New Challenge: Potluck Bingo
Sit down to a delicious selection of prompts served on bingo boards, created by the SWG community.
SWG 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.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Artwork] 2024 Potluck Doodles by silmalope
Assorted prompt fills for the 2024 Potluck bingo boards, to varying degrees of completion! :)
[Writing] 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.
[Series] Pennas Pengolodh by AdmirableMonster
The majority of the Silmarillion was penned by a single Elf--an Elf who was so thoroughly written out as to appear only through the ways in which their perspective shaped the stories we see. This is their story, the historian's history, the Pennas Pengolodh.
[Writing] Havens by AdmirableMonster
The Exiles of Gondolin come to Sirion. The residents of Sirion welcome them, and friendship blossoms between the last remaining loremaster of Gondolin and a young poet of Sirion.
[Writing] Collection of Potluck Drabbles by Artano
This is a collection of true drabbles completed for the 'Four Words' drabble bingo card.
[Writing] Hurting Tyelpë by elennalore
Sauron has taken Celebrimbor as a prisoner in Ost-in-Edhil. Whump happens.
[Writing] On a Night of Snow by Elleth
Fingon returns to Barad Eithel after a late-autumn hunt, finding someone unexpected with his wife. The night takes an even more unexpected turn for all three of them.
Current Challenge
Potluck Bingo
Help yourself to a collection of prompts on bingo boards designed by members and friends of the SWG. Read more ...
Random Challenge
New in References
Mapping Arda, Part III: The Second Age by Varda delle Stelle, Anérea
A series of articles featuring fan-made maps of all the lands of Arda. Part III explores the island of Númenor and mainland Middle-earth during the Second Age.
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.
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
[Writing] Homage to the Song of Durin by Flora-lass
Legolas is inspired by Gimli's song - and by Gimli himself.
[Artwork] Long-tressed Wingildi by Anérea
"... the long-tressed Wingildi ... spirits of the foam and the surf of ocean."
~ a painted sketch for Scribbles and Drabbles 2024.
[Writing] Partners in Craft by elennalore
Annatar realises that he might like Celebrimbor too much.
Around the World and Web
Fluffcember 2024
Fluffcember is a Tumblr event with daily fluffy prompts during the month of December.
Hidden Paths 2025
Hidden Paths, an event dedicated to the celebration of smaller Tolkien canons, has released their early prompts for the 2025 event.
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.
Truly All Fanworks
This page includes all fanworks from the main SWG archive and the Beyond the Silmarillion section.
Annael by Silver Trails
Annael was the foster-father of Tuor and a Sindarin Elf who played a minor but important role in his life.
White Stars on a Deep Blue Field by grey_gazania
Gil-galad's best friend weaves a banner for her. Part of my Woman King AU.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Gil-galad |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Alternate Universe, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 763 |
| Posted on 27 July 2023 | Updated on 27 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
Willingness for the Fire by sallysavestheday
Tirion thinks Curufin is Fëanor's favorite son. Tirion is wrong.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 780 |
| Posted on 26 July 2023 | Updated on 26 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Betrayed by LadySternchen
Lúthien thinks she can trust her best friend- until she is proven wrong.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Lúthien Tinúviel |
| Major Relationships: Daeron & Lúthien |
| Genres: General | Challenges: Secret Gate |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 5 | Word Count: 4, 449 |
| Posted on 14 July 2023 | Updated on 26 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
Maps by grey_gazania
Fingon, Caranthir, and the aftermath of Maedhros' capture by Morgoth.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Caranthir, Fingolfin, Fingon, Maedhros, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: Fingon/Maedhros, Caranthir & Maedhros, Fingolfin & Maedhros, Caranthir & Fingon |
| Genres: Drama | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 16 | Word Count: 16, 176 |
| Posted on 7 February 2016 | Updated on 25 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (16) |
Under Strange Stars by Idrils Scribe
Barely a long-year after the Last Alliance all is not well in Imladris. Elrond's household has been dealt a crippling blow: a very young Elrohir has disappeared. After decades of false leads he is found in the Far South of Middle-Earth. Can Glorfindel rescue the House of Earendil once more? His task is not an easy one: Elrohir has no memory of who he was, and little interest in leaving his people's fight against the Black Nùmenoreans of Umbar ...
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Celebrían, Elladan, Elrohir, Elrond, Glorfindel |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Adventure, Family, General, Hurt/Comfort | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Warnings: No warnings apply | |
| Posted on 7 March 2021 | Updated on 23 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (2) |
Elusive by Himring
Elrond picks up a hint of Maglor's whereabouts and follows it... (Set a long time after the end of the First Age, perhaps in the Third Age.)
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Elrond, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 100 |
| Posted on 23 July 2023 | Updated on 23 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
Sandbox Love by Rocky41_7
Galadriel felt she had a well-matched friend in Princess Luthien, and she did not expect that ever to change.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Galadriel, Lúthien Tinúviel |
| Major Relationships: Galadriel/Lúthien |
| Genres: Drama, Femslash, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Sexual Content (Mild) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 9, 559 |
| Posted on 22 July 2023 | Updated on 22 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Nature Teaches Beasts to Know Their Friends by BloodwingBlackbird
Tar-Miriel, last queen of Numenor, reigns in name only. Isolated and hopeless, she seeks little more than survival. As the doom of Numenor draws near, she finds herself facing unexpected temptations and strange alliances.
Written for TRSB summer 2023 for art by elvencloud_a_plotting
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Ar-Pharazôn, Sauron, Tar-Míriel |
| Major Relationships: Ar-Pharazôn/Tar-Míriel |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 13, 608 |
| Posted on 22 July 2023 | Updated on 22 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Fault Lines by Lferion
A Dwarf tries to come to terms with the cataclysm that was the end of the First Age. A four-drabble sequence.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Original Agender Character(s), Dwarves |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Drama, Fixed-Length Ficlet, General | Challenges: Dip the Ladle |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 410 |
| Posted on 20 July 2023 | Updated on 20 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (7) |
Still There Is Much That Is Fair by Arveldis
“My father says he will sail West one day, and I hope to follow him, if I can. I want more than anything to see what lies in the West,” she said. The longing for it flared in her heart, as it had ever since her father had first read to her from the Red Book of Mr. Frodo’s sailing.
“There are few ships now that can take that road,” Arwen said softly.
Elanor travels to Minas Tirith and enters the queen's service.
| Canon Source: Lord of the Rings |
| Major Characters: Arwen, Elanor Gardner |
| Major Relationships: Arwen & Elanor Gardner, Elanor Gardner & Samwise Gamgee |
| Genres: Family, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 5, 387 |
| Posted on 19 July 2023 | Updated on 19 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
West, West Away by Arveldis
It was the Elvenking. He gazed at the disappearing haven and the encircling hills with a strange, sorrowful expression upon his face, as if he felt the same uncomfortable tug of uprooting that Sam did, feeling as if he had been removed from his familiar soil and planted somewhere he didn’t belong, at least not yet.
Sam watched him, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, but he couldn’t look away. It was strange to think that a king of the Elves might feel as displaced and torn as he did, but Sam felt suddenly in that moment that he understood the Elvenking, high and lordly though he was.
Sam meets an unlikely kindred spirit on the journey West.
| Canon Source: Lord of the Rings |
| Major Characters: Samwise Gamgee, Thranduil |
| Major Relationships: Samwise Gamgee & Thranduil |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 3, 654 |
| Posted on 11 July 2023 | Updated on 19 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
for time runs more swiftly than justice by Arveldis
“And yet is it not the greater folly to imagine that such love could never grow between our kinds? Was it not folly for us to be made thus and yet driven to dwell together and take up arms together?” She cupped his face in her hand, beseeching him. “Would not the One, who your people say commands the Music of the world—though my people hear it not—have surely foreseen such a grief? And if he did foresee such grief and did nothing, allowing it to pass, what difference is there between his allowance and his will? And if he did will such a grief, then how can your people say that he is good?”
Andreth shares with Aegnor what the Wise say of Men's original nature, and of the wound dealt to them by Morgoth.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Aegnor, Andreth |
| Major Relationships: Aegnor/Andreth |
| Genres: Het, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 630 |
| Posted on 19 August 2022 | Updated on 19 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
and I will love with urgency, but not with haste by Arveldis
“I would honor the customs of thy people, Andreth, and marry thee in the manner of thy people,” he said at last.
“And if I did not want to?” she asked, so soft she barely heard her own voice. “If I wished to marry thee in the manner of thy people?” Her voice trembled, but she held his gaze.
Aegnor drew in an uneven breath, swift and sharp. His gaze roved her face, tracing her features. When he spoke, his voice was rough but tender. “I would take thee away, to the south or east, and marry thee under the light of the stars. And there none would speak against our union. And I would be thine and thou would be mine in every way that there is.”
A summer evening spent in a glade near the shores of the Aeluin.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Aegnor, Andreth |
| Major Relationships: Aegnor/Andreth |
| Genres: Het, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Sexual Content (Mild) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 3, 143 |
| Posted on 14 June 2022 | Updated on 19 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
And There Make a Garden by Arveldis
Éowyn walked through the rows of the garden that sprawled beyond the house, her hand laid over the swell of her stomach. It was high summer, and the garden grew in wild abandon, hardly distinguishable from the fragrant wilderness that rippled and tumbled over the hills of Emyn Arnen.
Éowyn walks in her garden and reminisces about all the people who helped her create it.
| Canon Source: Lord of the Rings |
| Major Characters: Éowyn |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Ficlet, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 812 |
| Posted on 7 July 2023 | Updated on 19 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Fëanorians in Seventeen Kisses by sallysavestheday
The rise and fall of the House of Fëanor, told in 17 kisses. Each is a perfect drabble.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 828 |
| Posted on 5 July 2023 | Updated on 19 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
A Return Is Not a Homecoming by grey_gazania
Gil-galad is released from the Halls of Mandos in the Fourth Age, but settling into Tirion is not as easy as she would hope.
Written for Tolkien Gen Week on Tumblr.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Unnamed Canon Character(s), Unnamed Female Canon Character(s), Anairë, Círdan, Gil-galad |
| Major Relationships: Círdan & Gil-galad, Gil-galad & Unnamed Canon Character, Anairë & Gil-galad |
| Genres: Alternate Universe, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 3 | Word Count: 4, 706 |
| Posted on 9 July 2023 | Updated on 18 July 2023 |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
When the Sixth Day Comes by sallysavestheday
Fëanor takes a momentary interest in a youthful Fingolfin.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: Fëanor & Fingolfin |
| Genres: | Challenges: Dip the Ladle |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 616 |
| Posted on 18 July 2023 | Updated on 18 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (15) |
Tar-Míriel by Grundy
A tragic figure of the Second Age, Tar-Míriel should have been the ruling queen but was usurped and forced into marriage by her cousin, leaving her to witness Númenor's fall.
Don't Lose Your Head by daughterofshadows
After his death, Fingolfin does not go to the Halls of Mandos.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Fingolfin, Rochallor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet | Challenges: Dip the Ladle |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 101 |
| Posted on 15 July 2023 | Updated on 15 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (16) |
longing by Harp_of_Gold
In Numenor, Mairon contemplates a sacrifice.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Sauron |
| Major Relationships: Celebrimbor/Sauron, Melkor/Sauron |
| Genres: Ficlet | Challenges: Dip the Ladle |
| Rating: Adult | Warnings: Character Death, Mature Themes, Violence (Moderate) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 646 |
| Posted on 15 July 2023 | Updated on 15 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
Notes on Small Matters by Narya
Fingon records a selection of details about his life from the Fourth Age onwards.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Fingon |
| Major Relationships: Fingon/Maedhros |
| Genres: Ficlet | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Character Death |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 658 |
| Posted on 15 July 2023 | Updated on 15 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
The Cîr Imladris Archive by Lferion
The library and archives of Cîr Imladris contain many stories.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Ficlet, Fixed-Length Ficlet, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Warnings: No warnings apply | |
| Posted on 15 July 2023 | Updated on 15 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
Artifacts in Archive by Lferion
In Valinor, Cîr Imladris built, Elrond takes the opportunity to properly catalogue, categorize, and annotate one of the slowly diminishing collection of uncatalogued, uncategorized "miscellaneous objects with words attached" that had been part of the library and archive at Imladris from the beginning.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Original Agender Character(s), Original Nonbinary Character(s), Elrond |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: General, Mystery, Poetry | Challenges: Pride, Secret Gate |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 224 |
| Posted on 15 July 2023 | Updated on 15 July 2023 |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
The Choice by LadySternchen
The Grinding Ice proves a deadly trap for Elenwë and her daughter. Turukáno is willing to give his own life to save that of his wife and child, and almost succeeds.
| Canon Source: The Silmarillion and Related Works |
| Major Characters: Turgon |
| Major Relationships: Elenwë/Turgon |
| Genres: Ficlet | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Character Death |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 2, 268 |
| Posted on 11 July 2023 | Updated on 14 July 2023 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
