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…
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.
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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.
It captures the feeling of intense relief that the war is finally over perfectly (I imagine it's a bit like I feel when the anxiety inducing thing I had to do is finally done)
Thank you! I'm glad you think it captures the feeling!
I was having to imagine it, too (well, fortunately for me!), and I agree that, whatever else, the War of the Last Alliance must have been the most anxiety-inducing thing...
Yes, elves would have a slightly different perspective, given that they've already experienced that relief of the war being over once, only to find out it was more like a pause before the next round. At least the Men will get to have (mostly) peaceful lives!
I think so (I tried to have a look). In the Appendices, there is a hint that Gondor was seldom at peace for long, but when you look at the recorded wars the next one actually seems to be several generations later!
My Sinda is partly echoing Elrond at the Council of Elrond with her observation (if she is indeed my OFC Huntress, they know each other), but it was important to me that this ends on a note of hope!
As usual with your ficlets, there are so many things tucked in here.
I really love where you took the prompt, and I have to admit that my eyes waters while I was reading.
The homecoming of all those men (ex-adolescents) to the outlying regions of Gondor is quite a thought — and must have been quite a sight. The camaraderie that would have formed runs deep, but adjusting to life beyond the war, with people who can never fully comprehend what you've experienced, is something else entirely.
And Huntress' companion's thought that they may well experience peace for the remainder of their time in Arda hearkens back to that line that even the Powers will come to envy the Gift of Men. I can't wrap my mind around how life must be for the Elves if Middle-earth, although I feel for Huntress here. (And it's nice to glimpse her again.)
After some thought, I realized it was going to be important for this that these are not the kind of combatants that are major names in history. I was partly thinking of the kind of soldiers Aragorn is concerned about in ROTK on the march to the Black Gate. And I only hinted at the problems they might have at fitting back in afterward after these experiences, but we know from history that that would be an issue.
I'm glad that you liked the idea of this being Huntress! I wasn't more definite, because I hadn't really thought before about what she was doing in this period before, so there was no backstory in place. Of course, she is older than Elrond, by this point, even though she was quite young when she joined the Noldor in Mithrim.
I watched the video just before reading this, and I think that you have found the essence of that scene in your beautiful, thoughtful writing. There's this sense of relief and happiness, but bittersweet because not everyone had come back.
I appreciate the perspective of Elves: Men do indeed live at a quicker pace. Perhaps Elves feel the same way we do when we witness our pets be young, adults and old.
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.