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!
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with cloudyhymns by Shadow Dragons are one of the most familiar creatures in Tolkien's world and one of the least understood. In this interview, Shadow spoke with cloudyhymns about his Mereth Aderthad presentation "The Design of Dragons and the Doom of the Dwarves," the nature of dragons and their connections with Dwarves, and the musicality of Tolkien's works.
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with polutropos by Dawn "And love grew after between them"—those words have fascinated a fandom intent on revealing the how and why of the "kidnap fam" plot point in "The Silmarillion." In this interview, polutropos discusses her upcoming Mereth Aderthad paper on the topic, “'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium."
They passed out of Lhûn and the wider coastline of Middle-earth opened up before his eyes. He had wandered those shores for centuries, and even now he felt the pull of that same wanderlust, and knew he would miss them for the rest of his life. Their wildness, the untamed waves, the rocky…
In which Fëanor & Fingolfin are re-embodied in 4th age Aman, are nowhere near as healed as everyone believes them to be, and decide to pretend that sleeping together will fix their relationship instead of causing more problems.
Fëanor does not even get a chance to finish being annoying before Fingolfin’s eyes flash with something far too dark to be only fury and his hand snaps out to grab a handful of Fëanor’s hair. He wrenches Fëanor’s head back in a move that is so surprisingly painful it throws him off balance. In…
We get together from time to time on the SWG Discord and produce spontaneous fanworks based on randomly chosen prompts. This collection includes drabbles, ficlets, and other flash fanworks produced as part of our instadrabbling sessions.
Shadow spoke with cloudyhymns about his upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad 2025, "The Design of Dragons and the Doom of the Dwarves," where he shares his theory about how Dwarves and dragons are connected in the legendarium, a topic full of implications for fanworks.
Dawn spoke with polutropos about her upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad, “'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium," including the appeal of kidnap fam, the appeal of Maglor's character, and how The Silmarillion as an incomplete, complex word makes it ripe for both fanworks and scholarship.
As one of the most beloved Silmarillion characters, Maglor is a bundle of contradictions undergirded by a complex textual history. Warrior, musician, wanderer, and survivor, Maglor brings to the fore key themes in Tolkien's early legendarium, such as the role of music, oaths, and exile.
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.
One wrong decision can make a world of difference. When one of the Fellowship makes the mistake, the consequences are so severe that only the Valar can repair it. But will they?
Glorfindel daughter's life is in Elrohir's hands and only she remembers th eir love for each other. The fate of…
The Gardens of the Entwives are fallen, but two Entwives remain.
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Silmarillion Epistolary Week 2025
Silmarillion Epistolary is a challenge dedicated to creating fanworks to tell the story of the Silmarillion in the style of an epistolary novel.
April Challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The tolkienshortfanworks challenge for April has been posted to the Dreamwidth community. The thematic prompt is: wood. The formal challenge is: linnod (Gilraen's canonical verse form). These can be filled separately and freely combined with other challenges and prompts that allow this.
Celedriel Week 2025
Celedriel Week is a Tumblr events for fanworks about Galadriel and Celeborn.
Tolkien Ekphrasis Week 2025
This is a Tolkien-fandom-wide event dedicated to the art of ekphrasis in Tolkien's worlds. Its goal is to illuminate the artistic surroundings of the places, people, and stories we love, in as many media as possible.
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.
I love the personalities you've given these two. They seem to fit them, while still being hilarious. Clever, as we weren't given much information about either one in the books. :)
I'm glad you like their personalities. This is the story where my version of Gil-galad acquired a personality of his own. I find him a bit hard to characterize, as you are absolutely right that we don't know much about him from the books. It ended up being a combination of deductions from Unfinished Tales, what was required for the stories I was writing, and how he developed in my head. Celebrimbor, on the other hand, leapt into my head almost fully-formed and never looked back.
I seem to remember reading in some footnote somewhere that Sauron loved mithril and collected a large proportion of the world's supply. It fit, so I stuck it in. Oh, the poltergeists have barely begun their work. I can (Almost) feel sorry for Sauron by the time they're done with him.
They'll go a long way beyond overturning teacups and causing trouble for Sauron's pets. The campaign has barely gotten started, and they'll push things to the outer limits of their mandate.
Thank you, Aiwen, for bringing such welcome entertainment during a day when I am stuck at home fighting a cold. If laughter is the best medicine, then Bringing Trouble to Barad-dûr is double-presription strength! This is terrifically funny! I love the premise, the characters, and all the little details: distaste for fish, Sauron's potential allergies. ghost-Celebrimbor and ghost-Gil-galad floating about and through things, Celebrimbor causing metal-fatigue and reminding Gil-galad that he knows a bit about Rings, Sauron's duvet and porcelain teacups (my DM - a dark lord who appreciates creature comforts - approves heartily) and well, so much is so funny!
Great story, and I can thank my mild nasopharyngitis for allowing me some quiet time to catch up here on the SWG. Bringing Trouble to Barad-dûr is a real treat!
I'm glad it's making you laugh a lot. There is a lot more of this story to come. It will be getting a bit less light-hearted shortly, due to Sauron being Sauron, but there should still be a lot to make you laugh.
No, he's not much of a literary critic, but I wanted to get at how more average inhabitants of Barad-dur were finding the mysterious happenings. You'll be seeing him again later. Glad you enjoyed it!
AH HAHAHA! This continues to be darkly hilarious, and major kudos to you for your ability to write what really is a slap-stick scenario so adroitly. I could envision all the hootworthy shenanigans. :^D
He hurled the Ring into the privy hole and floated to the ceiling to watch.
*Snort* Now that is a strategy to make Ring retrieval considerably more troublesome for the Dark Lord.
Of course, it won't be Sauron who has to go combing through the c&*p to find the dratted thing. This chapter is about as silly as the story gets. The plot will become more present and gain in intensity in the next few chapters. I'm glad you enjoyed the silliness.
I'm glad you liked that. I've been reusing some of the original characters that have already appeared with the idea that it will be more interesting to see fewer, more developed characters than hordes you only see once. This isn't the last you'll see of the Ambassador, although I don't think he'll be turning up for quite a while after this. He really isn't cut out for dealing with the likes of Sauron or the Nazgul.
They're certainly going to have a go at rescuing the prisoners. As for whether they'll succeed, for that, you'll have to wait and see. I just put the next chapter up.
The plan is well underway. As for Duilin, he was having a lot of trouble believing this is real, and he still has very little understanding of what is going on.
I wouldn't exactly have pegged the Witch King as the type to have daddy issues! (On the other hand, perhaps he was precisely the type to have daddy issues?)
We don't really know much about the Nazgul, including the Witch King. His parentage came up because I asked myself what canon character seemed most like they could be Sauron's kid. I came up with Angmar, and since this story partly follows the rule of funny, I included it here.
As for daddy issues, well, this is somebody whose magical powers and immortality are tied to his father, and who is second in command to his father. Everything Angmar has that he values is in some way or other tied to Sauron. Under those circumstances, he probably cares a lot about what Sauron thinks of him. It's a matter of survival, whether he loves or hates his father. I suspect he'd feel both emotions, so tangled together he can't tell them apart.
I remember this fic fondly from FFN and I'm very glad you're posting it here! This fic is utterly delightful. It makes me smile all the way through. And it manages to cover all sorts of absurd situations while still feeling in-character! (If Celebrimbor were sent into Barad-dur as a ghost with limited telekinetic powers, I feel that going into Sauron’s torture chamber and sabotaging all the torture instruments by giving them metal fatigue is exactly what he would do.)
Oh Valar, that was the greatest laugh I've had in days. I especially liked the bits about cows and Celebrian and Naz-girls. Sauron so out of his usual behaviour in this scene was just the best.
Comments on Bringing Trouble to Barad-dur
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.