New Challenge: Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration.
SWG News
Cultus Dispatches: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn and Grundy
The fan studies column Cultus Dispatches returns with a history of how Tolkien fanworks fandom has reacted and resisted generative AI by drawing strong boundaries in a way that is not typical for the fandom.
Instadrabbling Sessions for April, May, and June
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Challenge: Famous Last Words
For our March challenge, our moderators will assign you a famous last line to use as a prompt.
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] Til We're on the Other Side by StarSpray
It was only the second time Finwë had come out foraging with them, and of course this would happen—of course the Hunter would come, the Dark Rider on his steed with its terrible, heavy footfalls, and the deep-throated laughter that held no mirth, only malice.
In the dark…
[Writing] The Endless Years by Elrond's Library
Elwing reckons with the passage of time.
[Writing] a life freely given, a favor returned by skywardstruck
Finrod and Bëor stop for a while on the road to Nargothrond to rest. The bodies of the Secondborn often grow weary, and Finrod laments, massaging Bëor's back and renewing his beloved's vigor with the work of his hands. But Finrod has other burdens of his own, Bëor soon discovers, returning…
[Writing] dye me, nocturne by skywardstruck
Maglor without Maedhros, Daeron without Lúthien. Alone, they are nothing, but together, they can be something more.
Where do you turn, when you have no one else left?
Written for Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2023, featuring artwork by athlai.
[Writing] Hill and Water Under Sky by StarSpray
a collection of drabbles and mini ficlets in the meanwhile the world goes on 'verse that aren't long enough to stand on their own
[Writing] The Long Arm of the Law by Elrond's Library
Turgon cannot be above the law.
Current Challenge
Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Vintage
Pick your prompts from four bingo cards themed around vintage literature, art, poetry, and fanworks. Read more ...
New in References
Fandom Draws the Line: Fanworks, AI, and Resistance by Dawn Felagund, Grundy
By definition, fanworks fandom does not draw a lot of boundaries, but community archives and events have taken a strong stance against AI-generated fanworks due to ethical considerations and member input.
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.
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.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Artwork] The Mirror of Galadriel by skywardstruck
Smoke rises from the Mirror, where the Lady of Lothlórien awaits to share its visions.
[Writing] Bar-en-Eladar by Gabriel
Out of the shadow, light is born anew.
A Chieftain is dead. And whilst the events surrounding his death are unclear, a son tries to come to terms with his loss.
[Writing] Why did Éowyn ask Faramir if he'd rather have a "woman of the race of Númenor"? by Quente
For most of my life, when reading Lord of the Rings, I read it through the perspective of Gandalf's words about Éowyn, that she'd spent years trapped as a caregiver, watching the realm she love fall from honor into disgrace.
But what if Éowyn was also a student of history?
…
Around the World and Web
Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
Gondor Week 2026
A Tumblr week event focusing on the history of the realm of Gondor.
Crablor Day
A day dedicated to everyone's favourite warcriminal crustacean - April 26, 2026
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
April Challenge Tolkien Short Fanworks
Tolkien Short Fanworks is running a challenge around the theme of "fools," "foolishness," or "being fooled."
Title Track
Enamored as he was with language, the chapters and titles of Tolkien's broad range of works are often small works of art in and of themselves. Some carry the ponderous weight of legend, others evoke complex metaphors and associations, and some dance like poems upon the tongue.
This month's challenge offers prompts based on titles within Tolkien's many and varied works. We've selected 125 titles from books, chapters, essays, poems, and fragments of text to inspire your fanwork. Note that fanworks do not have to be about the work the title belongs to (although they certainly can be). As always, we encourage creative interpretations of our challenges, and you can use the prompts however you want.
This challenge opened in .
Prompts
Choose your prompt from the collection below.
- View Prompts
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- Ælfwine and Dírhaval
- All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter
- Ambarkanta
- As You Must Admit
- At Rivendell
- Awaking of the Quendi
- Barrow-wight
- Beards
- Beauty and Goodness
- Beleg
- Bleak Heave the Billows
- Book of Lost Tales
- Chaining of Melko
- Chip the Glasses and Crack the Plates!
- Cold Be Hand and Heart and Bone
- Companions of the Rose
- Complaint of Mîm the Dwarf
- Concerning the Dwarves
- A Conspiracy Unmasked
- Cottage of Lost Play
- Death
- Delays Are Dangerous
- Derelicts
- Earendel at the Helm
- Early History of the Legend
- Errantry
- Escape from Angband
- Fall of Gondolin
- Flies and Spiders
- Flotsam and Jetsam
- Forbidden Pool
- Forest Walker
- Fragment of an Epic
- Gender and Sex
- Generational Schemes
- Glip
- Goblin Feet
- Great River
- Grey Havens
- Hair
- Happy Mariners
- Hiding of Valinor
- The Hills Are Old
- Homeward Bound
- Horns of Ylmir
- Houses of Healing
- Húrin and Morgoth
- Inside Information
- I Sat upon a Bench
- I Sit Beside the Fire and Think
- Journey to the Cross-Roads
- King Sheave
- A Knife in the Dark
- Knowledge of the Valar
- Last Debate
- Last of the Old Gods
- Laws and Customs among the Eldar
- Lost Road
- Maeglin
- Manwë's Ban
- Many Meetings
- March of the Quendi
- Many Partings
- Mermaid's Flute
- Mewlips
- Minas Tirith
- Mind-Pictures
- Monday Morning
- Moonshine
- Morning Song
- Mount Doom
- Music of the Ainur
- Mythopoeia
- Myths Transformed
- Nauglafring
- New Shadow
- No Longer Fear Champagne
- Not at Home
- Note on Dwarvish Voices
- Note on the Consumption of Mushrooms
- Of Aulë and Yavanna
- Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
- Of Men
- Of the Ents and the Eagles
- Of the Land and Beasts of Númenor
- Of the Sindar
- Of the Thieves' Quarrel
- Old Grabbler
- On Fairy-stories
- Outside
- Palantír
- Pearl
- Primal Impulse
- Queer Lodgings
- Return of the King
- Return of the Shadow
- Riddles in the Dark
- A Rime for My Boy
- The Road Goes Ever On
- Ruined Enchanter
- Sea-Bell
- Short Glossary of Obsolete, Archaic, and Rare Words
- A Short Rest
- Siren's Feast
- Sunset in a Town
- Tal-Elmar
- Tale of Tinúviel
- Tale of Years
- Teachings of Pengoloð
- The Story Foreseen from Fangorn
- A Thief in the Night
- Though All Things Fail and Come to Naught
- Three Children
- Three Is Company
- Time and Its Perception
- Tinfang Warble
- Tree and Leaf
- Treebeard
- Túrin's Fostering
- Two Towers
- An Unexpected Party
- Unfinished Tales
- Wanderings of Húrin
- A Warm Welcome
- Window on the West
Fanworks Tagged with Title Track
Stone by Anne Wolfe
A poem of a stone from the ruins of Hollin. Inspired by the prompt "The Hills Are Old".
Though All Things Fail and Come to Naught by Artano
In the aftermath of the Dagor Bragollach, an elf searches for survivors amongst the ruins of a town. The horrors he sees make him struggle to find hope in an ever-darkening world.
A Constellation Called Gondolin by sh3rry95
Eärendil does not remember Gondolin. As he grows up, he tries to reconstruct it through the stories of those who once lived there; yet every memory is different, shaped by the grief of those who lost it. Thus the city becomes a constellation of versions that can never truly be held together.
Written for the Title Track challenge with the prompt “Fall of Gondolin.
This is a translation.
Una costellazione chiamata Gondolin by sh3rry95
Eärendil non ricorda Gondolin. Crescendo cerca di ricostruirla attraverso i racconti di coloro che vi dimorarono; ma ogni memoria è diversa, segnata dal dolore di chi l’ha perduta. Così la città diventa una costellazione di versioni impossibili da tenere insieme.
Scritto per Title Track con prompt "Fall of Gondolin".
Not Entirely Forgotten by Elrond's Library
Gimli sipped at his tea. “Knowledge, Master Elrond, for your library is known far and wide for its vast collection of works dating to the the time before Sun and Moon, and all that came after.” Gimli smiled. “Alas, I seek even older knowledge.”
Things Left Unsaid by Grundy
Just because something is secret in Beleriand doesn't meant it isn't known in Aman.
The Mermaid's Flute by octopus_fool
Voronwë, suffering from sea-longing, shows Eärendil a strange object he found at sea.
Into Grief and Beyond It by StarSpray
“Then,” Frodo said, “if I were able to, I should be thanking him. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for those Rings. And—well, Sam said once recently that we’re really all just part of the same story as the one about you and your brothers, and Beren and Lúthien, and Eärendil, and all the rest. I’ve got this star-glass that Lady Galadriel made for me, and it’s got the light of Eärendil’s star in it, which is the light of the Silmaril that your father made, isn’t it? And Sam and I never would have made it without this glass—so I’ve got Lady Galadriel and Eärendil and Fëanor to thank too."
Frodo speaks with Maglor in Minas Tirith.
Some years later, in Valinor, he meets Celebrimbor.
The Last of the Old Gods by AdmirableMonster
Two members of the crew of the starship Vérië land on the planet Andúnië, investigating a location of interest called The Sleeping Garden.
(Introducing: a Space Opera Númenor AU. Let's be real, it was only a matter of time.)
Grief is not the only geography I know by Himring
Indis explains how she took to wandering around Valinor.
The Tale of Tar-Ciryatan's Daughter by Kaylee Arafinwiel
Ailinel, orphan of Numenor, is one of the poor girls dowered by Tar-Ciryatan and titled a "King's Daughter", encouraged to sail East to his colonies and find herself a husband.
It doesn't take her that long.
But even after she and Shipman Gaerondur find love, life in the colony isn't easy.
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.
East Away! by Flora-lass
Aldarion storms off towards Middle-earth. For the Title Track challenge.
