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.
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!
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.
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.
[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] No Time Have I by Flora-lass
A Silmarillion acrostic.
[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.
[Writing] Cosmological Poems of Arda by AaronAzrael
I would like to share my revelations of Tolkien's Universe in the form of narrative and emotional poems.
[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…
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
New Year's Resolution
Our annual amnesty challenge allows you to complete and receive stamps for challenges you missed in the past year. Read more ...
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.
[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.
Fellowship of the Fics: Summer Stories 2024
Fellowship of the Fics offers four weeks of summer-themed prompts during the month of July.
Elrond Week 2024
Elrond Week is a fandom event dedicated to Elrond Peredhel that will run from July 10th to July 16th on Tumblr.
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.
This is beautiful. You killed me with the love-making which is not described at all. Less was certainly more in this case.
Also loved this:
‘Just one?’, his cousin asked him, shaking out his mane above Fingon's face so that it flowed all about his head and shoulders like a red tent. ‘Have more! Have all of it!’ It reminded me very much of a picture on Deviant Art, that I cannot find at the moment of course of Maedhros comforting Fingon after the death of Fingolfin, embracing him from behind with his red hair falling over the two of them.
Thank you very much for this again!
Although, as I told you, I know Eilian's picture on DeviantArt, I think the passage you quote actually owes a little to a story of Cirdan's (in quite a different context, though) and also probably to a non-Tolkien story, except I can't reconstruct which it might have been; perhaps it was by Robin McKinley.
I do hope and believe I've made it all my own, though!
This was a fantastic read. I loved your take on Maedhros and Fingon's relationship faced with the physical and mental consequences of Thangorodrim, and the unassuming resolution of it. And that's apart from the brilliant choice of focus, the writing, and the tone of the whole piece. If only MEFA nominations were open now... you even made me feel sorry for the orc.
What a wonderful thing to say! Or rather, so many wonderful things! Thank you! I'm so glad this piece worked for you and especially the take on Maedhros and Fingon's relationship. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm being rather self-indulgent when I write yet another piece about the two of them together...
In fact, Fingon practically commanded him to leave the door open for him. Arguably, he is demonstrating Feanorian loyalty to the High King by acceding to his wishes. He briefly imagines trying to use that argument to defend his actions before the late High King Fingolfin and pulls a wry face—definitely the sort of discussion one would wish only to have if one had managed to arrange a secure exit beforehand.
::lol:: I don’t know what I like better: that Fingon commanded him to leave the door open, or the look on Fingolfin’s face if Maedhros told him that.
Blue and silver—Fingon’s colours—the idea appeals to him that he could be wearing them, just this evening, privately.
<3 He could keep a ribbon with Fingon’s colours hidden, just like Fingon kept his strand of hair… but even that Maedhros would consider too great a risk. Also, they may not be a normal couple, but Maedhros worrying about how he looked was an incredibly normal moment.
an involuntary prayer to an unknown god to permit Fingon to go on being Fingon,
That was beautiful, and sad, knowing that Fingon will go on being Fingon… once he’s released from Mandos.
‘You see’, he explains now, twirling the loop of silver around once in his fingers, ‘I can carry it openly and no one will ever know.’
That’s the closest to a wedding ring they could get. I’m happy Fingon died wearing it… and that just shows what a tragic couple they are.
Lovely story. I’m even feeling sorry for the orc, because even if someone explained to it why that ribbon was so valuable, it wouldn’t understand.
No, poor orc, it wouldn't have a chance of understanding the value of that ribbon!
I'm glad that you like that bit about Fingolfin, considering the conversation we just had about him. Because, you know, it's not really meant to be unfair to Fingolfin, not on my part and not on Maedhros's either.
And I'm happy that the other lines you quote came across so well! Thank you for telling me so!
I've enjoyed many things about this fic, which I only found today.
First of all, the ribbon, the focus of the story. How something worthless becomes a treasure because of its meaning to two people, and once his bearer is dead, it reverts back to its former sparkling insignificance. The disappointment of the Orc when he could find nothing better and his sense of having been cheated were almost pathetic, when you consider the value of the ribbon as a symbol between the lovers. I liked the introduction of the hair combs to provide the contrast against the ribbon. They may be high in material value but not really wanted by Maedhros, except as the means to dazzle his allies and potentially, to provide money to supply to his people.
Linked to the combs, I loved the realistic portrayal of routine, of forging alliances, of projecting an expected image before allies, of carrying on with life as a leader after all the heroic deeds have been done.
But most of all I admired the sense of intimacy built between Maedhros and Fingon, and how they appreciate that what they’ve gone through and what they are must set them apart from the “normality” they might have once enjoyed. Angband and the war has made normality impossible, and still they find a balance, contentment and love, at least for a while. And yes, the love scene between them, without being explicit, was lovely, too!
What a lovely review! You have picked up so much of what I was trying to convey. Thank you very much! I'm so glad you enjoyed this piece.
Himring- you just knocked me out with this. It's too sad. Bad enough the tale of Maedhors as Tolkien tells it, in its starkness alone, but to give it all the love, affection and tenderness you give them in the first chapter, and then ..No. I cant write any sort of review right now. You made me cry.
OK- ready to write more coherently now. I am very moved by this and genuinely felt I needed to tell you that but how? The layers and layers you build into this are exquisite and poignant - and then turn tragic. You never show us Fingon's body and its as much by omission that you make this such a tender piece. That link with the combs which are jewelled and signify merely a political alliance contrast so beautifully with the ribbon -not even a hiar ribbon but simply a bit of ribbon around a candlestick for decoration. And that is what Fingon holds onto- even at his death. That it is mere Orc salvage emphasises the pathos actually- it has no idea of the significance. (I actually felt some empathy for Scum)
There are those very subtle touches,
‘Curvo’, says Maedhros to his brother, a little distantly, a little too politely,
that speak volumes for their subtlety rather than the hyperbolic shouting and breast beating that other characters might go in for and the secrect nature of their relationship makes it all the more tragic.
The simplicity too of the previous chapter, focuses on intimacy not epic romance. I love that domesticity, the closeness - brushing hair, holding up a ribbon (and cannot tie it ofcourse!) and Fingon having his amr across Maedhros' waist- that detail is lovely.
As always, you write sublimely.
Thank you so much!
No, poor Scum, there is no way he could have any idea of the significance of the ribbon--in his universe, love doesn't even exist.
I'm glad you picked up on all those details and that you let me know that they succeed in conveying what I meant them to say!
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