Mereth Aderthad 2025: Program Posted
Check out our schedule of presentations and fanworks, as well as featured artists for Mereth Aderthad 2025! Registration for in-person and virtual attendance is now open.
SWG News
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Paul D. Deane by Himring
Before the Norman Invasion brought rhymed poetry with it, English poetry was alliterative, and this early poetic form held deep appeal for Tolkien. Himring spoke to Paul D. Deane about his upcoming Mereth Aderthad paper "Love, Grief, and Alliterative Verse in Tolkien’s Legendarium" and his work with alliterative verse, Tolkien, and alliterative verse about Tolkien.
New Challenge: Musicals
Prompts this month come from musicals.
So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference? Putting Together the Presentation
The video and materials from our latest session of "So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference?" are now available. This session covers crafting a paper intended for presentation and designing helpful, accessible visuals to accompany your talk.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] The First Age 503 Football Finals by myrtaceaae
Nogrod vs Doriath, in the first match of the F. A. 503 finals season. Will Doriath at the top of the ladder beat Nogrod, currently at third on the ladder, or will Nogrod's strong side be victorious?
[Writing] High in the Clean Blue Air by StarSpray
They passed out of Lhûn and the wider coastline of Middle-earth opened up before his eyes. He had wandered those shores for centuries, and even now he felt the pull of that same wanderlust, and knew he would miss them for the rest of his life. Their wildness, the untamed waves, the rocky…
[Writing] Let Him Find Honey by StarSpray
Grief awaits you outside these halls, Fëanáro, Nienna told him, her voice like the gentlest fall of rain upon spring leaves.
Grief haunts me inside them, Fëanor replied.
[Series] I made loving you a blood sport by atlantablack
In which Fëanor & Fingolfin are re-embodied in 4th age Aman, are nowhere near as healed as everyone believes them to be, and decide to pretend that sleeping together will fix their relationship instead of causing more problems.
[Writing] a hunger still unraveling like silk by atlantablack
Fingolfin does not look up from his book when he hears footsteps approaching and pays no attention to Fëanor walking into the room. What he emphatically does pay attention to is Fëanor going to his knees in front of the chair he is sprawled sideways…
[Writing] A Songbird in a Cage of His Own Making by Elrond's Library
Uinen and Ossë have lost track of the Noldor's Songbird, his laments gone silent. When they do, Uinen nurses him back to health, and then some.
[Writing] The Writhen Pool by pandemonium_213
When the Istyari of Second Age Ost-in-Edhil deny her a place in an important new initiative to be taken up by the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, a young master smith struggles to make her mark in the man's realm of the forges. An opportunity arrives when the smith is offered a commission that will present…
Current Challenge
Musicals
Craft a fanwork inspired by songs from musicals. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Trinkets and Treasures
Create a fanwork about an object that is magical or otherwise valuable in some way, either canonical or of your own invention. Read more ...
New in References
Interview with Paul D. Deane by Himring by Rhunedhel
Himring spoke to Paul about his upcoming Mereth Aderthad presentation "Love, Grief, and Alliterative Verse in Tolkien’s Legendarium," his deep study of alliterative verse, and how that entwines with his understanding of Tolkien and creation of his own Tolkien-based alliterative poems.
So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference? Putting Together the Presentation by SWG Newsletter Staff
Video and materials from our session on how to put together a paper and presentation for a Tolkien conference. The session covers how to structure a paper for a presentation, assembling a presentation to support your paper, and accessibility and other tools for ensuring everyone can access your work.
Interview with cloudyhymns by Shadow by cloudyhymns, daughterofshadows
Shadow spoke with cloudyhymns about his upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad 2025, "The Design of Dragons and the Doom of the Dwarves," where he shares his theory about how Dwarves and dragons are connected in the legendarium, a topic full of implications for fanworks.
Featured Themed Collection
Part of our Themed Collection series for our newsletter, this collection features fiction, artwork, and essays that transcend the idea of Orcs as the enemy, instead considering their humanity.
Alliterative Verse for Arda by Rhunedhel
Part of our Themed Collection series for our newsletter, this collection features alliterative poems about Middle-earth.
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Multimedia] Rosemary for Remembrance by Himring
Three years after Arathorn's death, Gilraen receives a letter.
It contains a short poem and a sprig of rosemary.
[Writing] Paradox of the Fourth Age by Alassante
One wrong decision can make a world of difference. When one of the Fellowship makes the mistake, the consequences are so severe that only the Valar can repair it. But will they?
Glorfindel daughter's life is in Elrohir's hands and only she remembers th eir love for each other. The fate of…
[Writing] By Mirrormere by bunn
A new Age dawns, and Moria is retaken at last.
Around the World and Web
Angbang Week 2025
Angbang Week is a Tumblr event for fanworks about the Melkor/Sauron pairing.
Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang (TRSB) Sign-Ups Open!
The Tolkien Reserve Summer Bang is a collaborative fan event celebrating the works and adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien. Writers and artists will team up to bring new stories to life—from the Shire to the far reaches of Valinor (and everything in between).
April Challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for April has been posted to the Dreamwidth community. The thematic prompt is: wood. The formal challenge is: linnod (Gilraen's canonical verse form). These can be filled separately and freely combined with other challenges and prompts that allow this.
Tolkien Ekphrasis Week 2025
This is a Tolkien-fandom-wide event dedicated to the art of ekphrasis in Tolkien's worlds. Its goal is to illuminate the artistic surroundings of the places, people, and stories we love, in as many media as possible.
Teitho March/April Challenge: Mothers
The Teitho Contest theme for the months of March and April is mothers.
Challenges by Date
Challenges have been a part of the SWG since our group was formed in 2005. Before the archive, there were challenges. Before References or any special projects or B2MeM or any of the myriad things we've done over the last decade-plus, there were challenges. Challenges end and a new challenges is posted on the 15th of the month. (Yes, that means there is one thrilling day each month when there are two active challenges!) Participants—both authors and reviewers—will receive a stamp in their challenge stamp collection for their participation. Deadlines apply only if you want your fanwork to receive a stamp.
Every challenge that has ever been offered by the SWG is available for use by creators of fanworks who are looking for inspiration. Even if the deadline for stamps is passed, you are welcome to use the challenges listed on our site. And comments on past challenge fanworks are always welcome and always receive a reward for that month. Want to join us? Click to read the guidelines below!
- Challenge Guidelines
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- New challenges will be released monthly on the 15th. You can find the current challenge in the Challenge section of our website or listed in the sidebar under Current Challenges. The current challenge can also be found on our satellite groups on Dreamwidth, Tumblr (using the #swg challenges tag), and Discord.
- Challenge entries must be created for the challenge. In other words, a previous fanwork cannot be "retrofitted" into a challenge even if it fits. However, you are welcome to add to an existing fanwork with new content that fits a challenge.
- Challenges will need to be posted to the SWG archive no later than the 15th of the month in order to receive a stamp for that month's challenge, unless otherwise specified. If you are using the challenge prompt as part of another fandom event where the event rules do not allow you to post the fanwork on our archive before the challenge deadline or if you have serious extenuating circumstances that cause you to miss a deadline, you can contact the mods to arrange a deadline extension. Make sure that you add your story to the challenge using the Challenges field on the fanwork submission form. The SWG accepts all types of fanworks (art, audio, link collections, playlists, series, videos, writing, and multimedia fanworks), all types of fanwork are suitable as responses to challenges, and all must be posted to the archive.
- You are welcome to cross-post your work wherever you want, but at a minimum, it must be archived on our website.
- Works must be Silmfic, but any genre, rating, pairing, characters, or format are allowed. Works-in-progress are welcome.
- Challenge participants will receive a stamp for each challenge that they complete. In addition, if you comment on a challenge fanwork, you will receive a stamp for participating as a commenter. Unleash your inner philatelist because we will start a stamp collection for all participants that will be updated from month to month! Some months have special stamps (or even secret stamps ...).
- Comment challenges have no due date. However, if you are commenting on a story posted more than two months ago, we appreciate if you contact us and let us know that you need a stamp. Please note that comment stamps are not available for specific challenges before January 2017.
Current Challenge
Musicals
The curtain rises, the lights come up, and for the next few hours, you are transported to a world where people sing through their problems. Musicals tell stories ranging from the petty to the profound through song and, as they belt out from the stage, saturate the culture, moving from theater to film to radio, inspiring uninhibited shower-singing and getting unapologetically stuck in your head. This month's challenge draws its prompts from musicals. Select the prompt you want from the list and, as always, you can use any part of the prompt—including delving deeper into the lyrics and performance of the selected songs—in crafting your fanwork.
View prompts for the Musicals challenge.
Dip the Ladle
Tolkien had many tales, places, and artists who inspired his work. For this challenge, prompts invite creating a fanwork using one of Tolkien's influences. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Secret Gate
A Matryoshka challenge where prompts are based on the common plot points and tropes from mystery novels. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Bestiary of Arda
Choose a prompt from our "bestiary" of music and images of animals found in Arda. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Rejects
Create a fanwork around one of Tolkien's rejected ideas from the legendarium. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Middle-earth Is Multitudes
Use our daily prompt calendar to populate your fanworks with a more diverse array of characters. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Cheesy Corn Chips
Celebrate the corny and the cheesy, the sappy and sweet and schmaltzy and saccharine in popular culture by choosing from our collection of corny, sentimental, and heartstring-rending prompts. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Manwë's Mailbag
This challenge has two parts—making postcards which will be used as prompts, and using postcard prompts to create a fanwork—and will run slightly longer than usual. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
X Marks the Spot
In this modified Matryoshka challenge, your prompts will come from the journey you take around a map. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Major Arcana
Select a Tarot card and use any aspect of the card or its description to inspire your fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Restoration and Rebuilding
Create a fanwork around a prompt focused on the theme of rebuilding and restoration. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Zingers
Prompts for this challenge include zingers and insults from literature and pop culture. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Also Appearing
Choose from 120 alternate universe prompts, both settings and genres, to inspire a fanwork. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Vintage
Pick your prompts from four bingo cards themed around vintage literature, art, poetry, and fanworks. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
On a Different Page
Tolkien wrote more than just Middle-earth, and this challenge takes its prompts from his non-Ardaverse stories, essays, and poems. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Arda on Ice
Design your own figure skating program from a collection of prompts. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Opposites Attract
Prompts for this challenge are a pair of opposites. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Holiday Party
No matter if you're in the Northern or Southern hemisphere, it's a time of year to think about holidays. Whether you're bundling up in blankets or slipping a swimsuit into your suitcase, we invite you to an SWG holiday party! Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Gnome Tome
Spin our random generator to receive a prompt inspired by "The Nature of Middle-earth." Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Dear Irmo
Historians trace the first advice column to 1690, and in the three centuries hence, the heartsore, woebegone, and perpetually puzzled have turned to these "agony aunts" (and uncles) to solve their most debilitating dilemmas about family, work, and of course, love. Choose one of our real advice columns, tweaked just slightly, for your prompt. Challenge opened in . Read more ...
Kings & Kink
Throughout history, wherever there is writing, there is erotica. This challenge pulls its prompts from "vintage" works of romance and erotica. (Nonromantic and nonsexual options are also available.) Challenge opened in . Read more ...
