New Challenge: Title Track
Tolkien's titles range from epic to lyrical to metaphorical. This month's challenge selected 125 of them as prompts for fanworks.
SWG News
Our Annual Amnesty Challenge: New Year's Resolution
Start 2026 off with creativity! If you missed a challenge or didn't get to finish or post a challenge fanwork, complete any 2025 challenge before 15 February to receive the stamp.
"The Fëanorian Zine" Available to Read and Download
We are pleased to be able to offer "The Fëanorian Zine" to read and download on the SWG for free.
Call for Artists for the 2026 Challenge Stamps
We are soliciting help from artists who want to help create the stamps we award to challenge participants.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] A Hundred Miles Through the Desert by StarSpray
“Come on.” Maedhros grabbed his hand and pulled him along down the path, both of them quickening their pace now, until the trees opened up into a wide meadow filled with flowers, bright yellow celandine and dandelions and sweet-scented pale chamomile mingling with cornflowers and irises. On…
[Writing] Who Will Hear Me? by XirinOfArvada
A lonely elf finds a flute half buried beneath the sand and wonders if its owner will hear him when he calls.
[Writing] Loyal, Faithful by Himring
Late in the Second Age, one of the Faithful reflects critically on past developments. (Free verse.)
[Writing] East Away! by Flora-lass
Aldarion storms off towards Middle-earth. For the Title Track challenge.
[Writing] Don't You Ever Look Away by Elrond's Library
“They can’t just assume we’ll let them leave us behind.”
“But they are, and they will. Our fathers are the Heads of their Houses. Fëanáro is king. Defiance would be treason, beloved.”
“I am his firstborn.”
“You are his only daughter.”
“I have…
[Writing] Break Me by Elrond's Library
“You’re not going to break me,” Russo huffed, finally cracking open his eyes, which were bright with amusement. “They could not, what makes you think you could?”
For Scribbles and Drabbles 2025 SFW Slide 33
[Writing] Three Black Islands by Idrils Scribe
When Celebrimbor's attempts at forging the Rings of Power fail yet again, Annatar knows where to find the missing know-how.
For all the wrong reasons, Celebrimbor agrees to an expedition to the ruins of Angband to search Morgoth's own laboratory, deep in the icy Northern Wastes.
What…
Current Challenge
Title Track
Create a fanwork using our collection of 125 titles from Tolkien's books, chapters, essays, poems, and fragments as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Fanon Inverted
Take a fanon you feel passionately about and turn it on its head, creating a fanwork that goes against the fanon norm. Read more ...
New in References
Tolkien, Lunatic Physicists, and Abnegation by Cynthia (Cindy) Gates
This presentation for Mereth Aderthad 2025 discusses the parallels between the concept of abnegation in the scientific work surrounding the atomic bomb and in The Silmarillion. The relinquishment of self-interest in favor of the interests of others, abnegation was identified by Tolkien as a powerful act of spirit and reason. The legendarium has many examples of the complexities of abnegation, which parallel similar discussions held by physicists during and after World War II.
Twilight, Child Of: Comparisons Between Tinúviel, Lómion, and Undómiel by JazTheBard
This presentation for Mereth Aderthad 2025 discusses the many similarities between Tolkien's three "twilight children," Tinúviel, Lómion, and Undómiel (Luthien, Maeglin, and Arwen) in terms of appearance, plot, and cultural background. Yet these three characters play very different roles in the text.
The Aromantic in Tolkien by daughterofshadows
Presented at Mereth Aderthad 2025, this paper makes the case thata, although the term "aromantic" had not yet been coined in Tolkien's day, many of his characters can be read as aromantic. The paper takes a closer look at Aredhel, Bilbo, and Boromir as three examples of characters who can be read as aromantic.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] here you will dwell, bound to your grief by Elrond's Library
Arwen grieves, and loves.
[Writing] Faramir's Verse by losselen
“Come, Faramir. Let us not stand in ceremony. I think words are due between you and I, and not only those between a King and his Steward.”
Faramir has speech with Gandalf and his King.
[Writing] In a Hole in the Ground... by StarSpray
“There’s a goblin hiding in the taters, Dad!” Pippin hefted the pan, which was much too big for him to carry, let alone wield.
Around the World and Web
March Challenge - Tolkien Short Fanworks
Tolkien Short Fanworks is running a challenge for the month of March to create a Back to Middle-earth Month themed challenge.
Tolkien Fashion Week 2026
This two-week-long Tumblr event is dedicated to honoring the world of fashion and textiles Tolkien wrote about in his books.
Celegorm and Curufin Week 2026
Celegorm and Curufin Week is a Tumblr week celebrating the relationship between Celegorm and Curufin Feanorion
Back to Middle-earth Month 2026
Back to Middle-earth Month is returning for it's 20th year with many prompts and archival efforts.
Newest References
Túrin by firstamazon
Túrin's life illustrates Tolkien's concept of dyscatastrophe: an unexpected turn toward the tragic. The first part of this three-part biography of Túrin considers the early tragedies and downfalls of his life, through his years as an outlaw.
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Review of "The Great Tales Never End: Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien" by Grundy
The Great Tales Never End: Essays in Memory of Christopher Tolkien is a collection that pays homage not only to the extraordinary achievement of Christopher Tolkien's work on the legendarium but that acknowledges him as a person and scholar whose impact ranged beyond the borders of Middle-earth.
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Cauldron of Fanfic: The Use of Jackson's Films in Constructing Tolkien-Based Fanfiction by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Peter Jackson's film trilogies become one of several text that writers of Tolkien-based fanfiction use in constructing their stories. This article considers how they select and use details from the films as inspiration, the reconcile the films and books, and to critique the films.
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Telchar of Nogrod by Lindariel
Telchar emerges in some of Tolkien's early writings but remains elusive, despite his status as a great Dwarven smith. However, some of what is known about his character is revealed in his creations.
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Point of View and In-Universe Authorship of the "Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Who wrote The Silmarillion? This paper briefly discusses the evidence from Morgoth's Ring that supports the idea that that "Silmarillion" narrator is Elven.
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Maedhros by oshun
Maedhros is one of the most popular—and controversial—characters in The Silmarillion. The first part of this two-part biography considers his early years, before his capture and torment by Melkor, and how he was shaped by his years in Aman, his impetuous father, and the mediating influence of Nerdanel.
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Becoming Bookverse: Jackson's Films as an Initiation Point for Tolkien's Book Fandom by Dawn Walls-Thumma
As the debut of Amazon's Rings of Power series approaches, fans wonder how their Tolkien fandom communities will be changed by the new show. Using Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data, this article makes the case that, while Tolkien-based media franchises bring new fans to the fanfiction fandom, the stories those fans write become almost wholly book-based.
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A Sudden Outcry: The Tolkien Estate and Fanworks by SWG Newsletter Staff
In March 2022, the Tolkien Estate opened a newly designed website, including an FAQ that left fans asking: Did the Tolkien Estate just ban fanworks? We use the Estate's history, along with copyright law, to make the case that fans have nothing to fear.
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Ossë by Dawn Walls-Thumma
One of the longest-enduring characters in the legendarium, Ossë evolved over the decades from a perilous character adjacent to Melkor himself to a figure both dangerous and benevolent.
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Burning in the House: Éowyn's Outcry and the Death of Aerin by Himring
In an attempt to allow widely separated parts of the Legendarium to throw light on each other, Aerin's final acts are compared to the imagery in which Éowyn's expresses her concerns in The Lord of the Rings. The relevant passages share the motif of the burning house. The handling of this motif suggests authorial sympathy with Éowyn's plight.
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Uinen by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Over the course of Tolkien's development of the legendarium, Uinen evolved from a morally murky nature deity to a protector of Arda's mariners.
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A Woman in Few Words: The Character of Nerdanel and Her Treatment in Canon and Fandom by Dawn Walls-Thumma
A review of the canon facts available on Nerdanel and discussion of why she remains so popular with fans despite her scarce appearances in the texts.
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Stars Less Strange: An Analysis of Fanfiction and Representation within the Tolkien Fan Community by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Originally presented at the 2021 Tolkien Society Seminar "Tolkien and Diversity," this paper considers the historical and current use of fanfiction to address issues of representation in Tolkien’s canon.
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Idril Celebrindal by Lindariel
Idril Celebrindal's footprint in the canon is light and hard to discern beyond the bare bones given in The Silmarillion and The Fall of Gondolin, yet she exists at the epicenter of the most ancient and shifting ground of Tolkien's entire legendarium.
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The Pillar and the Vastness: A Longitudinal View of the Tolkien Fanfiction Fandom by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Using the 2015 and 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data, this presentation reviews fandom demographics, use of sources, influence of the films, and use of sites and archives to post fanfiction, reviewing changes across the two data sets.
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As I Say and As I Do: Negotiating Transformational Impulses in Tolkien-Based Fanfiction by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Data from the 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that, while authors and readers of Tolkien-based fanfiction are growing more comfortable with perceiving their work as having a critical purpose, they are still more likely to describe fanfiction as literary criticism when the process is not depicted as a challenge to Tolkien's authority as the author.
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Ox Bones and Silver Ladles: The Construction of the Ainulindalë by Dawn Walls-Thumma
The deus faber and demiurgic motifs of creation mythology are used in the Ainulindalë, selected and manipulated by Tolkien to advance ideas that rest at the foundation of the legendarium.
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Tar-Minastir by oshun
A man of his times, Tar-Minastir perpetuated Númenórean policies of the past and foreshadowed those that would follow.
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Galdor of Gondolin by oshun
Galdor of the Tree appears in The Book of Lost Tales, in the story of the Fall of Gondolin, a notable supporting character in this central tale of the legendarium.
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Vëantur by oshun
Vëantur is the first and foremost among the early mariners and shipbuilders of Númenor and the first to renew contact between the island of Númenor and the peoples of Middle-earth. He is crucial in leading to the Númenóreans' self-definition as a seafaring people and masters of the vast seas of Arda to the east of its island kingdom.
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Varda Elentári by oshun
Varda Elentári is among the better known of Tolkien’s demigods and probably the best known of the Valier.
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