No Conspiracy Unmasked (Volume 17, Issue 2)

The Tolkien fanworks community was abuzz this past week after the Tolkien Estate's FAQ on fanworks went viral on Tumblr. While we'd been leisurely planning our first Cultus Dispatches column for later in the month, we felt that the uproar around the Estate's FAQ justified pushing the column up and addressing the worries of many fans about what the FAQ means. So, this week, we are pleased to not only introduce our Cultus Dispatches column but also hope to ease the minds of our fellow creators that the FAQ does not spell the demise of Tolkien fanworks as we know them.

This week's column, which is linked below, was collaboratively produced, making this a good time to offer the reminder that the SWG is a community powered by the help of many volunteers. If you like this newsletter and would like to help us produce content, either writing an article or column of your own or collaborating with others, hit REPLY to this email and let us know, and we'll be in touch with how you can get involved!

SWG News

Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.

New Challenge: Building Middle-earth
Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.

Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.

Update to Site Etiquette/Terms of Service

It is important, for legal reasons, that activity on the SWG remain strictly not-for-profit. And while this has been our de facto position for as long as the site has been in existence, we realized that this is never directly stated in any of our policies. Therefore, our Site Etiquette and Terms of Service has been updated to add the following language:

For legal reasons, the SWG must remain strictly not-for-profit. Do not use the SWG or its social media to request or offer commissions for money. If a fanwork was commissioned, do not mention that commission. Links in your profile, the fanworks you share, or on posts to SWG social media should not point to sites where you will make a profit, such as Kofi, Patreon, GoFundMe, Venmo, and similar sites. Violations of the above will be immediately taken down.

As always, if you have any questions, you can contact the moderators.

Sunsetting Our LiveJournal

The SWG's LiveJournal, along with Yahoo! Groups, was where the group originated back in 2005. Therefore, it is with mixed emotions that we announce that we will cease using our LiveJournal for official announcements from the group.

New Fanworks

Wound Care by StarSpray [Writing]

He’d ventured into the little fishing village in search of food and maybe a dry place to sleep for a night of rain and wind—he hadn’t expected this, to be bullied into a hot meal and a healer’s attention.

Read more ...

Swelling from the Sea by annarobots [Writing]

Tuor and Elwing’s recreational sailing excursion goes terribly awry when a carnivorous siren casts her gaze upon their vessel. With her song, she enchants the mariners and boards with evil intent. She kills and eats their crewman, she demands Tuor’s hand in marriage, and for dessert, she plans to eat Elwing. A vile, terrible creature is she!
And then things take a turn for the worse.

A fill for the 2026 Rare Kink Buffet, a Bad Guys Made Them Do It story.

Read more ...

i am not there, i do not sleep by StarSpray [Series]

When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.

Read more ...

Living Stars, Living Bright by Elrond's Library [Writing]

She shook her head, quietly reveling in the physicality of having her wife’s hands on her. “How can I hold you at fault for the events of the past centuries when you have not been here, able to act?”

Indis has been summoned to the Halls of Vairë on behalf of one thought lost.

Read more ...

Foundations by AdmirableMonster [Writing]

The Mouth of Sauron visits the Witch-King in her newly-founded kingdom of Angmar.

Read more ...

Updated Fanworks

Laws and Customs (Cover and Art Edition) by AdmirableMonster [Multimedia]

While searching for a series of his lost notes on Gondolin, the scholar Pengolodh is taken by bandits and used cruelly.

Rescued by a friend and taken to the remnants of Melian's Girdle, he begins a slow road to recovery that will lead to the apprehension of the attackers, the judgement of the king, and unexpected friendships and cultural exchanges.

Read more ...

Shaped From Rock by Fuin [Writing]

A Dwarven merchant travels from Nogrod to the far south in search of greater wealth – and finds something else entirely. 

Read more ...

The Name of the Fire by Kios [Writing]

Some journeys cannot be lightened, and some destinies cannot be commanded.

Fëanor rejects Mandos. He burns Halls and leaves ash behind him, as defiant in death as he was in life. 

In the Void, he encounters something else. 

 

Read more ...

A Song Amidst His Torment by Elrond's Library [Writing]

Of course it was a trap.
Maitimo has to survive. He must. But what price is too high to pay for survival?

Read more ...

A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]

When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.

Read more ...

Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365 [Writing]

Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.

He was dying.

(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the days between the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, meets the sons of Feanor, Thingol and his ilk, many Laiquendi, many Dwarves, and Men besides, and THEN decides to solve the drowning of Beleriand himself. This has nothing to do with his personal problems. Nope. Not at all. Erestor is having regular feelings.)

Read more ...

From That Rubble by StarSpray [Writing]

Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I have much else to do. I need to build something new there,” he said after a few moments. “To do that, I must first clear away the old and broken things.”

Decades out of Mandos, too many things in Fëanor's life remain broken. He can't do anything except wait for his sons to come to him, but he can do something about the old and crumbling house where they once lived. 

Read more ...

The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster [Writing]

Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new life and finds he has a queer connection with Maedhros, Himring's lord. As their intimacy grows, however, so do the dangers surrounding them, both without and within. What secrets are hidden inside the depths of Anniavas's lost memories--and how will those with whom he is forging and deepening bonds react, when those secrets are at last revealed?

Read more ...

One Flesh, One Soul. Part I by FellFireFan [Writing]

As beautiful as he is dangerous, Aegnor, an elven prince, stands against the looming shadows of Angband. Brother to Galadriel, he commands the siege with a fierce intensity, a duty that exacts a heavy toll on him. But beneath the iron walls he has built lies a broken soul, haunted by a devastating trauma and a well of deep, guarded secrets. His demons, kept at bay by his unyielding intensity that is both his greatest gift and his biggest curse. 

Little does our Noldorin prince know that a chance encounter with a terrified young girl of men will set him on a collision course, igniting an extraordinary bond wrought with challenges, sacrifices, and intense love that threatens to unravel his guarded heart, and all he keeps within it.

Brace yourself for Part I of this captivating tale, where the primal power of love and devestating loss will tear lives apart forever.

Read more ...

Around the World and Web

Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.

Silvergifting Week 2026
A week dedicated to Celebrimbor/Mairon | Annatar | Sauron pairing, aka Silvergifting. August 10-16, 2026

The Return of the Newsletter (Volume 17, Issue 1)

In crafting titles, Tolkien loved returns. There's The Return of the King, "Of the Return of the Noldor," and The Return of the Shadow. As we mark the occasion of relaunching our newsletter, it seems appropriate to title this first new edition "The Return of the Newsletter"!

Our newsletter is older than our archive. The first edition was posted in September 2005, and we did not miss a month until April 2021, when our new site made the old newsletter format redundant. With this "Return of the Newsletter," we will be introducing a new format: a weekly email round-up of new and updated fanworks, SWG news, and announcements from around the fandom. We're also working on adding more original content to our newsletter, with feature articles and columns (including the return of the Character of the Month!) If you'd like to write an article or contribute to a column, see the News item below or reply to this email to reach the mods.

To all who are reading this, thank you for being here with us for our return!

SWG News

Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.

New Challenge: Building Middle-earth
Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.

Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.

New Fanworks

Wound Care by StarSpray [Writing]

He’d ventured into the little fishing village in search of food and maybe a dry place to sleep for a night of rain and wind—he hadn’t expected this, to be bullied into a hot meal and a healer’s attention.

Read more ...

Swelling from the Sea by annarobots [Writing]

Tuor and Elwing’s recreational sailing excursion goes terribly awry when a carnivorous siren casts her gaze upon their vessel. With her song, she enchants the mariners and boards with evil intent. She kills and eats their crewman, she demands Tuor’s hand in marriage, and for dessert, she plans to eat Elwing. A vile, terrible creature is she!
And then things take a turn for the worse.

A fill for the 2026 Rare Kink Buffet, a Bad Guys Made Them Do It story.

Read more ...

i am not there, i do not sleep by StarSpray [Series]

When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.

Read more ...

Living Stars, Living Bright by Elrond's Library [Writing]

She shook her head, quietly reveling in the physicality of having her wife’s hands on her. “How can I hold you at fault for the events of the past centuries when you have not been here, able to act?”

Indis has been summoned to the Halls of Vairë on behalf of one thought lost.

Read more ...

Foundations by AdmirableMonster [Writing]

The Mouth of Sauron visits the Witch-King in her newly-founded kingdom of Angmar.

Read more ...

Updated Fanworks

Laws and Customs (Cover and Art Edition) by AdmirableMonster [Multimedia]

While searching for a series of his lost notes on Gondolin, the scholar Pengolodh is taken by bandits and used cruelly.

Rescued by a friend and taken to the remnants of Melian's Girdle, he begins a slow road to recovery that will lead to the apprehension of the attackers, the judgement of the king, and unexpected friendships and cultural exchanges.

Read more ...

Shaped From Rock by Fuin [Writing]

A Dwarven merchant travels from Nogrod to the far south in search of greater wealth – and finds something else entirely. 

Read more ...

The Name of the Fire by Kios [Writing]

Some journeys cannot be lightened, and some destinies cannot be commanded.

Fëanor rejects Mandos. He burns Halls and leaves ash behind him, as defiant in death as he was in life. 

In the Void, he encounters something else. 

 

Read more ...

A Song Amidst His Torment by Elrond's Library [Writing]

Of course it was a trap.
Maitimo has to survive. He must. But what price is too high to pay for survival?

Read more ...

A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]

When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.

Read more ...

Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365 [Writing]

Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.

He was dying.

(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the days between the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, meets the sons of Feanor, Thingol and his ilk, many Laiquendi, many Dwarves, and Men besides, and THEN decides to solve the drowning of Beleriand himself. This has nothing to do with his personal problems. Nope. Not at all. Erestor is having regular feelings.)

Read more ...

From That Rubble by StarSpray [Writing]

Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I have much else to do. I need to build something new there,” he said after a few moments. “To do that, I must first clear away the old and broken things.”

Decades out of Mandos, too many things in Fëanor's life remain broken. He can't do anything except wait for his sons to come to him, but he can do something about the old and crumbling house where they once lived. 

Read more ...

The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster [Writing]

Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new life and finds he has a queer connection with Maedhros, Himring's lord. As their intimacy grows, however, so do the dangers surrounding them, both without and within. What secrets are hidden inside the depths of Anniavas's lost memories--and how will those with whom he is forging and deepening bonds react, when those secrets are at last revealed?

Read more ...

One Flesh, One Soul. Part I by FellFireFan [Writing]

As beautiful as he is dangerous, Aegnor, an elven prince, stands against the looming shadows of Angband. Brother to Galadriel, he commands the siege with a fierce intensity, a duty that exacts a heavy toll on him. But beneath the iron walls he has built lies a broken soul, haunted by a devastating trauma and a well of deep, guarded secrets. His demons, kept at bay by his unyielding intensity that is both his greatest gift and his biggest curse. 

Little does our Noldorin prince know that a chance encounter with a terrified young girl of men will set him on a collision course, igniting an extraordinary bond wrought with challenges, sacrifices, and intense love that threatens to unravel his guarded heart, and all he keeps within it.

Brace yourself for Part I of this captivating tale, where the primal power of love and devestating loss will tear lives apart forever.

Read more ...

Around the World and Web

Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.

Silvergifting Week 2026
A week dedicated to Celebrimbor/Mairon | Annatar | Sauron pairing, aka Silvergifting. August 10-16, 2026

Test Newsletter

Here is a test newsletter! Let's see if it works.

SWG News

Cultus Dispatches: "The Rings of Power" Is a Ripple (So Far)
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data for 2025 shows that "The Rings of Power" TV series has not had the same impact on the fandom as the film trilogies did ... so far.

New Challenge: Building Middle-earth
Let global architecture be your inspiration in this challenge, where you will work with a prompts that are architectural styles, locations in Arda, or both.

Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.

The art section opened today, yay!

New Fanworks

Wound Care by StarSpray [Writing]

He’d ventured into the little fishing village in search of food and maybe a dry place to sleep for a night of rain and wind—he hadn’t expected this, to be bullied into a hot meal and a healer’s attention.

Read more ...

Swelling from the Sea by annarobots [Writing]

Tuor and Elwing’s recreational sailing excursion goes terribly awry when a carnivorous siren casts her gaze upon their vessel. With her song, she enchants the mariners and boards with evil intent. She kills and eats their crewman, she demands Tuor’s hand in marriage, and for dessert, she plans to eat Elwing. A vile, terrible creature is she!
And then things take a turn for the worse.

A fill for the 2026 Rare Kink Buffet, a Bad Guys Made Them Do It story.

Read more ...

i am not there, i do not sleep by StarSpray [Series]

When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.

Read more ...

Living Stars, Living Bright by Elrond's Library [Writing]

She shook her head, quietly reveling in the physicality of having her wife’s hands on her. “How can I hold you at fault for the events of the past centuries when you have not been here, able to act?”

Indis has been summoned to the Halls of Vairë on behalf of one thought lost.

Read more ...

Foundations by AdmirableMonster [Writing]

The Mouth of Sauron visits the Witch-King in her newly-founded kingdom of Angmar.

Read more ...

Updated Fanworks

Laws and Customs (Cover and Art Edition) by AdmirableMonster [Multimedia]

While searching for a series of his lost notes on Gondolin, the scholar Pengolodh is taken by bandits and used cruelly.

Rescued by a friend and taken to the remnants of Melian's Girdle, he begins a slow road to recovery that will lead to the apprehension of the attackers, the judgement of the king, and unexpected friendships and cultural exchanges.

Read more ...

Shaped From Rock by Fuin [Writing]

A Dwarven merchant travels from Nogrod to the far south in search of greater wealth – and finds something else entirely. 

Read more ...

The Name of the Fire by Kios [Writing]

Some journeys cannot be lightened, and some destinies cannot be commanded.

Fëanor rejects Mandos. He burns Halls and leaves ash behind him, as defiant in death as he was in life. 

In the Void, he encounters something else. 

 

Read more ...

A Song Amidst His Torment by Elrond's Library [Writing]

Of course it was a trap.
Maitimo has to survive. He must. But what price is too high to pay for survival?

Read more ...

A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray [Writing]

When uneasy dreams bring him back into Beleriand, Daeron finds a pair of twins who have lost their home, and an enemy who has lost himself. The Shadow's reach is growing ever longer, and if they are to survive, they must do it together.

Read more ...

Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365 [Writing]

Erestor lay up against a tree, brown washed to black in the wet of the snow. The black disc of the new moon sailed across the dark sky. Erestor wished it were gone. He had no need to look into dark eyes any longer.

He was dying.

(AKA Erestor unwittingly travels back in time to the days between the Dagor Bragollach and the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, meets the sons of Feanor, Thingol and his ilk, many Laiquendi, many Dwarves, and Men besides, and THEN decides to solve the drowning of Beleriand himself. This has nothing to do with his personal problems. Nope. Not at all. Erestor is having regular feelings.)

Read more ...

From That Rubble by StarSpray [Writing]

Fëanor shrugged, studying the contents of his wine glass. “Something must be done about that house. It will fall down eventually.”
“It does not follow that it must be you that tears it down single-handedly. Are you sure you do not want help?”
“It’s not as though I have much else to do. I need to build something new there,” he said after a few moments. “To do that, I must first clear away the old and broken things.”

Decades out of Mandos, too many things in Fëanor's life remain broken. He can't do anything except wait for his sons to come to him, but he can do something about the old and crumbling house where they once lived. 

Read more ...

The Mirror Crack'd by AdmirableMonster [Writing]

Rescued from a brutal Angband hunt, an ex-thrall with a strange and powerful artifact embedded in his spine is brought to Himring, for it is one of the only places in Beleriand which welcomes such folk. Though he has no memories of his life before, Anniavas slowly becomes accustomed to his new life and finds he has a queer connection with Maedhros, Himring's lord. As their intimacy grows, however, so do the dangers surrounding them, both without and within. What secrets are hidden inside the depths of Anniavas's lost memories--and how will those with whom he is forging and deepening bonds react, when those secrets are at last revealed?

Read more ...

One Flesh, One Soul. Part I by FellFireFan [Writing]

As beautiful as he is dangerous, Aegnor, an elven prince, stands against the looming shadows of Angband. Brother to Galadriel, he commands the siege with a fierce intensity, a duty that exacts a heavy toll on him. But beneath the iron walls he has built lies a broken soul, haunted by a devastating trauma and a well of deep, guarded secrets. His demons, kept at bay by his unyielding intensity that is both his greatest gift and his biggest curse. 

Little does our Noldorin prince know that a chance encounter with a terrified young girl of men will set him on a collision course, igniting an extraordinary bond wrought with challenges, sacrifices, and intense love that threatens to unravel his guarded heart, and all he keeps within it.

Brace yourself for Part I of this captivating tale, where the primal power of love and devestating loss will tear lives apart forever.

Read more ...

Around the World and Web

Innumerable Stars 2026
A character-based Tolkien fandom gift exchange is returning for another year of gifting.

Silvergifting Week 2026
A week dedicated to Celebrimbor/Mairon | Annatar | Sauron pairing, aka Silvergifting. August 10-16, 2026