested in their fellow fans’ creativity in fanfiction and fanart, and excited to explore their own.
★ Open to creating and receiving any one of a number of different prompts or ideas.
☆ Happy to read and comment on the fanwork(s) they receive with thanks first of all, but also to read and comment on other fanworks in the exchange.
People Who Participate in Innumerable Stars will:
★ Generally read and create for a variety of slash, gen, het, adventures, fluff, dark, erotica, worldbuilding, etc.
☆ Create their fanwork following their recipient’s prompts in good faith, and receive the fanwork(s) that have been given to them in good faith also.
★ Also write or draw “treats” for others in the exchange, if their own time and inspiration permits after they have completed their assignment,. These are not required but they add to the fun and excitement of the exchange!
☆ Create their fanwork without the use of AI, be it in writing or art.
What Innumerable Stars is NOT:
You do not have to be open to or interested in every type of fanwork to participate. However, Innumerable Stars is not for anyone interested in just one character, pairing, or scenario. Nor is it for people who find stories or art containing material they are not interested in offensive because it exists. If either of these apply, we wish you well, but this is not the exchange for you.
Links
AO3 Collection | Tumblr | LiveJournal RSS Feed
Schedule
Nominations Open: Sunday, 06 August 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Nominations Close: Sunday, 20 August 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Sign-ups Open: Sunday, 20 August 2023, 11:59 PM UTC
Sign-ups Close: Sunday, 03 September 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Assignments Out: Monday, 04 September 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Assignments Due: Sunday, 15 October 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Works Revealed: Sunday, 22 October 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Authors Revealed: Sunday, 29 October 2023, 8:00 PM UTC
Silvergifting Week 2023
Silvergifting Week will happen on Tumblr August 7-13, 2023!
This is the second year of the week-long event that celebrates the relationship between Celebrimbor and Mairon | Annatar | Sauron. The event wants to encourage people to create fanworks focused on Celebrimbor/Mairon pairing (including Celebrimbor/Annatar and Celebrimbor/Sauron). Fan art, fan fiction, headcanon, moodboards, fan crafts, cosplay, fan videos, meta ... all kinds of fan works are welcome!
This year, there are optional word prompts for days 1-5 you can use in addition to the main prompts.
List of prompts
Day 1 (August 7): Beginnings | First Meetings
Optional word prompt for Day 1: Delicious meal
Day 2 (August 8): Crafting | Community
Optional word prompt for Day 2: Curious cat
Day 3 (August 9): Soulmates | Marriage | Bonding
Optional word prompt for Day 3: Beautiful gift
Day 4 (August 10): Betrayal | Captured | Bad Ending
Optional word prompt for Day 4: Corrupting touch
Day 5 (August 11): Post-canon | New beginnings
Optional word prompt for Day 5: Nimble fingers
Day 6 (August 12): Canon divergence | Alternate universe
Day 7 (August 13): Freeform
Tolkien of Colour Week 2023
Tolkien of Colour Week will run 31 July - 6 August 2023 on Tumblr and AO3.
Any form of content is welcome. Tag @tolkienofcolourweek in your post and #tocweek2023.
This year there is a Ao3 collection!
The prompts below are only suggestions. There are two sets of prompts - Peoples | Themes. You can use both sets of prompts or just one.
Day 1: Ainur | Faith, Hope, Festivals
Day 2: Elves | Home, Lands, Journeys
Day 3: Men | Ancestors/Descendants, Tradition, Stories
Day 4: Dwarves | Music, Artwork, Clothing
Day 5: Hobbits | Family, Friendship, Romance
Day 6: Mixed | Community, Language, Belonging
Day 7: Freeform | Intersectionality, Sexuality, Gender, Intersex, Disability
Call for Papers: 2024 Kalamazoo Congress
The 59th International Congress on Medieval Studies will be held in a hybrid format, Thursday through Saturday, 9-11 May 2024) at Western Michigan University. Six sessions on Tolkien are offered this year. Note that some sessions are in-person and others are virtual.
- Tolkien's Leeds Legacy: A Reconsideration of His Work as a Medievalist (In-person)
- Tolkien and "The Battle of Maldon" (In-person)
- Tolkien’s Problematic Medievalisms, A Roundtable (In-person)
- Flora, Fauna & Fantasy: Medieval Poets and J.R.R. Tolkien, co-sponsored with the Pearl Poet Society. (Virtual)
- Here Be Dragons: Tolkien at the Medieval Margins (co-sponsored with Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, University of Glasgow: Virtual)
- Tolkien and Disability (co-sponsored with Society for the Study of Disability in the Middle Ages: Virtual)
Proposals are due by 15 September 2023.
Multifandom Poetry Fest 2023
Welcome to the seventh annual Multifandom Poetry Fest, a prompt fest for poetry for all fandoms!
Rules
1) Leave a prompt in the form of fandom, characters or relationships, prompt. If you don’t want to specify the fandom or characters, you can say "any." One prompt per comment. Leave as many prompts as you like.
2) Reply to other people’s prompts with poems. The poems can be any length or form, or no form. Quality isn’t important--the point is to have fun, not to produce deathless works of art. (Any deathless works of art produced are just a bonus.)
LotR Ladies Week 2023
LotR Ladies Week will be a week-long event hosted on Tumblr, in order to celebrate the female characters in and around J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The event will run 17-23 July 2023.
We welcome all forms of fan creations centered around the women in the series: be it fics, fanart, edits, gifs, fanmixes, or whatever else you’d like to make!
Guidelines
- Tag your posts with #lotrladiesweek and mention @lotrladiessource
- We’re focusing on female characters from The Lord of the Rings itself & ones with connections to it, such as Second Age characters like Tar-Miriel, and characters from The Hobbit like Belladonna Took. There are many other amazing women from The Silmarillion and such, but this is the LotR ladies' chance to shine!
- Fanwork of all kind is welcome--art, fanfic, gifsets, graphic/aesthetic edits, fanmixes, headcanons, crafts, anything!
- Per our usual policy, we will not reblog NSFW content.
- Bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated.
Prompts
(Note: the prompts are completely non-mandatory and can be mixed and matched however you would like to use them! They’re just meant to provide a range of creative inspiration and you don’t have to use them at all!)
- Day 1: Hobbits | Warm colours | Resilience | Music/Lyrics | Fairytales & Legends
- Day 2: Women of the North | Cool colours | Love | Minimalism | Family
- Day 3: Dwarrowdams | Monochrome | Joy | Motifs | Language
- Day 4: Women of the South | Black & white | Courage | Typography | Parallels
- Day 5: Elves | Pastels | Grief | Portraits | Archetypes
- Day 6: Original Characters | Complementary Colours | Anger | Faceless | Textual ghosts
- Day 7: Freeform | Multicolour | Hope | Blending | Alternate Universes
Tolkien Pinup Calendar 2024
The Tolkien Pinup Calendar compiles a calendar of risque fanart of your favourite Tolkien characters! Most of the art is commissioned and in that way we are helping to support fan artists. There are other ways to participate, see the ‘roles’ section under FAQ.
In addition to the calendar, Main Commissioners can also submit fics inspired by the art! There will be an AO3 collection with the fics revealed at the end of the event.
Sign-ups are now open for main commissioners, artists, and donators!
To submit any ideas or view those others suggested, take a look at our Ideas Form post!
Frequently Asked Questions
Schedule
2023 Masterlist | Video | Downloadable Calendar for 2023
This is an 18+ event.
Just Leave a Comment Fest 2023
Just Leave a Comment Fest will run on Tumblr from 10-14 July 2023 with the objective of leaving as many comments during that time as possible. Daily themes are below but do not have to be used; the purpose is to rack up as many comments as possible.
Themes:
July 10: Old Fics/New Fics
July 11: <2K Words
July 12: AUs
July 13: Rarepair/Platonic
July 14: Surprise Flavor!
Post your totals at the end of the week using the tag #justleaveacomment.
