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.
July Challenge at tolkienshortfworks (Dreamwidth)
The July Challenge for tolkienshortfanworks on Dreamwidth has been posted.
The thematic challenge is:
a contrast in temperature, such as: hot/cold, sweltering/freezing, fire/ice, etc.
The formal challenge is:
news.
How does current news spread in Middle-earth?
Is it sung by bards and minstrels? Are there town criers? Are there broadsheets in large cities? Do military or administrative subordinates make regular reports?
Alternatively, can you imagine Valinorean radio or podcasts? A Fourth-Age website?
These prompts can be filled separately and freely combined with other challenges.
More details on the tolkienshortfanworks challenges at the linked Dreamwidth community post.
New participants welcome.
Interchanging Melodies: Online Summit on Tolkien and Religion
Interchanging Melodies aims to bring together diverse (a)religious voices to dialogue, lecture, and reflect on Tolkien's theology, his religious outlook, and (a)religious engagement with Tolkien from scholars and fans. The featured speakers will engage with topics from Tolkien from atheist/agnostic/animist perspectives to Tolkien and spiritual direction.You will have access to pre-recorded and live talks and interviews with Tolkien aficianados, where you can engage with them, ask the big questions about Tolkien, and incorporate these engagements into your own Tolkien experience.
Everyone will have access to lectures and interviews from ten notable Tolkien scholars that you can watch live or at your own pace. We will host online spaces where you can nerd out with other Tolkienists, ask speakers questions, and discover where you can interact with the featured Tolkien scholars' ongoing work.
Registration is donation-based, which can be free if that is what you can afford.
The complete Interchanging Melodies speaker list, schedule, and sign-up form can be found here.
Tolkien Gen Week 2023
This is a week to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.” There is a great wealth of wonderful gen content in the Tolkien fandom, but those creations are not always the most visible because of the shipping-focused nature of fandom at large. This week is an effort to give them the appreciation they deserve.
Tolkien Gen Week began in 2018 and occurred again in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and we’re back for more from July 4-10, 2023!
Any content and creations are welcome as long as it is non-romantic and non-sexual! You can create edits, gifs, fanart, fanfic, fanmixes, and more! Please tag your posts with #tolkiengenweek AND @ mention this blog @tolkiengenweek so they can be easily found. If your submission turns into a long post, please put what you can beneath a “Keep reading” divider. You may also post your creations to our AO3 collection.
Below are some prompts for each day of the week. They are not mandatory, but they are here to inspire you. This post will lead to an explanation for each one.
- DAY ONE: Family ● Mentorships ● Community
- DAY TWO: Friendship ● Animals ● Group Dynamic
- DAY THREE: Gray Spaces ● Enemies and Rivalries ● Fealty
- DAY FOUR: Solo ● Work and Craft ● Language
- DAY FIVE: Culture ● Diversity ● Traditions
- DAY SIX: Environment ● Places ● Objects and Symbols
- DAY SEVEN: Freeform
This event is being organized by @arofili. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to message this blog or my main.
For further clarification, check out our about, FAQ, code of conduct, and prompts pages! Happy creating!!
Independent Archives Survey
I have been running an independent archive for over sixteen years now. During that time, I've watched the Silmarillion Writers' Guild go from one archive of many in a crowded field to one of the only independent archives that remains active. Furthermore, the options available to build your own archive have dwindled, leaving fans who want a greater variety of archive choices without much of one.
Last year, I started thinking about how to support the rekindling of independent archives and drafted a tutorial for how to build an archive in Drupal (the platform the SWG uses) that I plan to record this summer. However, this is not the only approach. The recent attention drawn to various issues with the OTW/AO3 has only hastened the importance of fans having the option again of building their own archives.
It's my first day of summer break. I have two months to tackle what I can of this issue, so to get a handle on where people are on the subject and where it's best to focus my energy, I've put together a survey on independent archives.
If you create or read/view fanworks, I want to hear from you! You do not need to have interest in independent archives. Responses are anonymous, and the survey will remain open through 7 July 2023.
You can take the independent archives survey here.
Signal boosts and reblogs are much appreciated so that I can hear from as broad a group of participants as possible.
Going forward, I will be tagging Tumblr updates related to this work #independent archives.
Tolkien Society Seminar 2023: Tolkien and Religion
The Tolkien Society Seminar is a short conference of both researcher-led and non-academic presentations on a specific theme pertaining to Tolkien scholarship.The Society held three seminars in 2021 (Twenty-first Century Receptions of Tolkien, Tolkien and Diversity, and Translating and Illustrating Tolkien) and their online setting has seen increased interest with over 700 attendees from 52 countries at ‘Tolkien and Diversity’. After the seminar, all paper recordings from the seminars are uploaded onto the Tolkien Society’s YouTube channel. We are delighted to run hybrid seminars where delegates can enjoy discussions on Tolkien in person and online. The seminar "Secondary Believers, Secondary Worlds: Tolkien and Religion in the Twenty-First Century" will be held online on Sunday, 26th November. Registration is free. This seminar will be co-organised by The Tolkien Society and the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic! The schedule of presentations has been posted on the seminar's event page.
Horrorfic Bingo
Horrific Bingo is a challenge open to any fandom and pairing. However, due to the nature of the challenge (disturbing themes and sexual content), this challenge is open only for mature participants at the age of 18 or above.
The challenge doesn't have a deadline nor a schedule you need to follow. You just need to sign up, fill out the form and you can create anything anytime you want. The purposes are to inspire you to create something and maybe in some way making you have fun.
All media of creations are accepted whether it's a written fiction, an artwork, a playlist, or whatever you're inspired to make. This bingo has varying tropes and prompts from the general horror tropes to demonology-inspired prompts.
Note that it may take up to a week to receive your bingo card.
Upcoming Regional Moots from Signum University
Signum University regularly holds regional moots, fannish and scholarly gatherings that are focused on (but not limited to!) a theme. These moots are often hybrid and welcome attendees, as well as proposals for presentations.
Cascade Moot 2023: Be the Revolution!
September 23, 2023
Portland English Language Academy, Portland, OR
Five years after Ursula K LeGuin’s passing, her spirit and writings continue to revolutionize the genres, industry, and indeed the people she touched. What revolution has the life and legacy of LeGuin sparked and who or what will take us on from here? As she said, “You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.” Join us for a day of exploration and fellowship as we investigate revolutions across genre and time! Click here for more info and to register for the event.
Middle Moot 2023: Tolkien and the Anthropocene
October 14, 2023
Hawkeye Community College, Waterloo, IA
The keynote speaker and guest of honor for Middle Moot 2023 will be Janet Brennan Croft, the editor of Mythlore journal, author of War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and editor of Perilous and Fair: Women in the Works and Life of J.R.R. Tolkien. In addition, the Tolkien Professor, Corey Olsen, will be there! Click here for more info and to register for the event.
New England Moot 2023: Perilous Realms & Haunted Spaces
October 21, 2023
Studio Lab, Derry, NH
Whether you are inspired by the Bifröst, the Bermuda Triangle, Wonderland, or an ordinary-looking Wardrobe, New England Moot welcomes you to question how to define Perilous Realms & Haunted Spaces. How do you know when you’ve entered one? How does the experience of the unknown inform artistic creation? Join us as we traverse the blurry edge of boundaries and venture into the wildlands beyond. You may not be the same when you leave as you were when you arrived! Click here for more info and to register for the event.
Mountain Moot 2023: The Fellowship of Fandom
November 4, 2023
Denver Public Library, Bob Ragland Branch, Denver, CO
How do you engage with your favorite stories? Are you inspired to create your own original works? Do your favorite stories motivate you in your everyday life? What about the dark side of fandom? Have you ever been affected by gatekeeping, discrimination, or other forms of exclusionary behavior? What about toxic attitudes toward new works within your favorite properties? How can we do better deal with this shadow element of our communities? We hope you’ll join us for a lively discussion of all these issues at Mountain Moot 2023! Click here for more info and to register for the event.
Bayou Moot 2023: The Portrayal of Women in Legends and Fantasy
December 2, 2023
AIA New Orleans Center for Design, New Orleans, LA
We will be considering the long traditions behind female characters in fantasy, folklore, and science fiction, learning from the past and looking to the future as lovers of genre storytelling. From the heroines we cheer for to the villains we love to hate, there is something to learn from each. Join us as we discuss what makes a female character compelling, how gender does or doesn’t impact audience reach, and how the portrayal of women contributes to the success or failure of a story. We offer a warm welcome to fangirls of all kinds and look forward to a lively discussion and to hearing your personal stories about the women (real and imaginary) who inspire and challenge you. Click here for more info and to register for the event.
Crossover Ships Week 2023
Crossover Ships Week is a week-long event dedicated to the creation of all the content for ANY crossover ship you can imagine. The event will take place from the 19th to the 25th of June this year on Tumblr and AO3. There will be three prompts per day: prompt, AU, and quote. Both SFW and NSFW prompts are available. You can pick and choose which prompts you want to use and can combine prompts from different days. All fandoms and ships are welcome!
The prompts list and rules can be found here and la traducción al español aquí.
Tag entries with #CrossoverShipsWeek2023. If you plan to participate in the event anonymously, DM the mods with your contributions, and the mods will publish them from the event account.
Links:
Forthcoming Expanded Edition of "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien"
On Tor.com, blogger Vanessa Anderson reports that an expanded edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien will be available in November 2023, adding 150 letters totally 50,000 words that had to be cut from the original publication of 354 letters. While preorder information is not yet available, we will update here once it is. Check out Vanessa's blog post for more on the forthcoming expansion.
Bagginshield Week 2023
Bagginshield Week is for fanworks featuring all kinds of platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships between Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield, including open relationships, so long as they are the focus. Likewise, all canons and headcanons are accepted! The event runs on Tumblr and AO3, 4-12 June 2023.
All mediums are allowed, included mixed media, and there is no official minimum that your work must fill! Also, all ratings and warnings and such are accepted, so long as you tag accordingly!
Two prompts are given for each day of the event as well as two alternate prompt lists, and you can use as many of them, combine any of them as you wish, I only ask that you mention which ones you’re using in any specific work. You can also make as many works as you want/can.
You can post in any platform, but the event mod will only be able to work with Tumblr and Archive of Our Own. For Tumblr you can make a post containing your work or a link to it, and you have to tag your posts #thilboweek23; for AO3, you can find the collection here.
Prompts
- Day One (June 4): Fairytale AU and Domestic
- Day Two (June 5): Bilbo in Erebor and Piercings & Tattoos for Day 2
- Day Three (June 6): Pride & Prejudice AU and Blade/Sword
- Day Four (June 7): Nautical/Pirate AU and The Moon/The Sun
- Day Five (June 8): Ghibli AU and Hobbit Culture
- Day Six (June 9): Erebor Never Fell and Flowers/Flower Language
- Day Seven (June 10): Everybody Live/Nobody Dies and Haunted House/Castle/Palace
The prompts for the Whump Alternate List are: Believed to be Dead; Nightmares/Hallucinations; Silence; Left Behind; Hidden Injury.
The prompts for the Regular Alternate List are: Courtship; Secret Relationship; Thorin is an Errant Smith; Meeting the Family; Enchantments/Spells.
