New Challenge: Gnome Tome

September's release of The Nature of Middle-earth, edited by Carl Hostetter, has generated a lot of discussion in the Tolkien fandom, to say the least. There are delightful details that expand on the legendarium we already know and love. There are some brief meanders down canonical roads swiftly abandoned. There is a shocking amount of math. Reactions to the NoMe (or, as we have come to lovingly know it, the Gnome Tome) have run the gamut from amusement to outrage.

In honor of more than four hundred new pages of Tolkien content, October's Gnome Tome challenge features a random prompt generator stocked with 170 quotes, concepts, and potential storylines from the Gnome Tome. Don't have the book? No problem! It is not required to connect your response to the new book. As always, you are welcome to use the prompts however you want, and we've intentionally included a lot that are open-ended and will hopefully generate thoughts and fanworks that can range well beyond this one book. Additionally, you are welcome to roll the prompt generator as many times as it takes to get a prompt you are excited to work with.

The Gnome Tome prompt generator can be found here. Full challenge guidelines can be found in the Challenges section of our site. To receive a stamp for the challenge, Gnome Tome responses should be posted no later than 10 November 2021.

Posted on 16 October 2021 (updated 14 November 2021) by Dawn Felagund