Around the World and Web includes announcements and items of interest from beyond the SWG.
Celedriel Week 2026
Celedriel Week 2026 Prompts
July 14
First Meetings, Impressions, The Heart Stirs
A Gaze Caught. The Fire Ignites.
“Is this the love they speak of in songs and poems?”
July 15
Dedication. Courtship. The Heart Blooms.
Gifts of Love. Words and Songs.
“Oh beloved mine, where might I rest but your embrace?”
July 16
Marriage, Vows, The Heart Bound in Love
An Exchange of Rings. Melding of Houses.
“This I vow from here on forth, and beyond the world’s end.”
July 17
Kingdoms. Refuge. The Heart Endures
Crowns of Silver. Realms Rise and Fall.
“With you by my side, I have nothing to fear.”
July 18
Separation. Conflict. The Heart Grieves.
War and Loss. When Paths Diverge.
“How far will the lonely road take us before we renew our love again?”
July 19
Lothlorien. Children. The Heart Heals.
When Wounds Mend. The Throne of Elvendom.
“By our toil, future generations shall persist before the Shadow.”
July 20
The West. Undying Love. The Heart is Eternal
Beyond the Tribulations. The Last Ship.
“In the end, it is you and I who remain past the fading of the ancient days.”
Esoteric Tolkien Week 2026
That's right, Esoteric Tolkien Week, your center for all things strange, mystical, inexplicable, and unfathomed in Arda and beyond, is back for round two! We are open to all types and ratings of fanwork, and are eager to welcome returners and new faces alike. A few bits of useful tattle for the moment:
- Further information and event guidelines can be found here
- Event planned to run July 13th - 19th, 2026
- An ao3 collection will open closer to the run date—if you have any work hanging around that you'd like to submit now, or just want to get inspired, you can find the small but mighty 2025 collection here
Prompts
Day 1 - Lands, Wander, Documents
Day 2 - Waters, Return, Music
Day 3 - Skies, Demand, Inventions
Day 4 - Underground, Trammel, Relics
Day 5 - Ruins, Bargain, Art
Day 6 - In the Dark, Endure, Weapons & Armor
Day 7 - At Home, Abandon, Gifts
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026!
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.
This year, Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026!
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 FAQ, code of conduct, and prompts pages! Happy creating!!
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
Starting July 1st ObscureDurins will be hosting
TOLKIEN DISABILITY PRIDE
This event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
You can do worldbuilding, fan fic, fan art, share a favorite character, your favorite headcanons, write a song, poem, show us your LOTRO Oc!ANYTHING providing-
- Absolutely NO USE OF AI IN ANY PART OF THE PROCESS
- Ableism and violence against Disabled character should be done with nuance and plot in mind. Remember this is a pride event we are more than willing to have dead dove- provided it is done justly and tactfully.
- Tag all your works appropriately and place under a read more.
Tag: "tolkien disability pride" AND "obscuredurins" to get your work featured.
This is a spoonie friendly event! We accept past works, WIPS, and encourage this as our time to display PRIDE in our community.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
June 1: Sign-ups and art submissions open
July 7: Artist sign-ups close
July 19: Art submissions close
July 24: Gallery opens
July 25 & 26: Art viewing parties
July 30: Author sign-ups close
August 1: Claims Day (Times to be announced)
August 2: Additional Claims Open
August 3: Art posting begins
November 1: Drop-out without penalty deadline
November 15: Fic submission deadline
November 28: Reveals!
Around the World and Web Archive
Events listed here are no longer active but are listed on the site for historical purposes.
B2MEM 2022: Mathom Marketplace
Offer Prompts from January 1 to February 15
Create Works from March 1 through April 15.
In the Michel Delving Market, Hobbits (and big folk alike) can offer ‘prompts for sale’ for ‘prompts for trade’. Shoppers (participants) at the Mathom Marketplace earn mathoms when they offer up prompts for sale, which can be ‘spent’ to acquire prompts from others (or their own!)
The number of people who can ‘buy’ a prompt for sale is limitless – let’s say that Petunia Took offers up ‘An adventure on the Buckleberry Ferry’ as a prompt for sale, and both Gertrude Goodbody and Wylde Thyme wanted to ‘purchase’ that prompt. So long as Gertrude and Wylde each have the mathoms to trade for it, they can each claim the prompt.
Gertrude and Wylde could also combine their mathoms, and spend only one together instead of one each to buy the prompt – the catch is, whatever is created needs to be a collaborative effort between them!
How does one ‘earn’ mathoms? By offering prompts! Everyone starts off with a generous donation from Postmaster Proudfoot of mathoms lost in the mail–he wagers he has enough in the unclaimed mathoms room of the post in Michel Delving for everyone participating to start with five (5) mathoms regardless of whether or not they have anything to offer at the market. The more you offer, the more you earn!
More details, rules, FAQs at the linked Google Doc, which also has the links to the AO3 collections, etc.
My Slashy Valentine sign-ups open
My Slashy Valentine is a hand matched slash fiction exchange focused on the people of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
Sign ups are now OPEN so spread the word, recruit your friends and fellow authors, and get ready for MSV 2022.
Sign-up Period: December 8th to December 22nd
Assignments distributed: by December 29th
Deadline for first time participants: January 31st, 2022
Deadline for veteran participants: February 7th, 2022
Archive opens: February 14th, 2022
Admin posts on Tumblr, Dreamwidth, Livejournal; stories to be posted to AO3.
Link to sign-up form in the linked post, together with rules and FAQ
December challenge at tolkienshortfanworks (on Dreamwidth)
December at tolkienshortfanworks is an amnesty month for all the previous monthly challenges posted to the community.
New joiners to the Dreamwidth community are always welcome!
More details plus a list of all the challenges at the linked post.
Sign-ups for Tolkien Secret Santa 2021 (on Tumblr) are open
The Tolkien Secret Santa sign ups for the main event are open till November 20th (on Tumblr). The closing date for sign-ups to the Advent Calendar companion event is 11 November.
TSS is a digital gift exchange, where Tolkien fans sign up to make and receive small winter-themed gifts.
More details and links to instructions, etc. at the linked post.
The LOTR SeSa prompt meme is now open for sign-up and posting prompts
The LOTR Sesa exchange is running in the form of prompt meme this year.
Timeline (2021):
- Prompt Posting: November 1st to 30th.
- Claiming: December 1st to 22nd.
- Collection Open for Posting: December 1st to 31st
- All Fills Due: December 31st.
Open to all the Peoples and Ages of Middle-earth (Fictional persons only, no RPF).
The prompt meme runs on AO3. Admin announcements are posted to Dreamwidth, Livejournal and Tumblr.
More details and links in the linked post.
November Challenge at tolkienshortfanworks posted
The November Challenge at the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth has been posted. (New members are always very welcome to join the community.)
The thematic prompt is Poppy.
The formal challenge is to write an elegy, either in the narrower sense of a poem of mourning and memorial for the dead or in the wider sense of a poem of serious or melancholy reflection.
These prompts can be filled independently.
(For bonus quotation prompts and more details on the challenges, see the linked Dreamwidth post.)
"Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien" to Be Republished
This collection of pictures, with a text by Christopher Tolkien, now reissued after almost 30 years confirms J.R.R. Tolkien’s considerable talent as an artist. It provides fascinating insight into his visual conception of many of the places and events familiar to readers of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
Examples of his art range from delicate watercolours depicting Rivendell, the Forest of Lothlorien, Smaug, and Old Man Willow, to drawings and sketches of Moria Gate and Minas Tirith. Together they form a comprehensive collection of Tolkien’s own illustrations for his most popular books.
Also included are many of his beautiful designs showing patterns of flowers and trees, friezes, tapestries and heraldic devices associated with the world of Middle-earth. In their variety and scope they provide abundant visual evidence of the richness of his imagination.
This enchanting gallery was personally selected by Christopher Tolkien who, through detailed notes on the sources for each picture, provides unique insight into the artistic vision of his father, J.R.R. Tolkien. Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien goes on sale 11 November 2021 for a price of £25.00.
Preorder Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien on the HarperCollins website.
Holly Poly Sign-Ups Open October 22-31
Holly Poly is, as the name implies, an exchange for polyamorous relationships. OT3s, OT4s, OT6s, orgies, open relationships, sedoretus, whatever strikes your fancy, as long as it involves three or more entities. Participants are able to offer and request fanart, fanfiction, fanvids, or podfic. Sign-ups run from 22-31 October 2021.
Participants will have an option to select whether they want to receive fanart, fanfiction, fanvids, and/or podfics. Signups must include 3-10 fandoms, and each fandom must have 1-20 relationships from the list of nominated relationships.
Participants may offer to create fanfart, fanfiction, fanvids, and/or podfic. You may offer between 3-10 fandoms, with 1-20 relationships per fandom.
Complete rules and FAQs can be found on the Holly Poly AO3 collection.
Holly Poly can also be found on Dreamwidth, Twitter, and Tumblr.
Fanlore Seeks Input on Image Policy about Images of Fans
Fanlore is the fandom history wiki and is a project of the Organization for Transformative Works. Through 31 October 2021, they are seeking public input on their proposed policy on how the wiki will handle uploaded images that include pictures of fans. To read the proposed policy and comment, see the post on Fanlore's Dreamwidth.
German Tolkien Society Annual Seminar: Tolkien and Politics
This year our Tolkien Seminar will take place from 29th - 31st October at the University of Marbug. The topic is "Tolkien and Politics". Due to the current situation, the seminar will take place for the first time in hybrid form with the possibility to participate on site and online. If you would like to attend on site, please register here. Registration is free!
