Welcome to the Silmarillion Writers' Guild

Potluck Bingo - SWG challenge - November 15 through January 15, 2025
New Challenge: Potluck Bingo. Sit down to a delicious selection of prompts served on bingo boards, created by the SWG community.
Tolkien Meta Week, December 8-14
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.
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.
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: Potluck Bingo
Sit down to a delicious selection of prompts served on bingo boards, created by the SWG community.

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.

View all SWG news.

Newest Fanworks

Collection of Potluck Drabbles by Artano

This is a collection of true drabbles completed for the 'Four Words' drabble bingo card.

Getting Dirty by Elleth

A collection of NSFW ficlets for the "Keep It Clean" bingo card of the 2024 Potluck Bingo. 

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.

2024 Potluck Doodles by silmalope

Assorted prompt fills for the 2024 Potluck bingo boards, to varying degrees of completion! :)

A Collection of Maps Exhibiting the Changing Political Landscape in Beleriand by Artano

Created for the 'Geography/Maps/Places' prompt on the "Tolkien meta" bingo board, this is a collection of maps marked with the various people groups showing how they arrived and moved about Beleriand.

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.

The Curious Case of Peregrin Boffin by simon

This story was penned some years back as a way of marking the Peregrin Boffin of the 1939 drafts of The Lord of the Rings. Boffin was a Hobbit who walked to Moria but vanished from the story in summer 1940, when his character, Trotter, the Ranger met in Bree, became Aragorn, heir of Elendil.

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.

Newest Artwork

2024 Potluck Doodles by silmalope
Digital art of brightly illuminated Galadriel and Finrod.

Assorted prompt fills for the 2024 Potluck bingo boards, to varying degrees of completion! :)

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

A Collection of Maps Exhibiting the Changing Political Landscape in Beleriand by Artano
Map of Beleriand showing the general distribution of the Teleri, Noldor, and Petty-dwarves soon after the Elves crossed into Beleriand

Created for the 'Geography/Maps/Places' prompt on the "Tolkien meta" bingo board, this is a collection of maps marked with the various people groups showing how they arrived and moved about Beleriand.  This collection focuses specifically on the time from the arrival of the Teleri, Vanyar, and Noldor before they went to Aman up to the distribution of the various kingdoms after the Flight of the Noldor, when they arrived in Middle-earth and settled there.

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

Valier & colours by daughterofshadows
Abstract art of orange and red lines on a dark red background

Semi-abstract arts representing the queens of the Valar.

Rating: General
Warnings: No warnings listed

Around the World and Web

Teitho November/December Contest: Healing
The theme for Teitho's November/December contest is healing.

Lord of the Rings Secret Santa 2024
LotR SESA has been ongoing for twenty-one years and is running again this year as a prompt meme hosted on AO3 for all genres of Tolkien-based fanfiction.

Kiliel Week 2024
Kiliel Week is a Tumblr event for fanworks about the Kili/Tauriel pairing.