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.
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…
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…
Current Challenge
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
The humourous tone was perfect for the scene, and I thought you carried the idea wonderfully and consistently. The light-hearted presentation of the Valar here was surprising, yet I really enjoyed it. The use of modern vernacular was perfect as well, as it contributed to the plot's more comedic tone, and also gave a wonderful characterization to the Valar, which was spot-on. I loved this interpretation of the characters, as it felt more real life than the rigid and proper speech and actions used by Tolkien throughout his writing.
Thank you for your very nice review, Adonnen Estenniel! My intention for the prompt was to sketch my perception of the Valar as beings who lived in a blissful ivory tower and could never really understand the full impact of their decisions and actions on the world and its inhabitants, even when their intentions were meant to be good.
I'm really pleased that you liked the humour and characterisations, and that the language helped bring them out.
Thanks again, for reading and for taking the time to review. Both are much appreciated!
Oh, that's a perfect response to the prompt! I think this might be the prompt I struggled the most with before I finally had an idea, and I love the way you chose to interpret the quote here. One of the pitfalls in taking a more irreverent take on the Valar for me is always that it's all too easy to arrive at mere slapstick, which is one of my least favourite things to read. But you really handle it perfectly here, and I couldn't help but grin at Varda and Manwe's interaction!
‘Bother!’ he boomed. ‘I hope this... difficulty does not ruin our dinner plans, after all the effort.’
Hi Esteliel, I'm very happy that you enjoyed it. I wanted a bit of humour, but the underlying (more serious) theme is that the Valar have a power over the world that sometimes they don't know how to control. So that the prompt played exactly into that view, it was just a matter of working out what blunder they would cause. Yes, I sympathise with Manwë - after all that effort, having to cancel that dinner would have been gutting! :o)
Thank you for reading and for your review, Esteliel. A lovely surprise to wake up to!
This is fabulous. Material realty is difficult to handle if one only has to occasionally to intersect it. (One of the problems I had with my ex-husband.) Seriously, this is one very funny story. I love the picture conjured up by Varda wanting to rub their fanar together. The naughty minx. She definitely has a better handle on her corporeality, which does not surprise me in the slightest.
Thank you, oshun! My idea of the fana of the Ainur is the literal interpretation of Tolken's description that it's only a "raiment" or visible cover, a bit like dressing up. Only a few who became incarnate like Melkor, Sauron, Melian, the Wizards and perhaps others (like Eonwe in my own version of events!) could really know what we humans sense. But Varda is bravely trying her own experiments, and perhaps achieving nice results too,
I'm glad you found it funny! Thanks for dropping by and leaving a review!
Ha, ha, yes, we are talking the Valar. In theory, the number of stars in the sky is not mind-boggling for them, so that Varda's 12^5 is a mere trifle, even if her maids may not agree. Her motto may be something like "if something is good, double it and it's even better", but that's how I see the Valar acting, sometimes.
Thank you for reading and for your review. I'm very pleased you enjoyed the story!
Hi Raksha, that's exactly the point, taken to extreme parody. I've always wondered how the Lord of the Breath of Arda got his nickname, and this might have been one of the reasons. I'm very glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for your comment!
This story illustrates the Back to Middle-earth month prompt, "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain," and features a bumbling Manwë's attempts to placate his exacting wife. It opens with Varda grilling Manwë about his preparations to host a delegation of elves who are climbing Taniquetil to visit. We learn about his paper airplane collection, the former complaints by Finwë about how cold it is ["frozen brass balls"], Varda's elaborate star gown, and Manwë's extra effort to make his guests comfortable that goes horribly awry. This little fic is filled with Russandol's characteristic wit and gave this reviewer a smile.
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.