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.
Largely focused on Númenor, its fall, and the aftermath, as seen from the perspective of two Mannish scientists, bit players in some ways, but who nonetheless cast their shadows across the history of Middle Earth.
A story of three friends in Númenor, one of whom attracts the attention of the High Priest. What does friendship mean in the shadow of the Black Temple?
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…
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Akallabêth in August
Every August, we focus on one of the most tumultuous times in Arda's history: the Second Age and the rise and fall of Númenor. Any story that is or might conceivably be part of the Akallabêth is acceptable for this challenge. 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.
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.
Scribbles & Drabbles 2024
A chill Tolkien event, where artists make art, and authors write little stories in response. Begins in June and ends in November.
Subscribe to the SWG Newsletter
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.
elennalore has requested the following types of constructive criticism on this fanwork: Characterization, Conflict, Description/Imagery, Plot, Setting, Worldbuilding. All constructive criticism must follow our diplomacy guidelines.
Oh! This switch is so vividly plausible. The power of light containing such force to corrupt Varda—she'd become a black hole eventually I guess, devouring the whole of Eä. A beautiful, and formidable, and extremely powerful adversary. And Mairon and Melkor and Manwë all working together just feels so good!
(And as I read this, I laughed at the amazing serendipity that the illustration I made today could have been an illustration for your fic! I had a different prompt ("The Valar cannot undo history without undoing Ea"), but it was Varda who told me she felt like messing around with light and time and space: https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/node/5098. If you'd like it, I'd like to gift it to you for this.)
Thank you! Good thing you liked Manwë, Melkor and Mairon co-operating! And I agree - your amazing art piece could well have been illustration for this ficlet! I’m still amazed by the coincidence of choosing Varda for both of our prompts. But she’s such a powerful being. You’re too kind, but I wouldn’t say no to a gift :)
The idea that Varda wants only her stars to be giving off light is quite brilliant (literally I guess....). So many interesting possible pathways could come from this. She wants to be in control.
I thought Mairon noticing Melkor's pain very poignant, as was the brothers Manwë and Melkor working together.
The soundtrack in my head for Varda destroying the lamps is the Queen of the Night's aria "Der Hölle Rache" in the Mozart opera The Magic Flute of course.
The song that jumped in at the end of your story however was The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun".
Thank you for you comment! Yes, this was an interesting AU to write. My favourite part to write was Melkor and Manwë working together, I'm happy it shows. Thank you for the soundtrack ideas! :)
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.
elennalore has requested the following types of constructive criticism on this fanwork: Characterization, Conflict, Description/Imagery, Plot, Setting, Worldbuilding. All constructive criticism must follow our diplomacy guidelines.