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!
Fanworks Sign-Ups for Mereth Aderthad Now Open! Sign up to create a fanwork for the Mereth Aderthad live event or for the event fanzine or both! The program for meta and scholarship has been posted on our website. Registration will open March 15.
New Challenge: Dark Matter This month's challenge is anti-prompts: tropes, words, and strategies to avoid when creating your fanwork.
“They left everything behind? All of their families?” Elrond asks. “Yes.” “All for a magic stone?” he asks. “Yes. A very special, very magical stone,” Maglor says, unsure why he should have to justify his deeds to a child.
The king's natural philosophers are an elite group of men of science in Armenelos. When one of them is discovered to be (apparently) a woman in disguise, he is expelled from their ranks. Unfortunately, his youth and beauty draw the interest of the king, and there is no one with the power to…
Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data from 2015 and 2020 shows that Tolkien fans have diverse views on Tolkien's authority but suggests that adherence to his authority is decreasing over time.
Video and materials from our session on how to write a proposal for a Tolkien conference. The session covers how conferences work, the different types of sessions, and how to structure and write a proposal.
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.
One wrong decision can make a world of difference. When one of the Fellowship makes the mistake, the consequences are so severe that only the Valar can repair it. But will they?
Glorfindel daughter's life is in Elrohir's hands and only she remembers th eir love for each other. The fate of…
The Gardens of the Entwives are fallen, but two Entwives remain.
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B2MeM 2025: Basketball Championship
B2MeM 2025 will feature a brackets-stye fanworks creation competition for teams and individual creators.
Maedhros & Maglor Week 2025
Maedhros and Maglor Week is a Tumblr event that welcomes fanworks of all kinds about Maedhros and Maglor and their relationship.
Blind Fic Exchange
A fanfic version of Blind Date with a Book, this monthly exchange lets you give and receive fanfic recommendations.
Tolkien Femslash February
Tolkien Femslash February 2025 on Tumblr is a prompt list for each day of February, offering four-word prompts for all kinds of femslash fanworks.
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 enjoyed reading this a lot--so very dark and touching and vivid. Your description of a disturbed Maedhros post-captivity was very well done I think. The ending was just superb. Looking forward to reading more about your Feanorians.
Thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed the story. My post-captivity Maedhros is complex; most of the time he seems normal (heck, most of the time he IS normal), but he occasionally falls into deep depressions and fey, dark moods, and he's certainly far harder and less willing to extend trust than he was prior to his torture (as his execution of the thrall based on mere suspicion that the man may have been corrupted shows very clearly). Thangorodrim did nothing good to him. (If you like this fic, you ought to check out Ivanneth's wonderful story "Of Oaths" for a different look at a post-Thangorodrim Maedhros. You can find it at ff.net and at HASA.)
Oh, Ithilwen, this is so moving. The description of how the Thangorodrim experience affected Maedhros rings so true, how he can function apparently normally in most respects but suddenly the depth of his suffering breaks through . His death wish is so very understandable and, how he must be thinking he is doing the runaway thrall a favor killing him as he could be released from all the terrible memories and suffering he is forced to endure. There is this wonderful sentence about his feeling "trapped by the terrible love of my cousin and my brothers" that so well describes the situation. I've been enjoying all your stories but I found this one particularly moving.
I see post-Thangorodrim Maedhros as almost having bipolar disorder: most of the time he takes pleasure in life (sometimes almost to the point of mania), but he's subject to unpredictable bouts of really black depression, and meeting up with the escaped thrall has triggered one. I also think he's in part lying to himself about why he did what he did. Killing someone is a lot easier if you can tell yourself you're really doing the dying person a favor by ending their suffering than if you admit to yourself you're really carrying out a cold-blooded (even if necessary) execution.
I got where Maedhros was coming from with the 'mercy', or thought I did but you wrote it more beautifully than I imagined. I liked the honest (mis)understanding of Faelathron just saying what he saw - murder - and then feeling appalled as he realised what it really meant. I know I've made snap judgements before and then had them called (not quite on this level mind you) so it had resonance for me.
Anyway, you know I love your stories. More, please!
What Faelathron saw is indeed the question at the heart of this fic. Maedhros had several reasons for doing what he did, and it's unclear to me at least just how much his action was driven by mercy and how much by harsh necessity. Faelathron was right when he noted, though, that if death was indeed a mercy, it was one which Maedhros was willfully denying to himself.
Oh, I have been stalling commenting upon this terrific story, because I had hoped to give it the remarks that it deserved. I truly loved your original character Faelathron. His observations are fascinating: the combination and evolution of hero-worship, through disillusionment, and finally a form of understanding are well done.
Maedhros, of course, is hard to write. We are told in the texts that his spirit never completely recovers from his experiences, but his deeds tell us of a complex character with a capacity for mercy, despite the requirements of fulfilling an oath that cannot be undone, and an incredibly competent organizer and real leader of his people from his father’s death until he takes his own. If there is anything that leaves me cold it is flat characterizations of Maedhros. This one is anything but flat and forces the reader to think.
It is sometimes hard to read others differing interpretations of characters one has spent a long time thinking about. Yours is close but still not exactly the same as mine, but I found myself to completely able and willing to suspend any disbelief and accept your particular characterization and appreciate it. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a serious look at Maedhros. Once again, however, the real star of this story for me is the engaging Faelathron. I adored him.
Oh, I'm glad you liked the story so much, Oshun! Coming from someone who writes Maedhros so well, your praise means a lot.
I had a lot of fun writing Faelathron. Accepting that your personal hero has serious flaws but going on to admire him anyway is something I think most of us can relate to (what adolescent isn't disillusioned in that way eventually?). And it only made sense to me that there would be younger Elves (and probably children as well) living at Himring beside the older, battle-hardened warriors, and that they might romanticize the earlier great Noldor battles in the past, as well as the heros of those battles such as Maedhros, because they don't yet understand the full costs of war.
"Horribly sad" sums up the fate of most of the major characters in the Silmarillion. Fingon meant well, but I wonder whether everyone would have been better off in the long run if he'd killed Maedhros rather than rescuing him.
Comments on The Thrall
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.