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.
Oh this is beautifully captured: from frustration and exhaustion to wonder & discovery. At first her weary voice shows what it is like to life with a craftsman like that, yet there is love and such proud feelings at the end. A small story told in this short form: well done!
Rhapsy, thank you for the review. I am glad you liked the story, and that Nerdanel's voice rang out so clearly - you definitely picked up on the main moods I hoped to convey. It must be especially frustrating as 'my' Nerdanel is also a near-perfectionist craftswoman and can imagine part of what it must be like to be Feanor at work and totally immersed in creation - but she also knows her limits and is constantly worried that he overtaxes his own.
As for the story length - sometimes the story determines and writes itself, so really, there is little to credit me for, but thank you anyway. :)
You can actually speak Adûnaic? Now that is impressive. I can’t help you linguistically, although I can tell you that I like the way the words flow together (even though I can’t actually understand them). The poem itself (well, the translation, obviously) is nice: straight-ahead, but with an ending that I like very much. (“One road was crooked, one road was straight, / Now all roads lead to longing.”) It’s sad, but so beautiful.
First of all, thank you for the review - unfortunately, speaking Adûnaic is not quite the case; I started learning the grammar last year and gave up quickly because it was just too complicated, though some things did stick. Ardalambion is a wonderful resource when Tolkien's languages are concerned, and I wouldn't have managed to piece the poem together without that site.
As for the ending - I could go on and on about Tolkien's myth of the Straight Road, the Númenoreans, and the impact of choices (Ar-Pharazôn's choice to serve Sauron and so himself, and Elendil's choice to remain true to the old ways, with both being punished, each in their own way), but that would probably end up far too long for a reply here. The message just seemed fitting to sum up and end the poem, and I'm very glad it worked. Again, thank you. :)
The absence of a daughter must have chaffed Feanaro so. This line was the most thought-provoking: "a quick movement and a tumble to the floor have spared her his attentions many times..."
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.