You may have been asked at some point if you prefer mountains or the sea, an entry in the "would you rather?" category of questions that seeks to dichotomize people as one or the other. I live in the mountains but very much prefer the sea. Part of the reason is the passing ships. I connect to Tolkien's description of Fëanor having hands and mind seldom at rest because that's me too, yet I will sit on a beach or stand on a pier and do nothing but watch ships passing for as long as you allow me. This odd interest/hobby always felt vaguely Tolkienish for reasons I couldn't quite articulate. (It is not as though a container ship poking along on the horizon is carrying Elves to Valinor! Cheap sneakers to Montreal, maybe, but not wearied souls to rest and healing in the Undying Lands.)
Simon J. Cook's latest installment in his series about towers for A Sense of History begins to explain why. For exactly a year now, Simon has been exploring towers across Tolkien's work, focusing mostly on the tower analogy in Tolkien's lecture "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" but also the many towers that dot the landscape of Middle-earth in his more familiar works.
This month's article, "Passing Ships," is just as the name suggests. Returning to the tower analogy of "Monsters and the Critics," Simon considers why the ability to look up on the sea in that analogy is so important. He considers the exordium to Beowulf, which he describes as a myth "framed by two ships" related to the mythic heathen king Scyld Scefing. Even in these days, Simon claims, the significance of these two ships, coming and returning over the sea from the west, has been lost, the poem offering a glimpse back at that forgotten tradition.
SWG News
New Challenge: Potluck Bingo
Sit down to a delicious selection of prompts served on bingo boards, created by the SWG community.
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.
Mereth Aderthad 2025: Call for Presenters for Meta, Research, and Scholarship Open
We welcome proposals from creators of meta, research, and scholarship about Tolkien for our July 2025 hybrid Mereth Aderthad event!
A Sense of History: Doom and Ascent
In the final essay in the series about the tower allegory in Tolkien's "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," Simon J. Cook pulls together the series to give the full picture of how not just the allegory but the legendarium can be read.
Themed Collection: Orcs Are People
Cuarthol shares a collection of fiction, art, and essays that challenge the notion of Orcs as an inhuman enemy and instead consider the legendarium from the perspective that Orcs are people.
Themed Collection: Alliterative Verse for Arda
Rhunedhel shares ten alliterative poems about Tolkien's world, which build on Tolkien's own reverence for alliterative verse.
Cultus Dispatches: Why People Don't Comment
Many an author has stared at her clicks and her comment count and wondered: Why don't most readers comment? An update on a 2018 article for Long Live Feedback, this month's column uses Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data to reveal three big factors: skill, confidence, and community connections.
In Memory of Oshun
We are sad to share the news that our long-time member, author, and friend Oshun has passed away. We are raising money to help her family with expenses for those who wish to contribute.
Beta Readers
For the past several months, we have been making changes to our site to eliminate or decrease the use of modules that trigger an occasional error on user pages. This past week, we took the final step in this process and moved our Beta Directory off of a problematic module and onto a more dependable core software module.
Maybe it is news to you that we even have a Beta Directory! We do! It's located on the Tools menu of the archive.
When we rebuilt the archive in 2021, we wanted to make it easier for writers to find someone to help them with their projects. The Beta Directory is the result of that goal.
Any SWG member can set up a profile in the Beta Directory. The only requirement is a desire to help writers improve their work! The Beta Directory is searchable across multiple criteria to make it easier for writers to find someone likely to be excited about their project.
If you'd like to set up a beta-reader profile (or edit your existing profile), go to My Account and click Edit. You will find a tab for Beta there. Fill out as much or as little information as you like and make sure to check "Activate this profile" (which you can uncheck anytime you need to go on hiatus or be removed from the list, without losing your data. Simply recheck the box when you're ready to be listed again.)
This is slightly different than how beta-reader profiles were managed before. Our beta profile FAQ has more information and screen captures to help you find where you need to go. Hit REPLY here if you have questions or run into any snags.
Featured Article
Passing Ships by Simon J. Cook
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.
Art Credit: A Hobbit Watches A Littler People by Drifa
New Fanworks
Havens by by AdmirableMonster [Writing]
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.
Read more ...Hurting Tyelpë by by elennalore [Writing]
Sauron has taken Celebrimbor as a prisoner in Ost-in-Edhil. Whump happens.
Read more ...On a Night of Snow by by Elleth [Writing]
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.
Read more ...Getting Dirty by by Elleth [Writing]
A collection of NSFW ficlets for the "Keep It Clean" bingo card of the 2024 Potluck Bingo.
Read more ...Collection of Potluck Drabbles by by Artano [Writing]
This is a collection of true drabbles completed for the 'Four Words' drabble bingo card.
Read more ...2024 Potluck Doodles by by silmalope [Artwork]
Assorted prompt fills for the 2024 Potluck bingo boards, to varying degrees of completion! :)
Read more ...A Collection of Maps Exhibiting the Changing Political Landscape in Beleriand by by Artano [Artwork]
Created for the 'Geography/Maps/Places' prompt on the "Tolkien meta" bingo board, this is a collection of maps marked with the various people groups showing how they arrived and moved about Beleriand. This collection focuses specifically on the time from the arrival of the Teleri, Vanyar, and Noldor before they went to Aman up to the distribution of the various kingdoms after the Flight of the Noldor, when they arrived in Middle-earth and settled there.
Read more ...On the Nature of the Sindar’s Hunting the Petty-dwarves by by Artano [Writing]
This is an analysis on whether the Sindar ate the Petty-dwarves during the years they hunted them, completed for the 'Literary Analysis' prompt on the "Tolkien Meta" bingo card.
Read more ...Indeed the Everlasting Darkness shall be our lot by by Erdariel [Writing]
Maglor sings. He wanders. Slowly, a shadow comes over his sight and mind, deepening little by little
Read more ...Valier & colours by by daughterofshadows [Artwork]
Semi-abstract arts representing the queens of the Valar.
Read more ...Updated Fanworks
Ransom of the Fairy Twins by by Rocky41_7 [Writing]
Maglor and Maedhros trade Elrond and Elros to King Gil-galad in exchange for a Silmaril, but they have miscalculated.
Read more ...Pennas Pengolodh by by AdmirableMonster [Series]
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.
Read more ...Beyond the Silmarillion Fanworks
Homage to the Song of Durin by by Flora-lass [Writing]
Legolas is inspired by Gimli's song - and by Gimli himself.
Read more ...Long-tressed Wingildi by by Anérea [Artwork]
"... the long-tressed Wingildi ... spirits of the foam and the surf of ocean."
~ a painted sketch for Scribbles and Drabbles 2024.
Read more ...
Around the World and Web
Hidden Paths 2025
Hidden Paths, an event dedicated to the celebration of smaller Tolkien canons, has released their early prompts for the 2025 event.
Teitho November/December Contest: Healing
The theme for Teitho's November/December contest is healing.
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.
Fluffcember 2024
Fluffcember is a Tumblr event with daily fluffy prompts during the month of December.
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!
November 2024 Call for Papers and Proposals
Calls for papers and proposals for conferences and publications that are open during the month of November 2024.
White Oliphaunt 2024
The White Oliphaunt is a Tolkien fanwork exchange for humorous gifts.
Tolkien Society: Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference
The Tolkien Society will be hosting the online Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference on November 23-24, 2024.
Teitho October/November Challenge: Legacy
For October/November, the Teitho contest invites fanfiction and art around the theme of Legacy.
Acorns and Oak Leaves: A Year of Bagginshield
Throughout 2024, the Bagginshield community Acorns and Oak Leaves offers monthly prompts to encourage new creations of all kinds.
