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
[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…
[Artwork] Map of Valinor by Aprilertuile
My newly drawn map of Aman, as complete as I could make it.
Current Challenge
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Holiday Party
No matter if you're in the Northern or Southern hemisphere, it's a time of year to think about holidays. Whether you're bundling up in blankets or slipping a swimsuit into your suitcase, we invite you to an SWG holiday party! 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.
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.
Drabbles by Grundy
| | |
To Each His Own
Series of drabbles written for the prompt "Curufin courts his future wife." (For Amy Fortuna, written for Multifandom Drabble Exchange 2017.)
Maitimo sighed as he watched the courtyard gate shut firmly behind Tyelpesilmë.
It was the third time this week the talented young jewelsmith had argued with Curufinwë.
Time for a word with his little brother…
“Curvo, perhaps you should work with someone else if you cannot keep from fighting with her.”
His brother blinked at him from his workbench in apparent surprise.
“We were not fighting,” he said blankly.
“So that was not an argument I just overheard?” Maitimo asked skeptically.
“Of course not,” Curvo snorted disdainfully. “Did you never listen to Kano while he was courting?”
“Courting?” Maitimo spluttered.
Makalaurë howled with laughter when Maitimo brought the matter up with him later.
“Lindë and I never fought,” he managed between guffaws. “I admit we had some fierce debates about chromatic progression – we still do on occasion – but we never argued as you’re saying Curvo and his beloved do.”
Calming down somewhat, he grinned.
“Then again, I also don’t have Curvo’s… interesting… attitude.”
“Thank the Valar for small mercies,” Maitimo replied. “One of him is quite enough. But I still don’t see the attraction of courtship by debate.”
“No,” Makalaurë agreed drily. “You and Finno prefer wrestling, riding, and swordplay.”
“Some men, little brother, stick to what they are good at when trying to impress a girl,” Tyelkormo suggested, trying not to laugh out loud.
Curvo glared at him from the table where he was making a heartfelt but disastrous attempt at flower arrangement.
“I am good,” he said waspishly, “at crafting wearable ornaments. But as Silmë is also a talented smith, I can hardly gift her jewelry.”
“Why not? I thought the two of you enjoyed discussing designs.”
“She can make things just as fine on her own. Besides, half the kingdom wears my creations. She deserves something special.”
Carnistir has never been his favorite brother, but Curufinwë could kiss him for this suggestion.
He wanted to show Tyelpesilme how important she was to him. Moryo had pointed out ‘different’ need not mean ‘something you have never tried before’.
Rather than make something Silmë might find beautiful – a gift any man might give any girl – he’d make something useful. Something that showed he knew the person she was.
She will appreciate the worktable he is building, similar to the one he’d constructed for his brother, but designed with her work needs in mind, far more than any silly flowers.
Ambarussa wore matching looks of unease.
“You’re not going to announce it right away, are you?” Pityo asked hopefully.
“Why would I not?” Curufinwë demanded in aggravation.
What possible reason could his baby brothers have for wanting him to delay telling his parents of his intention to marry?
“You are our next oldest brother,” Telvo explained, as though it should have been obvious. “We were counting on our other brothers marrying before you.”
“You’ll give Atto and Ammë ideas,” Pityo continued. “They will start expecting us to look around for girls to settle down with too!”
“The horror,” Curufinwë muttered.
