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.
The majority of the Silmarillion was penned by a single Elf--an Elf who was so thoroughly written out as to appear only through the ways in which their perspective shaped the stories we see. This is their story, the historian's history, the Pennas Pengolodh.
The Exiles of Gondolin come to Sirion. The residents of Sirion welcome them, and friendship blossoms between the last remaining loremaster of Gondolin and a young poet of Sirion.
Fingon returns to Barad Eithel after a late-autumn hunt, finding someone unexpected with his wife. The night takes an even more unexpected turn for all three of them.
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
B2MeM 2010
Back to Middle-earth Month 2010 was a collaborative game-style challenge where participants created fanworks in order to progress in their attempt to win the Last Battle. 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.
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.
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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.
"Now, your pride is reserved for just these three jewels, and I had to stand by helplessly to watch how your sons no longer held this station in your heart."
This line is incredibly sad. And the last thing Nerdanel says to the jewels is perfect, and sad also, since we know that they do ultimately destroy Fëanor.
I just strongly felt that if Nerdanel felt wronged by those creations that stole her husband's heart, she deserved a chance to speak her mind and gain release. I hardly write her but this bunny demanded to be written! Thanks for your comments!
This was wonderful. Such tragic foreshadowing… “Do not destroy him!” But of course, they do destroy him. And Nerdanel seems just the type of character to foresee it. Nice work.
Thanks! :c) She can of course wish all the best for her greatest love, perhaps with a deeper desire that he will grow tired of them and return back to her. Who knows....
Thank you Oshun!!! I saw your mefa review a few days ago, but I didn't had time yet to reply... It was so tempting to end this short work on a positive note and who knows, at the end of Arda they will be reunited again (in my mind they are, but love can also break your heart and letting go (whether for your own sake or for your lover) can be the greatest act of love as well. In my humble opinion of course! Thanks for reading and making it to the end!
I've always considered the estrangement of Feanor and Nerdanel very tragic and sad and reading your story emphasized this for me. How different things could have turned out if this had not happened, or if she joined him in Middle Earth. It's also a treat to see the spotlight more on Ambarussa here than on the other Feanorions.
I think this also gives a good glimpse of what could have been going through Nerdanel's mind and how she must have felt after being supplanted by the jewels in her husband's regard, truly, they could qualify as "mistresses". Nerdanel's question of why the Valar released Morgoth and how it affected her family is my favorite line. The most heart breaking scene is the part where she actually holds them and addresses them like they were living beings and how even after she denies any more love for him, she still does not want him destroyed. The hopeless romantic in me thinks that if anything, that is still an indication that she loves him.
Yes, she still does love Fëanor, but at what cost? What I tried to bring across was that she had to let go, surrender her love to the other that captured his heart, or be torn asunder herself. We know from canon that her love for the Ambarussa is strong, and for them she has to survive, imho of course. And yes, it is nice to see her youngest being with Nerdanel, it felt natural to me Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a thoughtful review!
Wow, this was a powerful story, very emotionally raw. Her iteration of all that she was leaving to the jewels--the good, the bad, the domestic--was just perfect for me and really showed a life lived through all the ups and downs and many trivialities that marriage brings. Her reaction to the stones made me think: Is she getting an inkling of what he experiences from them, why they have so commanded his attention? Or, if he truly put his heart into them, as he says in the Silm, is she seeing the purity of his goodness before he was corrupted? Definitely thought-provoking.
I loved the glimpse of the twins too, characters not seen often on their own.
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.