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: Potluck Bingo Sit down to a delicious selection of prompts served on bingo boards, created by the SWG community.
Bingo Cards Wanted for Potluck Bingo Our November-December challenge will be Potluck Bingo, featuring cards created by you! If you'd like to create cards or prompts for cards, we are taking submissions.
Tolkien Meta Week, December 8-14 We will be hosting a Tolkien Meta Week in December, here on the archive and on our Tumblr, for nonfiction fanworks about Tolkien.
New Challenge: Orctober Orcs on a quest for freedom seek a place sheltered and safe from the Dark Lord. Fulfill prompts to gather the clues needed to bring them to freedom.
A series of articles featuring fan-made maps of all the lands of Arda. Part III explores the island of Númenor and mainland Middle-earth during the Second Age.
Created for the 'Geography/Maps/Places' prompt on the "Tolkien meta" bingo board, this is a collection of maps marked with the various people groups showing how they arrived and moved about Beleriand. This collection focuses specifically on the time from the arrival of the Teleri, Vanyar, and…
This is an analysis on whether the Sindar ate the Petty-dwarves during the years they hunted them, completed for the 'Literary Analysis' prompt on the "Tolkien Meta" bingo card.
Current Challenge
Potluck Bingo
Help yourself to a collection of prompts on bingo boards designed by members and friends of the SWG. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Start to Finish
Choose one of the famous first lines from the list below and use it to start your story. If you are creating a fanwork other than writing, you may use one of the first lines to inspire your fanwork. Read more ...
A series of articles featuring fan-made maps of all the lands of Arda. Part III explores the island of Númenor and mainland Middle-earth during the Second Age.
A reworking of the 2018 article for Long Live Feedback that includes data from the 2020 Tolkien Fanfiction Survey, pointing to a lack of comments as related to skill, confidence, and community connection.
Part of our Themed Collection series for our newsletter, this collection features fiction, artwork, and essays that transcend the idea of Orcs as the enemy, instead considering their humanity.
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.
Lord of the Rings Secret Santa 2024
LotR SESA has been ongoing for twenty-one years and is running again this year as a prompt meme hosted on AO3 for all genres of Tolkien-based fanfiction.
Kiliel Week 2024
Kiliel Week is a Tumblr event for fanworks about the Kili/Tauriel pairing.
November challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The challenge for November has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. Thematic prompt: refuge. Formal challenge: include imitation of a sound. As always, these can be filled independently and also freely combined with SWG and other challenges. New participants welcome!
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.
I love this interpretation of the significance behind the name Maitimo! One of my favorite things to read/write/think about is the significance behind names, and this was an interpretation I had not seen before, and one I think fits remarkably well in canon. It really shows Nerdanel's love, and adds a new dimension both to her character and to Maitimo's. Well done!
Thank you so much! This ficlet was actually my inspiration for the challenge as a whole and I'm really glad you liked the way it turned out. Have you ever written some of your name interpretations?
Thank you for the kind review! And I think the world needs more Celegorm fluff, and Huan is very very fluffy (at least in my headcanons) - and I like the "dog ate my homework" interpretation, I hadn't even thought of that! :)
Even though it would be an awful thing, if only this moment got Feanor to see himself as a kinslayer (weren't the Teleri sailors people's sons, parents, brothers and sisters?), this really packs a punch.
And the idea of fearing for the smaller twin as an infant, only to see fate come for him as a man, out of his father's actions . . .
It is definitely an awful moment, but I feel like Feanor's ideas of family are very warped and he wouldn't necessarily think of the Teleri as being people's family, but things can hit home for him when it's one of his own sons. This is one of my favorite angsty headcanons and I'm glad you were engaged with the way I wrote it :)
Yes! I absolutely love supportive!Maglor helping guide his sons down their paths, knowing they will each need support of a different kind. Thanks for writing in :)
I just noticed your reply now! Sorry about that...
I have written one story which speaks to the significance of names, specifically the cultural name of Eldar. It needs some editing, both in the format on the site(it was the first thing I posted and I was a bit confused) as well as in the writing. But if you're interested it's called People of the Stars. Some time soon I'll get around to fixing the formatting and editing/finalizing the text.
But mostly I just think about names and their meanings. I guess names fascinate me because so much of our identitys seem tied to them. Maybe it's just me, but under a different name, it's seems there is a different "feeling" to me entirely. And yet I've learned that names,words, and thus everything, can be much more fluid than our personal realities would have us believe. I am still working on putting my thoughts on the matter into words, so forgive me if I don't explain myself quite right.
Ni Nienna! I may have been late in writing the replies so please don't feel bad :) I will definitely look into that story when I get home from work! I have a friend at work who absolutely loves getting into lengthy discussions about names, so I have heard a good amount of naming theories, but I also love to dive into characters' names and why they're named that. For this, I had read a fic where the name Maitimo seemed cruel after Maedhros' time in Angband, and for some reason my muse got happy instead of angsty and wondered what it might be like if the name was a comfort instead.
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.