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.
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 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.
November challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The challenge for November has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. Thematic prompt: refuge. Formal challenge: include imitation of a sound. As always, these can be filled independently and also freely combined with SWG and other challenges. New participants welcome!
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.
That is what I felt! I've read so many times of Elves having family waiting for them right upon landing (and written such scenes occasionally), so I liked the idea of giving that to Shadowfax, too. (Or like Gimli meeting Mahal, I suppose!)
Technically, it's not confirmed that the Mearas descend from Nahar, admittedly!
It's so lovely to read these horses as full characters in their own right, and the people's vicarious joy in their meeting. Gives me a feel of the sacred cows of the Hindus. And I like the first person view, with the mystery of just who the narrator is.
People make jokes about Tolkien giving the name of more horses than women, but I think that's not just about Tolkien's treatment of women, but also about his attitude to horses, Shadowfax especially. So I feel there is some canonical precedent!
Oh, what an absolute joy! Like Grundy, I love that Shadowfax has family there to greet him too, and there is such a sense of joy about their meeting - like it should all be wreathed in that white-gold light that frames the characters in the Havens at the end of the film. Gorgeous.
Thank you very much! That is so very kind of you and I am glad I was able to convey that sense of joy!
As for the narrator, how about this:
The narrator is a Silvan. She is one of the Nandor that first settled in Lasgalen and, with her people, she once roamed the northern vale of the Anduin with feathers in her hair. She saw Orome come riding over the mountains on Nahar to hunt the monsters of Melkor’s making. Maybe it was a cousin of hers who made a painting of the Hunt in a cave in the foothills of the Hithaeglir. She herself befriended the first of the Mearas and spoke with them. The Men of Rhovanion, in the Second Age, called her Marhlubo, because she loved horses and they loved her.
At the time of the Last Alliance, she came south with Oropher to fight, but she was terribly wounded in the war. Her life was saved by Elrond, but it had been a hard struggle, her healing, and it was for that reason that she did not return northward with Thranduil, but eventually followed Elrond to Imladris and became the chief of his horse herders. She spent many evenings in the Hall of Fire, listening to the tales about Valinor and Beleriand that the Noldor and Sindar told and telling her own stories in exchange. When Elrond departed Rivendell, she decided to go with him, together with other Elves of Elrond’s household.
Oh! You're full of surprises! I hadn't pictured the narrator being an OC, but I absolutely love this! All the little details that tie in, her implied fondness for Shadowfax and shared joy at being reacquainted with Nahar, her connection to Elrond, reason for sailing. And this: "...because she loved horses and they loved her." And her cousin's cave painting brings Lascaux to mind.
I'm truly in awe, not only of how much you say with so little, but how beautifully you do it.
This story is written in a way that is beautiful and poetic. I love the atmosphere, and also that it is told as an eyewitness' report, which makes it sound so authentic.
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.