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…
My newly drawn map of Aman, as complete as I could make it.
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Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
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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 ...
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.
I adore this idea! Beleg's death has always seemed to me to be one of the saddest and most pointless moments in the Silmarillion (I mean, Turin's life was already going to hell - why did Beleg have to be dragged into it?)
I like how this is very much a look into the minds of these two elves in this awful moment in time. Gwindor being unable to even utter the word brother is practically heartbreaking, as is his wolfing down of food and water. The setting and the atmosphere is tense and there is a sense of being in a hurry, while I as the reader just want to hold Beleg back from going to his (supposed) death and at the same time loving him for his undying loyalty. Oh and I can practically hear the Belthronding creaking as Beleg pulls it - I am right there in the battlefield with them. And yay!! for an orc arrow at the right time. (I never thought I would write such a thing!)
It is beautifully done - and I love how this is a canon-compliant AU, if there is such a thing. ;)
This part of the Silm simply begged for an AU take, not to mention that I would've been the happiest gal in the whole world if the professor had spared Beleg's life. Since he hadn't, we teamed up to bring him back.
Thanks for your wonderful review! You made my day! :D
*hugs*
Binka
PS. I'm so bouncy to have received your comment that first posted my response as a new review, lol.
Another great chapter, and it is interesting to see in more detail what goes on among the different important players in that time.
I'm particularly pleased to see Mablung of course *smiles innocently* - he is a very neglected caracter, though he must have had much to do with the important events in Doriath. I like how you allude to his friendship/mentorship with Beleg - how he misses his council now that so many threats stalk the borders.
The Fëanorians are great too, though fallen from grace and having spent many years now in the wild. They are all tortured by their losses and mistakes. I am amazed at how you have portrayed their different personalities and also the dynamics among them.
The glimpse of intimacy between Thingol and Melian show the king and queen to be only "human beings" for lack of a better description. And Melians foresight is creating a lot of tension for what will come.
I am slowly working my way through this story one more time, and savouring it a lot along the way.
It was an utter delight to frame and capture the Fëanorians after a defeat like that and leave it up to Binks to come up with such a fab scene with Thingol and Melian! She really made me sit back and go like: wooow, that's so magical! Besides that, thanks! You surely have been tickling the muses to continue with this story and we hope that you will like how we go about your Mablung!
A beautiful AU, it was engrossing and I think I will now rea this every time I read COH or the Silm, just to think what might have happened. Well done! * Cheers *
I admit I have not paid much attention to Beleg before although I felt bad when I read about his "useless" death. I'm enjoying the tension and the drama in the story so far and the presence of Beleg and the promise of the Fëanorions in future chapters will keep me hooked.
Thank you very much for reading and commenting! I saw all those notification emails in my inbox and I got thrilled and bouncy :D This story has a lot of hits -- ergo it must have been read -- but not many reviews, and if we get one, we go like OMFG!!!! (it's safe to say for both of us, I guess). And now five of them!!!! YAY!!!
This story is very dear to us both because we love Beleg and the Magnificent Seven :) I'm incredibly happy that you like it :D Thank you!
I enjoyed the scenes with the Fëanorions--their distinct personalities, the dialogues. It's nice to get a glimpse of how they wandered about Beleriand after their fall from grace.
Maglor's more active role here is great. I've always wondered why Maglor did not rescue Maedhros in Thangorodrim and why he was given the most dangerous watch in North Beleriand. I'll be following this closely.
It's great that you included Maeglin here. I'm curious to see the role he will play. (More gorgeous elves mean more fun IMHO).
The scene of the Fëanorions slaughtering the orcs was great in that it still shows how strong their brotherly bond is despite their very different personalities, their losses and their sometimes opposing motives.
Great turn of events here. If only Thingol did choose to negotiate rather than ban the other Noldor altogether! How things could have turned out differently.
I'm enjoying the interaction between the characters. It's also good that you introduced Nellas and I'm sure she has an important role to play.
As usual, any line of Celegorm's is bound to cause a scene. He's my favorite blond though. And having Maglor use Daeron's room was priceless! I'm excited to see more what our nice minstrel is planning. Like I said, this is such an interesting AU, the Feanorions in Doriath before its fall. Wonder where Luthien is though.
Melian is a bit "sly" here though. Wonder if Thingol knows this or is it all part of his plan. Very very nice complicated characters.
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.