Around the World and Web includes announcements and items of interest from beyond the SWG.
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!
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
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.
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?
Around the World and Web Archive
Events listed here are no longer active but are listed on the site for historical purposes.
Oxonmoot - Calls for Papers and for Activities (deadlines)
Oxonmoot is an annual event hosted by The Tolkien Society which brings together Tolkien fans, scholars, students and Society members from across the world. Oxonmoot 2021 is being held over four days, from the afternoon of Thursday 2nd September until lunch time on Sunday 5th September. This will be a hybrid event bringing together online delegates with those attending in person at St Anne’s College, Oxford.
The Call for Papers and Call for Activities are open. The Call for Papers closes at 8:00 am UK time on Thursday 1st July, while the Call for Activities closes at 8:00 am UK time on Sunday 18th July.
Registration is now open. Fees range from £35 to £95, depending.
Tolkien Society Summer Seminar 2021 (3/4 July) posts its programme
The Tolkien Society Seminar is a short academic conference of both researcher-led and non-academic presentations on a specific theme pertaining to Tolkien scholarship. The theme for this year's conference is "Tolkien and Diversity" and recognizes the growing need for discussion of diversity and representation in Tolkien's works and adaptations of those works.
This year's seminar will be held online via Zoom and livestreamed on the Tolkien Society's YouTube channel on Saturday, July 3rd and Sunday, July 4th. Registration is free, and you can register on the Tolkien Society website.
The schedule has now been posted on the same page; the papers cover a wide variety of relevant topics in the Legendarium and in the reception of Tolkien's works.
Jeff LaSala completes blog post series on orcs on Tor.com
As part of his series Deep Delvings into Middle-earth on Tor.com, Jeff LaSala has completed a mini-three series of three blog posts on continuities and change in the portrayal of the orcs in Tolkien's Legendarium and their implications. The first post covered The Lord or the Rings and The Hobbit, the second covered Unfinished Tales and The Silmarillion and the third covers treatment in the History of Middle-earth.
Survey: Sociolinguistics in Fandom
Interested in online sociolinguistics in fandom? Then have we got the survey for you! We were contacted by a researcher at Bellevue College, who asked about boosting their study, so we’re passing this along. The study is about sociolinguistics in online fandom, and really digs into how individuals personally define various fannish terms. There’s a particular focus on shipping and antis, and a portion of the survey is optional and uses trigger warnings for potentially upsetting content around antis and anti discourse.
The number of survey questions vary depending on your answers. People have finished in around 20-30mins, and some have really dug into the optional, long-form questions and have taken an hour! We figure around 30-45mins is a good estimate for length.
For more information:
Project FAQ
Take the Survey
Tolkien Short Fanworks: June Challenge
The tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth has a thematic prompt and a formal challenge for June.
You can combine the thematic prompt and the formal challenge, but they can be filled entirely independently.
Thematic prompt: the solstice, Mid-Summer, respectively Mid-Winter, as turning points of the solar year.
For Mid-Summer you could also think of Middle-earth equivalents like Loëndë or Lithedays, and perhaps of traditions like bonfires or herbs such as St John's Wort and others.
The formal challenge is to write a a 'dribble' or half-drabble, 50 words, also themed to go with the solstice or half-way through the year.
Although you can fill the thematic prompt any way you like, in order to post the fill to the Dreamwidth community or to the related collection on AO3, the fanwork can only have a word count up to 1000 words and must be linked to a Tolkien fandom.
The next challenge will be posted at the beginning of June, but the prompts don't expire and late fills are always welcome!
New participants are welcome. (A Dreamwidth account is required for posts to the Dreamwidth community.)
Tolkien Society Seminar Registration Open
The Tolkien Society Seminar is a short academic conference of both researcher-led and non-academic presentations on a specific theme pertaining to Tolkien scholarship. The theme for this year's conference is "Tolkien and Diversity" and recognizes the growing need for discussion of diversity and representation in Tolkien's works and adaptations of those works.
This year's seminar will be held online via Zoom and livestreamed on the Tolkien Society's YouTube channel on Saturday, July 3rd and Sunday, July 4th. Registration is free, and you can now register on the Tolkien Society website.
"In Memoriam: Richard C. West" by Janet Brennan Croft
A pioneer in the field of Tolkien studies, Richard C. West died in late 2020 of COVID-related causes. Croft's essay reviews West's contributions to the field of Tolkien studies.
Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature with Guy Gavriel Kay
The eighth annual J.R.R Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature, broadcast online from Pembroke College, Oxford on Tuesday May 11th 2021, features fantasy author and Silmarillion collaborator Guy Gavriel Kay with his lecture "Just Enough Light: Some Thoughts on Fantasy and Literature."
(If you didn't know, Kay was instrumental in assisting Christopher Tolkien in compiling the published Silmarillion!)
Tolkien Short Fanworks: May Challenge
The thematic prompt for May is: The old custom of Maying
Associated quotation prompt:
There's not a budding boy or girl this day / But is got up and to bring in May. / A deal of youth ere this come / Back, and with white-thorn laden home. (Robert Herrick Corinna's Going a-Maying)
Associated picture prompt: Arthur Rackham - How Queen Guenevere rode a-maying into the woods and fields beside Westminster.
The formal challenge is to write a zejel.
(You can find a link to the picture and explanation of the zejel form in the linked challenge post.)
Athough you can fill the thematic prompt any way you like, in order to post the fill to the Dreamwidth community or to the related collection on AO3, the fanwork can only have a word count up to 1000 words and must be linked to a Tolkien fandom.
The next challenge will be posted at the beginning of June, but the prompts don't expire and late fills are always welcome!
Gondolin Week Runs May 16-23
From May 16-23, Gondolin Week will post Gondolin-related location and character prompts to inspire fanworks about the Hidden City. The goal of this event is to inspire creators to make and share art with the world, to show their appreciation for the works of Tolkien, and for the continued efforts of their peers to keep these worlds alive.
To post your content:
- Post on Tumblr with the tag #gondolinweek2021 or send a submission to the Gondolin Week tumblr.
- Add your fanwork to the Gondolin Week AO3 collection.
A preview of this year's Gondolin Week prompts can be found here.
