Tolkien Fanartics: Mapping Arda - The Second Age
In the third part of the Mapping Arda series, Anérea and Varda delle Stelle present a selection of fan-created maps of the lands of the Second Age.
SWG 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.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Eä's Redemption by AaronAzrael
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously…
[Writing] Collection of Potluck Drabbles by Artano
This is a collection of true drabbles completed for the 'Four Words' drabble bingo card.
[Writing] An End to All Things by Thorveig
Mairon stood in utter stillness for it seemed to him that the voice of his master mocked him from afar...
At the end of the First Age, Sauron makes a choice.
[Reference] Mapping Arda, Part III: The Second Age by Anérea, Varda delle Stelle
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.
[Writing] The Reckless Hearts of Mortal Men by mouse
Two years before the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, Húrin and Huor journey from Dor-lómin to Eithel Sirion for a war council with their new allies from the East. A story about the stirring of hope and foreshadowing of woe. Well-peppered with humour.
[Artwork] Valier & colours by daughterofshadows
Semi-abstract arts representing the queens of the Valar.
[Artwork] 2024 Potluck Doodles by silmalope
Assorted prompt fills for the 2024 Potluck bingo boards, to varying degrees of completion! :)
Current Challenge
Festival of Lights Fest
This is a fun and low-key event meant to encourage works about or inspired by Hanukkah, running this year in conjunction with the Potluck Bingo challenge. Read more ...
Potluck Bingo
Help yourself to a collection of prompts on bingo boards designed by members and friends of the SWG. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Heroes
Create a fanwork about a hero, whether the typical saves-the-world type or the unlikely, unsung, and accidental, those who have been forgotten or perhaps were never noticed at all, who made their worlds a better place. Read more ...
New in References
Mapping Arda, Part III: The Second Age by Anérea, Varda delle Stelle
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
Festival of Lights Fest 2024
This is a fun and low-key event meant to encourage works about or inspired by Hanukkah, running this year in conjunction with the Potluck Bingo challenge.
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.
New and Updated Fanworks
Include Beyond the Silmarillion Fanworks
What Comes Naturally by Rocky41_7
Two queens of the Noldor discuss motherhood.
| Major Characters: Indis, Míriel Serindë |
| Major Relationships: Fëanor & Míriel |
| Genres: Family, General, Hurt/Comfort | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 3, 062 |
| Posted on 22 April 2024 | Updated on 22 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
Emissary by Uvatha the Horseman
60 years before the War of the Ring, The Mouth of Sauron is being raised as an illegitimate son in the house of his father. More than anything, he craves security and a title of his own.
| Major Characters: Nazgûl, Númenóreans, Sauron |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Drama | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 30 | Word Count: 82, 121 |
| Posted on 12 July 2015 | Updated on 22 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (1) |
Test of Loyalty by Uvatha the Horseman
In the Age of the Trees, Mairon-Sauron burned his bridges when he left home to become the newest member of Melkor's household. He has no idea what he's gotten himself into. (slash Sauron/Melkor)
| Major Characters: Aulë, Melkor, Sauron |
| Major Relationships: Melkor/Sauron |
| Genres: Drama | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 805 |
| Posted on 10 January 2014 | Updated on 22 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
"Tengwar" artworks by chrissystriped
Artworks created for the "Tengwar" challenge
| Major Characters: Sauron |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Artwork Type: Moodboard/Collage |
| Genres: | Challenges: Tengwar |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 22 April 2024 | Updated on 22 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (5) |
Language Contact by between_thepages
Drabbles for the Tengwar challenge, featuring Elemmakil and Laegwen
| Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Elemmakil |
| Major Relationships: Elemmakil & Original Character |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet, General | Challenges: Tengwar |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 100 |
| Posted on 22 April 2024 | Updated on 22 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
Calma, Lambe, Lambe, Óre by sallysavestheday
Maglor prepares some Instructional Art for the Sindar to learn from at the Mereth Aderthad.
| Major Characters: Daeron, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: Tengwar |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 674 |
| Posted on 15 April 2024 | Updated on 21 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (8) |
Stranded by Flora-lass
Maglor sits by the sea, and thinks about hair. A sequel to 'Strands'.
| Major Characters: Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Family, General | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 847 |
| Posted on 15 April 2024 | Updated on 20 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (8) |
The Siege of Himring by Dawn Felagund
Fingon attacks Himring; Maedhros defends. A calligraphy piece done for the Hungarian Tolkien Society's Mailing Competition.
| Major Characters: Fingon, Maedhros |
| Major Relationships: Fingon & Maedhros |
| Artwork Type: Calligraphy |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 19 April 2024 | Updated on 19 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (9) |
The Fissure by Dawn Felagund
Maeglin witnesses a coming-of-age ceremony among the Dwarves of Belegost. Written for the Hungarian Tolkien Society's 2024 Mailing Competition.
| Major Characters: Dwarves, Eöl, Maeglin |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Mature Themes |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 710 |
| Posted on 19 April 2024 | Updated on 19 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (5) |
The leaves were long, the grass was green by Quente
The Giving Tree, but Beren and Luthien. Written for the Tengwar prompt, “Aldi.”
| Major Characters: Beren, Lúthien Tinúviel |
| Major Relationships: Beren/Luthien |
| Genres: Ficlet | Challenges: Tengwar |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 558 |
| Posted on 17 April 2024 | Updated on 17 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (5) |
If Time Run True and Away by Anne Wolfe
In Tol Eressëa, Celebrían and Galadriel talk about Arwen. Written for the "It Comes in Threes" challenge, inspired by Maiden, Mother and Crone.
| Major Characters: Arwen, Celebrían, Galadriel |
| Major Relationships: Celebrían & Galadriel, Arwen & Celebrían |
| Genres: General | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 756 |
| Posted on 16 April 2024 | Updated on 17 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (3) |
Crossroads by Simon J. Cook
With Gildor Inglorion we finally climb the stairs of Elostirion and look on the view, and what we see appears to reveal a hidden thread in the story of Frodo Baggins. This post reads two annotated translations of two Elvish songs to step through a crossroads in the narrative to arrive at the tower on the margin of the story, wherein is a stone that is a window onto Valinor.
Shore Beyond the Shadowy Sea by Quente
In which Elfwine goes to sea to find himself, but finds Beleriand instead, and then finds himself.
Or
Ulmo sends another human in a swan crest to Gondolin, with expected results.
- This tale is a paean (and sequel of sorts) to Bunn’s work, the Undying Lands. This will have a few spoilers, so you might go and read this glorious work, and the one before it.
- But long story short, Beleriand is back, and Fëanor might have built a few pathways between Middle-earth and Beleriand, just for fun.
| Major Characters: Ælfwine, Caranthir, Celegorm, Elenwë, Elladan, Elrohir, Éomer, Fingon, Gondolindrim, Maedhros, Pengolodh, Théodred, Tuor, Turgon, Ulmo |
| Major Relationships: Ælfwine/Pengolodh, Ælfwine & Fëanor |
| Genres: Adventure | Challenges: Ancestors, Back To The Future, Canon with a Twist, Hero's Journey, Sea Voyages, Songs of Arda, You Can't Go Home Again |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 11 | Word Count: 38, 595 |
| Posted on 15 April 2024 | Updated on 16 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Aratar by Kaylee Arafinwiel
Eight emblems for the eight most powerful of the Valar. Drawn for "Scribbles and Drabbles" 2021.
| Major Characters: No major characters listed |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Artwork Type: No type listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 15 April 2024 | Updated on 15 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (2) |
Grief, Grieving, and Permission to Mourn in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
In a book as full of death as the Quenta Silmarillion, grief and mourning are surprisingly absent. The characters who receive grief and mourning—and those who don't—appear to do so due to narrative bias. Grief and mourning (or a lack of them) serve to draw attention toward and away from objectionable actions committed by characters.
Waltzing with you by daughterofshadows
It's a nice evening and Laurendil is trying to teach Rog to dance.
| Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Original Nonbinary Character(s), Rog, Salgant |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Family | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 106 |
| Posted on 15 April 2024 | Updated on 15 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Calma by elennalore
Celebrimbor is reading a novel, but there's a distraction.
| Major Characters: Celebrimbor, Sauron |
| Major Relationships: Celebrimbor/Sauron |
| Genres: Ficlet | Challenges: Tengwar |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Sexual Content (Mild) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 251 |
| Posted on 15 April 2024 | Updated on 15 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
Atmospherics by Anérea, sallysavestheday
The three atmospheres of Arda celebrated in three drabbles and three photos...
| Major Characters: Círdan, Eärendil, Elrond, Elros, Uinen |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Ficlet, General | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 14 April 2024 | Updated on 15 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (15) |
Three Strands in a Braid by between_thepages
Ecthelion tries to braid Glorfindel's hair.
| Major Characters: Ecthelion of the Fountain, Glorfindel |
| Major Relationships: Ecthelion/Glorfindel |
| Genres: Ficlet, Fluff | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 598 |
| Posted on 14 April 2024 | Updated on 14 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
The Hands of the Prince by Valxyri
Someone is planting bombs in Minas Tirith.
Early in the Forth Age, when King Elessar's life is threatened, it is up to the young prince and an unlikely ally to bring down the threat to the realms of Men.
But in the chaos of a city rocked by violence, Prince Eldarion Telcontar will discover the true meaning of his inheritance.
| Major Characters: Aragorn, Arwen, Curufin, Eldarion, Elladan, Elrohir, Elrond, Finrod Felagund, Lórien, Sons of Fëanor |
| Major Relationships: Aragorn/Arwen |
| Genres: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Suspense | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Suicide, Torture, Violence (Graphic) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 4, 687 |
| Posted on 14 April 2024 | Updated on 14 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
A Special Find by Himring
Minor catastrophes cluster on the site of an archaeological dig and someone even gets hurt. But it could be worse, as an unexpected arrival changes the course of events. Then something happens in the middle of the night... And it turns out that our heroine can't tell anybody, at least not in (academic) print.
Now with bonus gapfiller from Maglor's point of view.
| Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: General | Challenges: Meet & Greet |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 3 | Word Count: 1, 660 |
| Posted on 12 March 2024 | Updated on 14 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (18) |
In the House of the Fairbairns by Simon J. Cook
The first of some posts on the Elf-tower on the western margin of The Lord of the Rings attempts to frame the relationship between the narrative and the appendices of The Lord of the Rings and an analysis of Frodo's dream-visions.
Ready, Aim, Fire by Tehta
Or, Three Attempts to Get Out of Archery Practice
| Major Characters: Egalmoth, Glorfindel |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Humor | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 624 |
| Posted on 11 April 2024 | Updated on 12 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
It comes in Threes by cílil
Three triple drabbles written for the It comes in Threes challenge, featuring various Ainur.
| Major Characters: Arien, Eönwë, Lórien, Mandos, Melkor, Nienna, Sauron |
| Major Relationships: Melkor/Sauron, Eönwë/Sauron, Arien/Eönwë, Arien/Sauron |
| Genres: Ficlet, Fixed-Length Ficlet, Het, Poly, Romance, Slash | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 3 | Word Count: 915 |
| Posted on 8 April 2024 | Updated on 12 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
The Unrest of the Noldor by StarSpray
Minyelmë comes to Tirion to see Lalwen, arriving just in time to see things come to a head.
| Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Lalwen |
| Major Relationships: Lalwen/Original Character |
| Genres: Drama, Family, Femslash | Challenges: It Comes in Threes |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 181 |
| Posted on 8 April 2024 | Updated on 8 April 2024 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
