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SWG News
New Challenge: Tengwar
Each day for thirty-six days, we feature a randomly chosen letter from the Tengwar as a prompt.
A Sense of History: Crossroads
In the ongoing series on towers in Tolkien's work, a thread runs through "The Lord of the Rings," revealing the divine assistance of Varda in the travails of the Fellowship.
Cultus Dispatches: Canon Deviations, Multifandoms, and Original Content
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data gives some insight into what connections, if any, exist between fanfiction and original fiction.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Tengwar: To The Letter by cuarthol
For the Tengwar prompt challenge. To be updated as new prompts are completed.
Current up through 'Malta'
[Writing] I Stood Aside by Flora-lass
Maedhros' horror at the burning of the ships. Inspired by a painting (see notes).
[Reference] Thálatta! Thálatta! by Simon J. Cook
While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
[Writing] Words of Wisdom by AdmirableMonster
One or more drabbles about Pengolodh and his babysitter Salgant.
[Writing] Les Mots de Sagesse by AdmirableMonster
Plusieurs petites histoires qui parle de Pengolodh et Salgant pendant des moments differents.
[Writing] "Tengwar" ficlets by chrissystriped
Fics written for the "Tengwar" challenge.
[Writing] Upon Cirith Thoronath by StarSpray
A horrid cacophony of cries erupts ahead of them, as orcs appear—up the cliff on hidden ledges, on the path, with bows and swords. And behind them rises a figure of darkness and flame. The heat rolls down the path over them, bringing the smell of burning flesh and bitter fear with it. Someone…
Current Challenge
Tengwar
A daily prompt of a Tengwar letter per day. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Let the Games Begin!
Create a fanwork centered around games and contests. Read more ...
New in References
Thálatta! Thálatta! by Simon J. Cook
[]While he never climbs the stairs of this Elf-tower, in Lothlórien Frodo Baggins descends a flight of steps to look into Galadriel’s Mirror, wherein he first sees the sea. This post examines the view.
[]
With Gildor Inglorion we finally climb the stairs of Elostirion and look on the view, and what we see appears to reveal a hidden thread in the story of Frodo Baggins. This post reads two annotated translations of two Elvish songs to step through a crossroads in the narrative to arrive at the tower on the margin of the story, wherein is a stone that is a window onto Valinor.
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
[]In a book as full of death as the Quenta Silmarillion, grief and mourning are surprisingly absent. The characters who receive grief and mourning—and those who don't—appear to do so due to narrative bias. Grief and mourning (or a lack of them) serve to draw attention toward and away from objectionable actions committed by characters.
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Waybread (The Waybredlik) by Himring
[]Lembas speaks out.
[Series] Apr 1st Stories by Uvatha the Horseman
[]Once a year on April 1st, a canon character from LOTR or the Silmarillion gets pranked.
[Writing] Crossing Forest River by Dawn Felagund
[]Bilbo recounts, in verse, the attempt of Gandalf, Beorn, and him to cross the Forest River after the Battle of Five Armies. Written for the Hungarian Tolkien Society's 2024 Mailing Competition.
Around the World and Web
Monstrous May 2024
Monstrous May is a Tumblr event where, for each day of the month of May, there is a prompt involving and invoking the monstrous.
Fellowship of the Fics: Modern AU May
During May, Fellowship of the Fics offers modern AU prompt lists for setting, character occupation, and dialogue on Tumblr.
May challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The May challenge has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. Thematic challenge: name; formal challenge: acrostic. As usual, these can be filled independently and freely combined with other prompts such as the SWG challenges. New participants welcome!
May 2024 Calls for Papers
Conferences and publications that have open calls for papers in May 2024.
Angbang Week 2024
All new, unpublished fanworks about the Angbang (Melron) ship are welcome during this Tumblr event, running 6-12 May 2024.
Vintage
Back in the day… It’s not just fashion that changes with the times, literary and artistic trends do also. But it’s nice to take a stroll along memory lane from time to time, and so we present Vintage.
This month's challenge will offer bingo cards with vintage literary, artistic, and fandom concepts as prompts. You may pick your card(s), and use one prompt, complete rows or lines on the cards, or fill an entire card. If you choose multiple prompts, you can incorporate them into one or multiple fanworks.
Below, you will find cards as well as text-only prompts. Remember that if you need assistance in putting together rows using the text prompts, you can contact the mods and we're happy to help.
This challenge opened in .
Prompts
Choose your prompt from the collection below.
- View Prompts
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Vintage Literature Text Prompts
B1: Tale within a tale
B2: Marriage Plot
B3: Sins of our fathers
B4: Epistolary
B5: ScientifictionI1: It was a dark and stormy night…
I2: Ghost Story
I3: Flashback
I4: Literary Fairy Tale
I5: Serialized StoriesN1: Parody
N2: Whodunnit
N3: Free Space
N4: Sketch Comedy
N5: Dream within a dreamG1: Boarding School Story
G2: 6-word story
G3: Comedy of Manners
G4: Masked Vigilante
G5: Urban FantasyO1: Radio Play
O2: Lost at sea
O3: Happily Ever After
O4: Magic Realism
O5: Fable
Vintage Art Text Prompts
B1: Medieval Color Palette
B2: Pop Art
B3: Screen Painting
B4: Engraving/Etching
B5: Macaroni ArtI1: Embroidery/ Tapestry
I2: Psychedelia
I3: Art Deco
I4: 50s color palette
I5: MosaicN1: Pointillism
N2: '70s/'80s Color Palette
N3: Free Space
N4: Quilling
N5: Illumination!G1: Newspaper Comic Strip
G2: Black figure pottery
G3: Arthur Rackham style
G4: Stained glass
G5: MonochromeO1: Dadaism
O2: Walk like an Egyptian
O3: Victorian Color Palette
O4: Silhouette portrait
O5: Woodcut
Vintage Poetry Text Prompts
B1: Alliterative Verse
B2: Villanelle
B3: Satirical Poem
B4: Dizain
B5: AlexandrineI1: Acrostic
I2: Ghazal
I3: Renga
I4: Broadside Ballad
I5: Verse EpicN1: Aubade
N2: Narrative Poem
N3: Free Space
N4: Bredlik
N5: Sea shantyG1: Sestina
G2: Limerick
G3: Elegy
G4: Tanka
G5: RondeauO1: Filk
O2: Ode
O3: Epigram
O4: Sonnet
O5: Dadaist Poetry
Vintage Fanworks Text Prompts
B1: Apocafic
B2: Everybody lives
B3: Together, they fight crime!
B4: 10th Walker
B5: Rule 34I1: Wingfic
I2: Lemon
I3: Wangst
I4: Character Falls into the modern world
I5: Magical Healing ElvesN1: Five Things/ Five Times
N2: Hobbitpile
N3: Free Space
N4: Spoof
N5: SongficG1: Tolkienian Prose
G2: Curtainfic
G3: Legomance
G4: Rule 63
G5: Fake DatingO1: Girl Falls into Middle-earth
O2: Anklebiters
O3: What if Character X had taken the Ring ...?
O4: Filk
O5: Smarm
Fanworks Tagged with Vintage
Noldolantë by cuarthol
Filk of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'
A musical/poetic exploration of the Fall of the Noldor - 'Noldolantë' - from the discord sewn by Melkor to Fëanor's death.
But Not Always Sweet by Grundy
A collection of short responses, both drabbles and ficlets, to the prompts for the Vintage challenge.
SWG Vintage Challenge by Lferion
25 chapters assembled into five stories. Each chapter fills four prompts, one from each of the four cards in the SWG May 2022 Vintage Bingo Challenge, for a total of 100 prompts filled.
The five stories are not all in the same continuity/universe -- for one thing, Ilverien and Red Crow cannot coexist, though there are elements they have in common -- but all of them can be read as part of an overall set of ideas.
Free Press by Lferion
Four colleagues work together on increasingly complex challenges in storytelling.
Red Crow by Lferion
Glimpses of life in Aman, after the events of arriviste's void junk and Idrils_Scribe's Wings of White and Silver-grey.
Candles and Confidences by grey_gazania
Elrond and Gil-galad play a game and discuss some painful truths about their families.
Letters to the West by daughterofshadows
Erferil writes letters to someone who once was very dear to her.
And even if Amrûn cannot reply, the letters still comfort her.
Water Music by grey_gazania
Elrond, newly arrived to Balar, has a brief conversation with Gil-galad that makes him reassess his situation.
Three Bredlik Poems by Himring
Three bredlik poems featuring an unnamed orc, Melian and Tilion.
Full of Gorgeous Life by StarSpray
Three of Nerdanel's sons come home: a trio of double-drabbles.
Too Late, Cried the Gulls by grey_gazania
“Too late the ships of Círdan and Gil-galad the High King came hasting to the aid of the Elves of Sirion; and Elwing was gone, and her sons.” - The Silmarillion
Five Letters Caranthir Sent His Wife (And One Letter He Didn't) by grey_gazania
When Fëanor is exiled to Formenos, his seven sons accompany him, but Caranthir's wife stays behind in Tirion. A selection of their correspondence.
Written for the Vintage challenge prompts "epistolary" and "five things".
The Kids Are All Right Outtakes by grey_gazania
Scenes that didn't make it into "The Kids Are All Right", whether because I couldn't make them fit or because they were from the wrong POV.
Clad Much in Grey by Lindariel
Alatáriel accepts a mission on behalf of her family and encounters the mystery at the heart of a secret.
The Kids Are All Right by grey_gazania
As the survivors from Nargothrond come to Balar and the Fell Winter sets in, the girl who will become Gil-galad struggles alongside her friends to find a ray of hope in a darkness that seems unending.
Shadow's Instadrabbles by daughterofshadows
The home of my insta-drabbling pieces!
(and the odd drabble of undetermined origin)
