Sign-Up to Hand Out Scavenger Hunt Prompts
Our May challenge will be a Matryoshka built around a scavenger hunt. If you'd like to hand out prompts (and receive comments on your work for doing so!), you can sign up to do so.
SWG News
New Challenge: Everyman
Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in the legendarium using a quote about an unnamed character as inspiration.
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 & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Day Will Come Again by gaydhros
On the morning of the day Fingon was to die, the sun rose bright over a shining sea of metal.
[Series] Instadrabbling, 2026-Present by SWG Moderators
We get together from time to time on the SWG Discord and produce spontaneous fanworks based on randomly chosen prompts. This collection includes drabbles, ficlets, and other flash fanworks produced as part of our instadrabbling sessions beginning in 2026.
[Writing] Flower in a Guarded City by Zdenka
The Eagles find a woman in the wilderness and bring her to Gondolin, and Maeglin's feelings are thrown into confusion.
[Writing] Until the Stars are All Alight by Dagstjarna
Reembodied in Aman, Celebrimbor decides to return to Middle earth to help heal the darkness and hurt wrought by the ring.
[Writing] HongyueG's Tolkien Drabbles by HongyueG
A compilation of Tolkien-related drabbles.
[Writing] Those Who Linger by Finitely Venerated
Turgon yearns for happier days, days before he knew cold. But he knows in his heart that some things are forever lost, and wonders if he, too, is merely a remnant of the departed, a spent husk to be cleared if spring should ever bloom again.
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
Teen Spirit
In honor of the SWG becoming a teenager, create a fanwork about an adolescent character or adolescence using our prompt generator. 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
Week of Kiliel
A Tumblr event dedicated to the relationship between Kili and Tauriel.
Aspec Arda Week 2026
This week-long event celebrates asexual and aromantic spectrum interpretations and headcanons of Tolkien’s Legendarium.
Angbang Week 2026
Angbang Week is a tumblr event focusing on the relationship between Morgoth and Sauron, running from May 5-11, 2026
April/May Teitho Challenge
Teithio is running a prompt challenge around the theme of "heartbreak."
Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2026
The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang is back for another summer of collaboration between artists and writers!
Rocky41_7's Favorites
Favorite Fanworks
A Woman in Few Words: The Character of Nerdanel and Her Treatment in Canon and Fandom by Dawn Felagund
Fanwork Information
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.
| Major Characters: Nerdanel |
| Major Relationships: No major characters listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is |
A loss of something ever felt I by arriviste
Fanwork Information
Five people Finarfin did not expect, and one he did.
--
It was the Silmarils that had sent Fëanor on his mad way to Beleriand like a falling star, pulling all the youth and brightness of my life in a long tail after him; and the very Silmaril Elwing and Ëarendil brought here now had drawn Finrod my son into darkness and death, and torn him to pieces.
"To be fair, that was the wolf,” Finrod said.
| Major Characters: Anairë, Celebrían, Elwing, Eärendil, Eärwen, Finarfin, Findis, Finrod Felagund, Gil-galad, Idril, Míriel Serindë, Tuor |
| Major Relationships: No major characters listed |
| Genres: Family, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
A Promise of the Sun by cuarthol
Fanwork Information
The roles of youth and age trade places.
Finduilas may be one of the few among the Eldar of Nargothrond who can understand the changes which age brings to Bëor.
| Major Characters: Bëor, Finduilas |
| Major Relationships: Bëor & Finduilas |
| Genres: Fluff, General | Challenges: Middle-earth Is Multitudes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
Beacon by polutropos
Fanwork Information
Eärendil returns to Sirion after his latest sea voyage, and Elwing's anxieties about her pregnancy are soothed in the loving arms of her husband.
| Major Characters: Eärendil, Elwing |
| Major Relationships: Eärendil/Elwing |
| Genres: Erotica, Fluff, Het, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: Sexual Content (Graphic) |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
Friendship and Stern Demand by polutropos
Fanwork Information
The letters exchanged between Maedhros Fëanorion and Elwing Dioriel, c. FA 534-537.
| Major Characters: Elwing, Maedhros |
| Major Relationships: Elwing & Maedhros |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
Maglor by polutropos
Fanwork Information
As one of the most beloved Silmarillion characters, Maglor is a bundle of contradictions undergirded by a complex textual history. Warrior, musician, wanderer, and survivor, Maglor brings to the fore key themes in Tolkien's early legendarium, such as the role of music, oaths, and exile.
| Major Characters: Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major characters listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is |
Methed e-Lúthad "Enchantment's End" by Anérea
Fanwork Information
Melian and Thingol awake from their enchantment in Nan Elmoth.
| Major Characters: Elu Thingol, Melian |
| Major Relationships: Melian/Thingol |
| Artwork Type: Character/Portrait, Drawing/Painting, Illustration |
| Genres: Het, Romance | Challenges: Arda on Ice |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all by NiennaWept
Fanwork Information
Elenwë did not marry for love, and finds herself longing through the years for something forbidden.
| Major Characters: Aredhel, Elenwë |
| Major Relationships: Aredhel/Elenwë |
| Genres: Drama, Femslash, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings, Mature Themes, Sexual Content (Mild) |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
Siren Song by polutropos
Fanwork Information
Maglor's westward odyssey nearly fails when he is led astray by an enthralling light and song in the depths of the sea.
| Major Characters: Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major characters listed |
| Genres: Crossover, Ficlet | Challenges: Crossroads of the Fallen King |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
The Forge by Sublime Penguin
Fanwork Information
Gereth at her forge.
As far as I know, there's no lore regarding elves and tattoos. I love the idea that they might have had them, but with special ink that made them appear differently, or not at all, depending on circumstances like day, mood, and words spoken.
Notes:
Done for the Worldbuilding Exchange 2018, for Lunarium and heavily inspired by their works featuring Gereth
| Major Characters: Gereth |
| Major Relationships: No major characters listed |
| Artwork Type: Drawing/Painting |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on | Updated on |
| This fanwork is complete. |
