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.
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.
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?
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…
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
Random Challenge
B2MeM 2011
Back to Middle-earth Month 2011 featured a daily postcard from a different location in Middle-earth with a creative prompt inspired by that location. 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.
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.
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.
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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.
Thank you so much for contributing a food story at the moment since cooking, baking, and feeding people was my initial attempt at distracting myself from the plague while locked down and living in terror of the world around me.
Poor Maedhros who needs to be coaxed to eat food that is less than appetizing! I love the part where he does manage to force himself through a desire to show appreciation to those who are trying to help him by using a form of self-hypnosis. His kindness to others while feeling truly awful is also appropriate to the current situation.
I am glad that you find the themes of my story resonate with you and your feelings in the present situation!
I am aware, of course, that generally you prefer to think of the Feanorians in that period as being better off and also Maedhros feeling rather better than he does here.
But it is good to know that this ficlet spoke to you, at this time, nevertheless!
Five extra spoonfuls? Yikes, Maedhros isn't eating much in that case. (And I so want to give wee Elrond some of the economy size shaker of cinnamon sitting on my counter!)
Maedhros is not eating enough; it's not just about breakfast. It's partly because of his struggle with depression and partly because of wanting the two kids especially, and everyone else, also, to have a larger share of what is available.
Narye is going to make sure that Elrond gets lots of baked goods with cinnamon, later in Rivendell! But I really appreciate that you wanted to give him a taste of cinnamon right away! Deliveries to Beleriand from the South have been disrupted for quite some time, since before Elrond's birth, even, as Cirdan's attention has had to be focused elsewhere.
Yes. They are keeping each other going, not just the brothers each other, but the whole remaining group who have come so far with them. (And even the children, now.)
It is a real comfort.
But not quite an unmixed blessing. Because of course the brothers are aware that they have led the rest into this situation.
Such a bittersweet moment! I know Maedhros eats little for all his issues, but also because he wants the children to be properly fed, and the whole dynamics are precious.
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.