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.
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…
This is my new poetical attempt to add my own interpretation to Tolkien's Cosmology as to Eru's Creation and the Valar's minds and behind-the-scene providence reasons and mechanisms.. I often review Eä as part of our own world, just in another dimension, this is why I have always seriously…
Current Challenge
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Kings & Kink
Throughout history, wherever there is writing, there is erotica. This challenge pulls its prompts from "vintage" works of romance and erotica. (Nonromantic and nonsexual options are also available.) 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.
Elrond Week 2024
Elrond Week is a fandom event dedicated to Elrond Peredhel that will run from July 10th to July 16th on Tumblr.
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.
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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.
Gah, the second time I am reading this and the end still gives me that blow, the thought of what if Aegnor survived. Would he really..?
And this line sums up the battle of the Sudden Flame so well:
Stormy eyes lost their haze. Focused on Shaghkar. Sent him threat. Flame. Anguish.
But you know, as a SWG challenge writer you often wonder how people will react to what you come up with, but to see these combined and the outcome of it: just stunning, so well done Binks!
My inner, hopeless romantic tells me that Aegnor would... But, eh... This was such a sudden idea that wouldn't let me go until I wrote it down. I was afraid though it would be too, you know, violent, gory, and stuff. I'm really happy that it works for you! Thank you once again for so kind words. It feels like a birthday to me :D
Binka! This is a staggeringly magnificient story told is so few words. I am thrilled that I was able to assist you with the Beta. (I recall grumbling to you that it is a hard genre to write well--I still believe that is true--but you triumphed and made it look easy.) It's a fine line to draw, to take the genre of dark fic, while being relentless in your realism, you manage to strip it of any sense of cynicism and make your readers cry. So harsh is this story in its reflection of this grim reality while remaining such a warm and human piece. OMG! The ending is a crescendo of tragedy and romanticism communicated in this so unexpected story form.
It's beautiful. The original canon manages to fill a huge canvass while barely mentioning these characters--the younger sons of the House of Finarfin, the love story told in the “Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth,” and the intriguing question underlying it all for me is various ties and mentions of possible connections between the Finarfinwean princes and the sons of Feanor, geographically in Middle-earth and dating back to a possible personal connection Valinor.
You drawn upon the geekish reader, who is aware of all of these threads, and play their hearts strings so well, and yet meanwhile grab the imagination of other readers who do not necessarily know very much at all about the circumstances or the characters.
I happen to have quite my own reasons for being drawn to Aikanaro and Andreth (I do love a grand and tragic love story!). And I adore them as individuals--his role as one of the valorous defenders along the first lines of the barrier between Morgoth and the peoples to the south and Andreth as an outstanding female leader of her people, the wise-woman and ntellect who easily holds her own in an argument with Finrod Felagund (holds her own, if not triumphs!).
Beautiful use of canon. Hope to see more from you in the future.
Oh my Eru, I don't even know what to say. Since I got your review yesterday, been wondering how to thank you, and I still don't know. Especially that I wasn't really sure about this story. It was a sudden idea, but maybe those are the best in my case ;) Not those carefully planned and thought out. I'm beyond happy and grateful for all your help and support in the process of writing "Harvester" and for each and every of your generous comments. Thank you so, so much once again. (((hugs)))
Oh poor Aegnor! What a terrible way to end--and yet Shaghkar isn't even particularly cruel, just being a good orc! In fact, I think you did an extremely good job with Shaghkar's characterization and his POV.
You did great things with the prompts and I love the ending, with the fragment of the letter. (Of course, I can't help wishing Aegnor had managed to send it...!)
Thank you! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I'm so happy that I did a decent job with Shaghkar's POV (another OC I can use elsewhere ;)). Oshun helped me a lot with it, I need to credit her here. And of course, I too wish Aegnor had found a way to send this letter to Andreth, oh well, romantic me... Thank you! :D
Binka, this was incredible! The voice is perfect, the pacing relentless (in a good way, of course!) I was rivetted. It's a short piece, but wow, it packs a punch. Bravo!
This is outstanding! So much in a short ficlet - intense, wrenching, visceral. There's an immense and primal beauty in the brutal imagery (<= must be the DM talking here ;^)) of Shaghkar considering the dying elf-man, and then without compassion, but just doing what an orc's gonna do, putting him out of his misery.
I love the style you've used to take the reader right into Shaghkar's headspace. The syntax absolutely works.
Then...the coda. OMG. I didn't see that coming, and it was a punch in the gut. So to speak. ;^)
In short, a fabulous ficlet that highlights your formidable writing talent!
Wow! Thank you tons for your wonderful review. OMG, I'm overwhelmed, in a good way :D Thank you. Oshun's help was invaluable here :) I'm sp happy that my idea worked. Thank you!
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.