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.
Really, to be perfectly honest, you had me from the summary; "flagrant slander" did it for me.
"after the big row when Father found out about what had happened in Uncle Olwë’s city" -- oh, my. Shame on you!
Another priceless line: "There was just something so terribly innocent about Finrod, that he’d wound up taking part in a rebellion was hard to believe." I have been working very hard on characterization in my current series about the Noldor to try to create a characterization for Finrod that moves away from that one! Too funny for words.
"They say the Sindar are better singers, but the Noldor have much more amusing tricks with language." --love the way you use canon to make your points. (You're not a closet Noldor fancier are you?)
Another great bit of description: "it wasn’t until I’d got him cleaned up a bit I realised he was really very dishy in a haggard sort of way."
"I wouldn’t have put it past Daeron to steal my underwear." --now that is just not fair; but I must admit I always thought of him exactly in that way until I did some rather extensive research on him earlier this year!
"Beren had gone and got himself caught by Sauron.
Oh, dear."
I agree that was a rough moment. Really rotten luck.
"I couldn’t speak Dog (Celegorm could, I think)" --another memorable line and, again, true to canon.
I could go on and on in this fashion, but I will stop here. Great story. Very entertaining.
Closet Noldor fancier - well it depends on the Noldo. I have to say I've never warmed to Thingol, but I really got quite fond of my Luthien, even though she isn't Tolkien's (And her idea of amusing tricks with language wouldn't necessarily be the usual elvish one either...)
And I do know I'm not being fair to Daeron (or Finrod) but those bits practically wrote themselves, and who was I to interfere? I started out trying to write a sensible interpretation of Luthien's motives, but sensible wasn't exactly how it turned out!
I love this much less romantic picture of Luthien. :) It makes her seem more approachable. The idea she was friends with Aegnor is unique; especially since it was Aegnor who was the first elf(we know) who fell in love with a mortal. Also, I'm glad somebody else thinks Orodreth was too timid to not even stand up for his uncle/brother(Depends on which theory you take as canon)! Thanks for writing!
Making Luthien more approachable was the aim, so I'm glad it worked. I don't dislike canon Luthien, but she is rather up on a pedestal. And Orodreth, well I think even Tolkien thought he was bit of a wimp ;) (Although I've toyed with the idea he was really the deep plotter behind the whole coup, but then he's kind of spineless in the Turin story as well). Thanks for commenting!
Your Luthien together with Dawn's "An Ordinary Woman" show how much more interesting the character and the whole story can be. And much more fun. Really very good.
Thank you. I really think one of the problems getting interested in canon Luthien is we never get her take on events. I didn't mean this to come out tongue-in-cheek, but I enjoy it as it is.
*happy sigh* I love this story. It had me laughing from pretty much start to finish - so many witty, accurate (if unconventional) observations of the characters and situations. I like that Luthien starts out slightly bratty, and ends happy and wiser... such a realistic, relatable depiction of one of my favourite tales of the Silm.
I like that Luthien starts out slightly bratty, and ends happy and wiser
Oh, I'm glad you've picked up on that! Although this is humour I did intend there to be real character development as well. I ended up liking 'my' Luthien a lot.
I've just finished rereading Of Beren and Luthien, and as much as I like Beren this is a refreshing change from the Silm itself, where she's perfection personified. Actually, now I think about it, it makes sense that she'd lack any kind of worldly experience whatsoever. And I tend to see Melian and Thingol as pretty loving parents, but it certainly is plausible that they'd be well-intentioned but off with the fairies (so to speak) and leave her to languish in Doriath.
I liked the way she went from spoiled, sheltered princess to a wife and mother, having to hunt and subsisting on game and/or fruit.
One thing, though - Ainu is the singular, so you'd say "being part Ainu" rather than "part Ainur". If you want an example in English, "being part Elf" makes more sense than "being part Elves".
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.