Welcome to the Silmarillion Writers' Guild

Orctober - SWG Challenge - October 15 through November 15
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.
Silmarillion Writers' Guild - Mereth Aderthad 2025 - July 19, 2025 - Burlington, VT, and online - a celebration of creativity and scholarship inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien
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: The Argument of ‘Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics’ by Simon J. Cook
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 Collections: Orcs Are People
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 Collections: Alliterative Verse for Arda
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.
Silmarillion Writers' Guild - Mereth Aderthad 2025 - July 19, 2025 - Burlington, VT, and online - a celebration of creativity and scholarship inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien
Mark Your Calendars! Mereth Aderthad 2025. The SWG will be hosting a hybrid event in Burlington, Vermont, and online on 19 July 2025. Mark your calendars and watch this space for calls for presenters and fanworks to be shared at the event!
Cultus Dispatches - Why People Don't Comment: Data and History from the Tolkienfic Fandom
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.
Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was all rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise. In Memory of Oshun.
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

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.

View all SWG news.

Newest Fanworks

An lao ite i mbolg na bó by cuarthol

Before Doriath, before Gondolin, others found their way to the mouths of Sirion, fleeing the destruction of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

The Last Queen of the North by Flora-lass

Arvedui is gone, and Firiel reflects.

A Fresh Wind by Grundy

Along with her newly demonstrated concept for flying, Tindomiel has to explain a few other things from California.

Voice Like the Sea by Rocky41_7

Maglor the mighty who like the sea with deep voice sings yet mournfully.

The Seven Gates by Laerthel

The impossible happened – a Silmaril has been stolen from Morgoth’s crown. Maedhros decides to reunite the People of Beleriand against the Enemy and attack him while he is still unprepared (which is by no means less impossible).

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

On the Way Home by silmalope
Thumbnail image of Lúthien and young Túrin.

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 thumbnail image showing the city of Gondolin.

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

Legacy by silmalope
Young Elwing wears the Nauglamir and Ring of Barahir.

When Doriath fell, Elwing was too young to remember the family she lost. When she wears the Nauglamir, the Silmaril, and the Ring of Barahir for the first time, she feels the burden of their legacy.

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

Around the World and Web

Tolkien Latin American and Caribbean Week 2024
Tolkien Latin American and Caribbean Week is a Tumblr event dedicated to celebrate Latin American and Caribbean cultures, peoples and traditions through Tolkien's Legendarium.

Lúthien Week 2024
Lúthien Week is dedicated to the characters of the Beren and Lúthien story, from the star-crossed protagonists to faithful allies to villains ... and everyone in between.

Half-Elven Week 2024
Half-Elven Week is a Tumblr event dedicated to celebrating Tolkien's half-Elves.