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.
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 ...
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 like how you brought out the parallels between the first age and the third through the eyes of one of the few who had seen both. I can see a lot of thought went into this and I'm a reader who appreciates that. Well done and I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your work.
When it came to the section for Aragorn before the Morannon I was completely absorbed in movieverse, despite the set up you had given the reader, I could not have been farther in my mind from the First Age, and then you hit me with the comparison to Fingolfin calling out Morgoth. Nor had I ever seen the comparison to the War of Wrath when the eagles arrived. Very nice work.
Lovely! It is so good to see you here, Compa_Mighty! There are a few places where the wording stumbles, but the overall effect is magnificent - this is history writ large, a perspective that no one else could have. Seldom do we see the Valar active in the events of the Third Age, but through Gandalf's eyes, that seems clear. I loved how you compared Theoden to Oromë - straight off the pages of the original, but now in a new light! Good job, and I hope to see more from you.
Hello MithLuin, it was great to see you participate in the contest as well. I am sorry for not answering sooner to your post, but I have been really busy. I would very much appreciate for you to tell me where the wording stumbles. Any feedback is always good.
First of all let me say that I found this well written and very interesting. It was a new take on something very familiar and it was cleverly done, however I am afraid that for me personally this is still a Lotr story rather than a Silmarillion story, whcih of course doesn;t make it any less, just for me personally made it feel a bit misplaced. Still very nice work. :)
This story has a lovely touch of AU, I mean Oromë on Pellenor! That would have been so awesome, it would feel like him to ignore Manwé’s will for a good fight, then again I can see Tulkas doing this even more so! As I was reading this and all the allusions you wove into the retelling of the Siege of Minas Tirith and the final battle against Sauron, I suddenly started to miss Túrin in all of this, as much as I like Beren, Túrin stature as a warrior was greater and there were moments where the mentioning of Beren felt a bit off, imho. Anyway, this was a nice peace that paid tribute to all of Tolkien’s works – including the Hobbit.
Let me thank you for all these good comments, I really appreciate them! I also appreciate your feedback, as it will, no doubt, allow me to improve my style and adequate storytelling, with everything that implies.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed my story. It was a real pleasure sharing with you and participating in the contest.
I am writing this review to say I edited the story for a few "where" that were actually "were" and slipped past the first revision. I hope it is better now, and I would appreciate you telling me any other mistakes you might find.
A much belated review here and one that comes from a circuitous route at that!
This is a great view from "30,000 feet" for all that ties to the War of the Ring. And how better to achieve this than having Olórin as narrator? That is a very effective device. As a dedicated Silm-geek (and also one who relishes the very weirdest bits of the History of Middle-earth), I loved the way you brought in all the past events into the light.
With regard to fan fiction or even a more orthodox reading of the trilogy, my opinion is that the better stories written in the Lord of the Rings milieu are informed by those who have read (and even re-read) The Silmarillion et al. since this is the foundation mythos for the trilogy. Your story is a perfect illustration of why this is so.
Very nice, and seeing as how this is your lone offering, I hope that you will consider writing more and posting your work here.
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.