New Challenge: Bollywood
This month's challenge offers songs, films, and tropes from Bollywood, the world's largest film industry based out of India, as prompts for fanworks.
SWG News
Cultus Dispatches: Fandom Chocolate … or Authors Love Comments
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data provides insight into how comments benefit authors and which authors are most impacted by a lack of comments, with a digression on authors' perspectives one-click feedback like kudos.
A Sense of History: Passing Ships
As Tolkien's characters in various texts gaze out to the sea, what do they see? What is brought by the ships coming out of the West?
Beta-Reader List Now Available
The beta-reader list and profiles have been moved into our new system and are available again.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Series] The Light and the Sea (Steampunk Númenor) by AdmirableMonster
Largely focused on Númenor, its fall, and the aftermath, as seen from the perspective of two Mannish scientists, bit players in some ways, but who nonetheless cast their shadows across the history of Middle Earth.
[Writing] Reflections by AdmirableMonster
A story of three friends in Númenor, one of whom attracts the attention of the High Priest. What does friendship mean in the shadow of the Black Temple?
[Writing] No Time Have I by Flora-lass
A Silmarillion acrostic.
[Writing] An exercise in music... And patience by Aprilertuile
Makalaurë was sitting at the harp in his music room. He was holding a dark blindfold in his hands and was looking at it with much scepticism.
[Writing] I called it Fate that I should fail by AdmirableMonster
Nimruzimir, a natural philosopher recently out of his apprenticeship, hardly considers himself very important to anyone, least of all his colleagues. When his strange, prophetic fits bring him to the attention of the High Priest, however, he may find that his existence is less superfluous than…
[Writing] All of you by chrissystriped
Elrond and Celebrían celebrate their anniversary with their family.
[Writing] Lament for the Singer by daughterofshadows
A short thing about Maglor, death and grieving.
Current Challenge
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
Random Challenge
B-Movie
Prompts for this Matryoshka challenge are loosely inspired by the predictable plot arcs of hilariously abominable, eye-rollingly corny, so-bad-they're-actually-kinda-good horror films. Read more ...
New in References
Fandom Chocolate … or Authors Love Comments by Dawn Walls-Thumma
[]Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data shows that authors view comments as driving their motivation to create fanfiction. However, perception of comments by authors is part of a larger shift in fandom around how and how often fans interact with each other.
Passing Ships by Simon J. Cook
[]The arrival and departure of ships across the Great Sea carries mythic significance for the peoples of Middle-earth. The image of ships crossing out of and back into a mysterious West appears as well in Beowulf and is alluded to in Tolkien's tower analogy in his lecture "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," where the tower allows those who climb it to observe the passage of the ships.
Fanfiction and the Serious Business of Writer's Craft by Dawn Walls-Thumma
[]Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data shows that while most authors self-identify as taking their craft seriously, a growing subset of authors may be pushing that norm.
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Staging a Battle by StarSpray
[]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.
[Writing] From whose bourn no traveller returns by losselen
[]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.
[Writing] Sand Sorcery by StarSpray
[]It is well known that Psamathos does not leave his cove. He does not like to get his feet wet, and prefers to spend his days dozing under the sun.
Around the World and Web
Fellowship of the Fics: Summer Stories 2024
Fellowship of the Fics offers four weeks of summer-themed prompts during the month of July.
July challenge at tolkienshortfanworks posted
The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for July has been posted to the Dreamwidth community. The thematic challenge is: original character or unnamed canon character; the formal challenge: fixed length of multiple of 50 words. New participants welcome.
July 2024 Call for Papers and Proposals
Conferences and publications that have open calls for papers and proposals in July 2024.
Teitho June/July Challenge: Mentor
The June/July prompt for the Teitho challenge is "mentor" and invites fanworks about this relationship in Tolkien's works.
Scribbles & Drabbles 2024
A chill Tolkien event, where artists make art, and authors write little stories in response. Begins in June and ends in November.
New and Updated Fanworks
Include Beyond the Silmarillion Fanworks
Kingdom of Flowers by daughterofshadows
A short ficlet about Elrond and Celebrían in the gardens of Imladris and their hopes for the future.
| Major Characters: Celebrían, Elrond |
| Major Relationships: Celebrían & Elrond |
| Genres: Ficlet, Fluff, General | Challenges: Book by Its Cover |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 524 |
| Posted on 3 June 2021 | Updated on 4 June 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (12) |
The Pillar and the Vastness: A Longitudinal View of the Tolkien Fanfiction Fandom by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Using the 2015 and 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data, this presentation reviews fandom demographics, use of sources, influence of the films, and use of sites and archives to post fanfiction, reviewing changes across the two data sets.
[podfic] Aftermath by Chestnut_pod, The Wavesinger
Immediately after the Darkening, Findis and Elemmírë attempt to adjust.
| Major Characters: Elemmírë, Findis |
| Major Relationships: Elemmírë/Findis |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Mature Themes, Sexual Content (Mild), Violence (Mild) |
| Posted on 3 June 2021 | Updated on 3 June 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
It’s a lady’s prerogative to have a few secrets by Gabriel
What was supposed to be a homecoming feast, turns into something so much more, for the Lord of the Falathrim.
| Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Círdan |
| Major Relationships: Círdan/Original Character |
| Genres: General, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 940 |
| Posted on 13 December 2020 | Updated on 2 June 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
On and on and ever ever on by UnnamedElement
Elrond and Elros are left without parents; found by their folks' murderers in the ruins of Sirion; taken from the havens of their childhood to wander elsewhere and abroad. And yet, not all is lost--love grows, leaders are raised, pain is endured. Lives transform.
A character study in the key of complex trauma.
Havens rise elsewhere. e
| Major Characters: Elrond, Elros, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: Elrond & Elros & Maglor, Elrond & Elros |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 549 |
| Posted on 2 June 2021 | Updated on 2 June 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (1) |
As I Say and As I Do: Negotiating Transformational Impulses in Tolkien-Based Fanfiction by Dawn Walls-Thumma
Data from the 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey shows that, while authors and readers of Tolkien-based fanfiction are growing more comfortable with perceiving their work as having a critical purpose, they are still more likely to describe fanfiction as literary criticism when the process is not depicted as a challenge to Tolkien's authority as the author.
The Webs. by hennethgalad
Oropher tries to comfort Thranduil after a nightmare.
| Major Characters: Unnamed Female Canon Character(s), Galadriel, Oropher, Thranduil |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: | Challenges: Book by Its Cover |
| Rating: Creator Chooses Not to Rate | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 2, 067 |
| Posted on 2 June 2021 | Updated on 2 June 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
Honeysuckle And Wild Berries by Gabriel
Fëanor and Nerdanel’s first camping trip deep into the wilds of Aman was supposed to be about connecting with nature and having some alone time together. Which is what they did. But it also had the unexpected effect of deepening the unspoken feelings they had fostered for each other for sometime.
| Major Characters: Fëanor, Nerdanel |
| Major Relationships: Fëanor/Nerdanel |
| Genres: Fluff, Romance | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 759 |
| Posted on 16 January 2021 | Updated on 1 June 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (4) |
[podfic] Athrabeth Amarië ah Elenwë by Chestnut_pod, zopyrus
Elenwë returns early from the Halls of Mandos, and only Amarië knows how to comfort her.
| Major Characters: Amarië, Elenwë |
| Major Relationships: Amarië/Elenwë |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Posted on 31 May 2021 | Updated on 31 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
Elrond to Maglor by Himring
Elrond, looking back.
"...love grew after between them, as little might be thought..."
| Major Characters: Elrond, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: Elrond & Maglor |
| Genres: Poetry | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 76 |
| Posted on 31 May 2021 | Updated on 31 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Memento Mori by Lferion
What did they mean, these small, precise assemblages?
| Major Characters: Celegorm |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Fixed-Length Ficlet, General, Suspense | Challenges: Book by Its Cover |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 202 |
| Posted on 30 May 2021 | Updated on 30 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (6) |
[podfic] such a sky and such a sun by Chestnut_pod
Finduilas and Niënor and the first days of spring.
| Major Characters: Finduilas, Nienor |
| Major Relationships: Finduilas/Nienor |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 28 May 2021 | Updated on 28 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
Beyond the Sunset by elennalore
Arafinwë finds his sister in the battlefield, but not his brother. Will Lalwendë come with him back to Valinor? And what are his nephews up to?
| Major Characters: Finarfin, Írimë |
| Major Relationships: Finarfin & Lalwen |
| Genres: Drama | Challenges: Book by Its Cover |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 394 |
| Posted on 28 May 2021 | Updated on 28 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
[podfic] a double dream by Chestnut_pod
She came through the night like a stone, hurled across leagues. He only knew that she had wings when she struck the deck.
| Major Characters: Eärendil, Elwing |
| Major Relationships: Eärendil/Elwing |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Posted on 26 May 2021 | Updated on 26 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
[podfic] Sad in the fruit, bright in the flower by Chestnut_pod
Galadriel and Nerdanel talk wanderlust. Incompetently.
| Major Characters: Galadriel, Nerdanel |
| Major Relationships: Galadriel & Nerdanel |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 25 May 2021 | Updated on 25 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
Saltation by pandemonium_213
Per his notes in HoMe XI, The War of the Jewels concerning the tale of the Awakening of the Elves by Cuiviénen, Tolkien wrote the following: "Actually written (in style and simple notions) to be a surviving Elvish 'fairytale' or child s tale, mingled with counting-lore."
Clearly, this leaves room for alternative origin stories. This is one.
Written for Grey Gazania's birthday.
| Major Characters: Ulmo, Valar |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: General, Science Fiction | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 499 |
| Posted on 28 December 2012 | Updated on 25 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (17) |
Refracted Light by StarSpray
Celebrimbor gives young Celebrían a gift.
| Major Characters: Celebrían, Celebrimbor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Family, Fluff, General | Challenges: Book by Its Cover |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 525 |
| Posted on 25 May 2021 | Updated on 25 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is a work in progress. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (3) |
[podfic] The Sorceress' Apprentice by Chestnut_pod
From her mother, Galadriel had learned grace, composure, and how to veil the teeth of diplomacy in silk and soft words. From her grandmother, she learned when to bare those teeth. From her cousin she learned the value of will and the power of independence.
Her ambition was her own, and carefully stoked.
(And from Melian she learned nothing at all.)
| Major Characters: Galadriel, Melian |
| Major Relationships: Galadriel/Melian |
| Genres: Femslash, Slash/Femslash | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Mature Themes, Sexual Content (Mild) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 12 |
| Posted on 23 May 2021 | Updated on 23 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
[podfic] Together the Dawn by Chestnut_pod
Indis and Míriel and the first sunrise. A podfic of LiveOakWithMoss's story.
| Major Characters: Indis, Míriel Serindë |
| Major Relationships: Indis/Míriel |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Posted on 22 May 2021 | Updated on 22 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
Turning Point by elennalore
The Valar have spoken. Arafinwë knows he has to make a big decision, but he's too tired to think clearly. His brother and sister are there for him, even at the moment of parting.
| Major Characters: Finarfin, Fingolfin, Lalwen |
| Major Relationships: Finarfin & Fingolfin, Finarfin & Lalwen |
| Genres: Drama | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: Teens | Warnings: Violence (Mild) |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 2, 289 |
| Posted on 22 May 2021 | Updated on 22 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
Freedom by firstamazon
Túrin and Morwen talk.
100 words drabble written for the instadrabbling session on the SWG Discord server with the prompts: mother, drunk, evil, turn.
| Major Characters: Morwen, Túrin |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Family, General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 104 |
| Posted on 21 May 2021 | Updated on 21 May 2021 |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (2) |
Threat by firstamazon
Double-drabble written for the instadrabbling session on the SWG Discord server with the prompts: children, unlikely, discovering, weird.
This counts 200 words in Word.
| Major Characters: Elladan, Elrohir, Elrond, Erestor, Glorfindel |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Drama, General, Mystery | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Creator Chooses Not to Warn |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 202 |
| Posted on 21 May 2021 | Updated on 21 May 2021 |
This fanwork belongs to the series
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
[podfic] kâtha batîna lôkhî by Chestnut_pod
Podfic of Vardasvapors' story.
For even after the ruin the hearts of the Dúnedain were still set westwards; and though they knew indeed that the world was changed, they said: 'Avallónë is vanished from the Earth and the Land of Aman is taken away, and in the world of this present darkness they cannot be found. Yet once they were, and therefore they still are, in true being and in the whole shape of the world as at first it was devised.'
| Major Characters: Original Male Character(s) |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: Podfic | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings |
| Posted on 21 May 2021 | Updated on 21 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| View Fanwork | Comments (0) |
Tsenerlingn Sher by Chestnut_pod
Maglor flirts with anti-establishment views and fails miserably at flirting with anything else. Elemmírë just wants him to work on his melisma.
| Major Characters: Elemmírë, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: Elemmírë & Maglor |
| Genres: General, Humor | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 1, 272 |
| Posted on 20 May 2021 | Updated on 20 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (0) |
The First Snow by Sirielle
Winter morning in Himring, the siedge of Angband time. Short look at the world with bright grey eyes. Vignette, Maedhros' POV.
| Major Characters: Maedhros, Maglor |
| Major Relationships: No major relationships listed |
| Genres: General | Challenges: No challenge listed |
| Rating: General | Warnings: No warnings apply |
| Chapters: 1 | Word Count: 693 |
| Posted on 24 June 2007 | Updated on 18 May 2021 |
| This fanwork is complete. |
| Table of Contents and Single Chapters | Show All Chapters | Comments (10) |
