Founded in 2005, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild exists for discussions of and creative fanworks based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and related texts. We are a positive-focused and open-minded space that welcomes fans from all over the world and with all levels of experience with Tolkien's works. Whether you are picking up Tolkien's books for the first time or have been a fan for decades, we welcome you to join us!
A Sense of History: Straight Road The next in a series of articles about ships passing to and from the West, Simon uses "The Fall of Númenor" to attempt to arrive at Tolkien's reading of the exordium to "Beowulf."
Fandom Voices: Comments and Feedback Our Fandom Voices project tackles the fraught questions of feedback: what it is like to leave and receive feedback in the world of Tolkien fanworks.
Call for Contributors: Themed Collections Are you passionate about a topic related to Tolkien or fanworks? Do you have an impressive collection of bookmarks and favorites? We are looking for contributors who want to put together themed collections on the topic of their choice.
Over thirty people contributed their thoughts on the experience of leaving and receiving feedback on fanworks. Emotions run high on all sides, but community and connections emerge as factors that promote feedback while easing its difficulties for readers and viewers.
Over thirty people contributed their thoughts on the experience of leaving and receiving feedback on fanworks. Emotions run high on all sides, but community and connections emerge as factors that promote feedback while easing its difficulties for readers and viewers.
He and Diamond were visiting, though Pippin had been disappearing every afternoon, and taking Frodo and Elanor and most other lads and lasses in the neighborhood with him—though why they couldn’t use Pippin’s own pony, Sam couldn’t imagine.
So gathered they were to Bree, what lieutenants who could be spared, from their scattered watches west and east, for their chieftain had returned from his long sojourn in lands godless and mountains strange.
Aragorn returns from the South to tells his tales. Halbarad listens.
August challenge at tolkienshortfanworks on Dreamwidth
The August challenge has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. The thematic challenge is: magic trees. The formal challenge is: call and response. New participants welcome.
The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.
This is heartbreaking and wonderful all at once. (I love stories about Mandos; they are [one of] my weaknesses in Silmdom. ;) And, imho, not enough authors take advantage of the idea of Elves being able to resist the call of Mandos. Here, you use it to wonderful effect to show the grief of death, not in the loss of life, but in the loss of connection to what is left behind. These lines were simple and yet brilliant:
“Without me,” he said flatly.
“Yes, without you.”
for showing this first realization and, also I thought the very human urge to be remembered and grieved by loved ones, for some impact on their lives to marked one's passing.
Thanks so much, Dawn. I like writing about Namo too. He's such a mysterious and interesting character. I actually got the idea for this story from Lissa, who wrote a nice piece about an Elf refusing the call. In this case the Elf answers, only to find he will live again but be alone until his family chooses or is able to join him. Like someone said, we hope our families will be able to go on without us but it's also distressing to think of them letting go. I'm glad you thought I captured this well.
An intelligent and disquieting story, IgB, filled with existential creepiness! Nicely done.
Your Námo is a mix of the benign and coldly detached, but I'd be hard pressed to call him compassionate. You've done a nice job in portraying the god of death (as I've noted elsewhere, hints of Hades and Anubis invaribly spring to mind when I think of Námo) as remote yet wise.
"White oblivion" is a fantastic bit of wordcraft here. I immediately visualize the afterlife-as-white-nothingness as portrayed in films.
You convey an excellent sense of the peaceful combined with the strange here, not only with the white space and the deceased elf with his unraveling threads back to his former life, but also with the concept of a "configured spirit" burning its memories away to the small timeless flame. The prospect of dreaming oneself into a blank slate is a frightening one, the promise of "pleasant dreams" notwithstanding.
This is a fascinating, and vey disturbing, look at Mandos. Death may not be permanent for Elves, but you do a nice job of showing it's far from painless - and some of their losses (such as the separation from any family remaining in Middle earth) may be permanent.
Comments
The Silmarillion Writers' Guild is more than just an archive--we are a community! If you enjoy a fanwork or enjoy a creator's work, please consider letting them know in a comment.