New Challenge: Epic 80s
This month's challenge features hundreds of fresh prompts from the bodacious decade of the 1980s.
SWG News
Cultus Dispatches: Communities Do Comment
Comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
Instadrabbling Sessions for July, August, and September
Instadrabbling continues on the first Saturday of each month on our Discord server.
New Challenge: Scavenger Hunt
In this Matryoshka-with-a-twist, you will solve clues that point you to the challenge prompts.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Artwork] A private audience by skywardstruck
After wandering through the forests of Oromë, Maitimo and Makalaurë discover a quiet clearing, stopping to rest. With lyre in hand, the private audience begins— for this song, Makalaurë will only allow his brother to hear.
[Writing] Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously…
[Writing] A Thousand Winds that Blow by StarSpray
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.
[Writing] Is it raining with you? by AdmirableMonster
In the last days of Númenor, two very different men meet in Umbar and fall in love.
(Please note that while this work is heavily inspired by Disco Elysium, no knowledge of the game is necessary to read the fic!)
[Writing] Nasyalossë by Lovimmy3365
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…
[Writing] From That Rubble by StarSpray
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…
[Writing] Wrensong and Roses by Isilme_among_the_stars
Concerned by his responses to the paraphernalia of healing, Fingon steals Maedhros from his room for an impromptu garden excursion. Maedhros battles with dark thoughts.
Current Challenge
Epic 80s
Create a fanwork using on of our righteous prompts based on popular culture from the 1980s. Read more ...
Random Challenge
B-Movie
Prompts for this Matryoshka challenge are loosely inspired by the predictable plot arcs of hilariously abominable, eye-rollingly corny, so-bad-they're-actually-kinda-good horror films. Read more ...
New in References
Communities Do Comment: Expanding the 3C's of Commenting with SWG Data by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Expanding on my 2018 article "Why People Don't Comment," comment data from the SWG underscores community as an essential component to a robust commenting culture.
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.
Featured Themed Collection
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Down the Long Years by Isilme_among_the_stars
Bilbo, the strange old hobbit with the wandering feet, senses something special in young Frodo the first time he sees the lad; as they become close, they find in each other a cameraderie not well understood by other hobbits. Five poignant moments between Bilbo and Frodo Baggins over the course…
[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.
Around the World and Web
Tolkien Gen Week 2026
Tolkien Gen Week will run from July 6-12, 2026 to appreciate all of the incredible characters and relationships within Tolkien’s legendarium that fall under the broad category of “gen.”
Tolkien Disability Pride 2026
This Tumblr event focuses on ALL creative works focusing on disability in Tolkien's universe.
Scribbles and Drabbles 2026
Scribbles & Drabbles is a fic and art exchange with a minimum word count of 100 words.
Fanworks Tagged with Turgon
If Death is Kind by Naltariel
Glorfindel during his stay in Mandos. First of the Morning Light series. Nominated for MEFA 2009.
I Hate You by oshun
Day 24 – B2MeM 2009, prompt: “Choose your favorite line or quotation from a non-Tolkien source.” This is a story referenced more than once but never developed in my short novel A New Day. Inspired by Dawn Felagund’s ficlet “Hatred,” it is an account of a low point in the relationship of Maedhros and Fingon before they left Valinor.
2009 MEFA - Second Place - Drama: House of Finwë
The Bar Joke by oshun
Day 19 SWG Back to Middle-earth Month entry. The prompt: "If you could pass on three pieces of wisdom to future generations, what would they be?"
Summary: "Four guys were sitting in a bar . . . " (the Fab Four of the Finwean Cousins). A drabble and a half (150 words as counted by MS Word and the author). G-rated, but with warnings for extreme irreverence.
Golden-Haired by Anu
Turgon's tale; briefly spoken.
The Dark Foe Wears Feanaro by whitewave
Timeline of major events in the trend-setting House of Fëanaro, the undisputed leader in the Eldarin fashion industry.
Just One Victory by Feta
AU. Morgoth never hangs Maedhros from Thangorodrim, which means Fingon is unable to rescue him. Centuries later, the Union of Fingolfin results in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and a prisoner takes his chance for escape.
Full Brothers in Blood by oshun
Gift story for Dawn Felagund, Christmas 2007, Fingon and Turgon as young brothers. Honorable Mention, MEFA 2008
A Harmony in Autumn by oshun
A tale of belatedly requited love, with a dose of politics, set in the period immediately preceding the foundation of the city of Gondolin. Written in response to Slashy Santa 2007 request by Talullah Red. (Beta: the ever-generous Ignoblebard.)
Honorable Mention - MEFA 2008
And Then There Was Cake, or Begetting Day Horrors by Klose
A little ficlet in which Maedhros muses on the frivolous affair that is the Begetting Day Celebration. (Warnings for potentially offensive language and bawdy humour, or attempts thereof!)
This was written for Oshun's 2007 birthday, and was originally posted to the SWG LiveJournal community.
To Forgive by Dawn Felagund
For Rinnor, three fixed-length ficlets about forgiveness among the Noldor: Feanor on forgiving his half-brother, Maedhros on pardoning the mistakes baby brothers make, and Fingolfin on why forgiveness is essential for the Noldor to defeat Morgoth.
The Small and Secret Things by Dawn Felagund
An attempt at writing a drabble or other short fiction every day, based on the Dictionary.com Word of the Day. Please see the story notes for more information. ETA: This project is on indefinite hiatus. I am working on my second degree as well as working full-time and so have had to tell the muses to take a hike. Hopefully, once my classes end, I'll be able to get back into writing.
A New Day by oshun
(New: see illustration by Robinka, added as Chapter 12.) This is a sequel to my first tale, (Maitimo and Findekáno), in my cycle of stories recounting the life-long relationship between Fingon and Maedhros. It occurs after the definitive fracture between the Houses of Feanor and Fingolfin and the flight of the Noldor to Middle-earth. Beginning immediately after Fingon’s rescue of Maedhros from the cliffs of Thangorodrim, it tells of how Fingon and Maedhros reunite and together resolve to heal the divisions among the Noldor. (Slash.)
MEFA 2008 First Place, Longer Works: General
MEFA 2007 2nd Place, Elves: Incomplete
The Illgotten Son by Gadira
Aredhel, princess of the Noldor, gets lost in the forest of Nan Elmoth and is forced to marry Eöl, the Dark Elf. Bound by an oath of revenge, she lives on to bear his son, and tries to make him hate his father. My oldest fic... or the oldest fic I´m ready to show anyway.
Memories Of Findekáno by ford_of_bruinen
Nirnaeth Arnoediad is over and Maedhros is looking back and remembering his beloved cousin Fingon.
