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
Great Journeys
Join a character on the road to explore the actual and symbolic importance of journeys. 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.
Is the elf Maglor? This was an interesting story. I never thought that much about the Arkenstone. If it was a Silmaril, one can understand Thorin's great desire for it: one of the legendary Silmarils of Feanor... Thanks for writing!
Ah, the elf is Maedhros ... it is a kind of AU although it isn't hard to see the Arkenstone as a Silmaril and that certainly would fit with the effect it has on people. Thanks for commenting
A lovely piece. The conversation between Maedhros and the Dwarf crams so much characterisation into so few words and Gandalf's bemusement at the end winds it up nicely. Thank you!
Now that is a fun AU. I like the concept very much. Also like the idea that Gandalf worrying that his memory is fading--a reaction to the bodily form he has taken. I assume it would be restored immediately when he decides to cast off his elderly Mortal's body. Of course, my favorite part is Maedhros giving the stone to the Dwarves and walking away from it.
Yes, I'm sure the fading memory is due to the elderly body he is in, and it would be restored. And I find it thoroughly easy to believe that Maedhros (and Maglor) didn't want the Silmarils for themselves by the end of the First Age, even apart from the burned hands issue.
Awesome, awesome story Clotho! And you leave us in such suspense as to what happened after, w/r to the giver of the "Arkenstone."
"By Dwarvish standards unbreakable oaths of blood-thirsty vengeance were perfectly reasonable things, so he would not have felt inclined to criticise even if his guest had not just presented him with the worth of a kingdom."
Indeed. This has always been a point that's confused me greatly w/r to the Feanorians. If they'd been anything other than Elves, the battles of Alqualonde, Doriath and Sirion would have just been battles. But since they were Elves, for some reason they're held to a much higher standard. This is OK, I suppose, but I just don't see why the Teleri of Aman, the Sindar of Doriath, and the mixed folk of Sirion are all held blameless, when the Teleri attacked first and the others refused to give up jewels they had zero right to claim. Not sure if you're sympathetic to this viewpoint, but at least Radsvinn is!
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.