Welcome to the Silmarillion Writers' Guild

Bingo Cards Wanted for Potluck Bingo. Our November-December challenge will be Potluck Bingo, featuring cards created by you! If you'd like to create cards or prompts for cards, we are taking submissions.
Tolkien Meta Week, December 8-14. We will be hosting a Tolkien Meta Week in December, here on the archive and on our Tumblr, for nonfiction fanworks about Tolkien.
New Challenge: Orctober. Orcs on a quest for freedom seek a place sheltered and safe from the Dark Lord. Fulfill prompts to gather the clues needed to bring them to freedom.
Mereth Aderthad 2025: Call for Presenters for Meta, Research, and Scholarship Open. We welcome proposals from creators of meta, research, and scholarship about Tolkien for our July 2025 hybrid Mereth Aderthad event!
A Sense of History: Doom and Ascent. In the final essay in the series about the tower allegory in Tolkien's "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," Simon J. Cook pulls together the series to give the full picture of how not just the allegory but the legendarium can be read.
Themed Collection: Orcs Are People. Cuarthol shares a collection of fiction, art, and essays that challenge the notion of Orcs as an inhuman enemy and instead consider the legendarium from the perspective that Orcs are people.
Themed Collection: Alliterative Verse for Arda. Rhunedhel shares ten alliterative poems about Tolkien's world, which build on Tolkien's own reverence for alliterative verse.
Cultus Dispatches: Why People Don't Comment. Many an author has stared at her clicks and her comment count and wondered: Why don't most readers comment? An update on a 2018 article for Long Live Feedback, this month's column uses Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data to reveal three big factors: skill, confidence, and community connections.
In Memory of Oshun. We are sad to share the news that our long-time member, author, and friend Oshun has passed away. We are raising money to help her family with expenses for those who wish to contribute.

Latest News

Bingo Cards Wanted for Potluck Bingo
Our November-December challenge will be Potluck Bingo, featuring cards created by you! If you'd like to create cards or prompts for cards, we are taking submissions.

Tolkien Meta Week, December 8-14
We will be hosting a Tolkien Meta Week in December, here on the archive and on our Tumblr, for nonfiction fanworks about Tolkien.

New Challenge: Orctober
Orcs on a quest for freedom seek a place sheltered and safe from the Dark Lord. Fulfill prompts to gather the clues needed to bring them to freedom.

Newest Fanworks

Remembering Serech by Himring

A short history of the Fen of Serech, from happier times until the bitter end.

The Eyes and Ears of Morgoth by Chilled in Hithlum

I recently revisited my first submission called The Eyes and Ears of Melkor (still listed) and found it somewhat lacking. Obviously the outline was already set by Professor Tolkien and in this alone the idea holds up, so I decided to have another crack at telling the tale of Húrin's captivity from his and Morgoth's point of view.

One Flesh, One Soul. Part II by FellFireFan

The fates of the lovers have been sealed. After Aegnor makes a promise to Andreth he seeks council one last time from Finrod to reveal the identity of the maiden who had stolen his heart and hopes Finrod will share in his newfound happiness. However, it does not go well between the brothers, and a heated argument unfolds, plunging even Finrods' own safety into uncertainty.

One Flesh, One Soul. Part I by FellFireFan

Aegnor, Lord of Dorthonion, is an Elven Prince with quite a reputation. Fiery, earthy and sensual with a wrath that no one would knowingly provoke. He is beautiful, wild and playful as he is dangerous, passionate and utterly terrifying. A far cry from the noble decorum expected as an elven prince and a noble lord.

Ransom of the Fairy Twins by Rocky41_7

Maglor and Maedhros trade Elrond and Elros to King Gil-galad in exchange for a Silmaril, but they have miscalculated.

New in References

Doom and Ascent: The Argument of ‘Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics’ by Simon J. Cook

Simon reads 'Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics' to conclude his account of the Anglo-Saxon tower of its allegory.

Why People Don't Comment: Data and History From the Tolkienfic Fandom by Dawn Walls-Thumma

A reworking of the 2018 article for Long Live Feedback that includes data from the 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey, pointing to a lack of comments as related to skill, confidence, and community connection.

Death, Grief, and the Other in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma

The narrator of the Quenta Silmarillion uses death, grief, and mourning rituals to generate sympathy for or dehumanize groups of characters considered the Other.

Newest Artwork

Against Expectations- complimenting art by PeasantPlayer

A orc and a elf. The elf hands the orc water

 

 

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

On the Way Home by silmalope

Doriath Family Reunion AU: Túrin twisted his ankle in the woods, and big sister Lúthien is giving him a ride home. :)

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

Behind God’s Back by silmalope

A short comic for the Sept-Oct 2024 Idiomatic challenge. The stifling environment of Eöl’s “dim halls, silent and secret” contrasts with young Maeglin’s idealized vision of Gondolin as a divine, sunlit paradise, home to the godlike Noldor. 

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

Around the World and Web

November challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The challenge for November has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. Thematic prompt: refuge. Formal challenge: include imitation of a sound. As always, these can be filled independently and also freely combined with SWG and other challenges. New participants welcome!

November 2024 Call for Papers and Proposals
Calls for papers and proposals for conferences and publications that are open during the month of November 2024.

White Oliphaunt 2024
The White Oliphaunt is a Tolkien fanwork exchange for humorous gifts.