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.
SWG News
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.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] The Last Queen of the North by Flora-lass
Arvedui is gone, and Firiel reflects.
[Writing] Designs by Independence1776
Second Age 3261: Sauron prepares to respond to Ar-Pharazon’s heralds. Maglor doesn’t know how he fits into Sauron's plans.
[Writing] Shapes in the Mist by AdmirableMonster
A young Orc on a spirit quest walks through the memories of her people.
[Writing] Eyes and Ears by Zdenka
Two Orcs discuss the increased price on Beren's head.
[Writing] Against Expectation by chrissystriped
He is dead. His heart is still beating, but he is dead.
[Writing] Birds of the Field by Zdenka
Erendis prefers the birds of Emerië.
[Writing] One Flesh, One Soul. Part I by FellFireFan
Aegnor, Lord of Dorthonion is a Noldorin Prince with a bold reputation. Earthy and fiery with a wrath that no one would knowingly provoke, he is as dangerous and unpredictable as he is beautiful, sensual and playful. A far cry from the decorum expected of him as a Prince of the Realm and a…
Current Challenge
Orctober
A mysterious map points to locations used by escaped Orcs who seek to live in freedom. For this month's challenge, use elements from that map and those quests to create your fanwork, with a bonus puzzle to solve for those who dare attempt the ultimate escape. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Follow the Leader
Create a fanwork about a leader from "The Silmarillion" that shows why that character is a leader. Read more ...
New in References
Doom and Ascent: The Argument of ‘Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics’ by Simon J. Cook
Simon reads 'Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics' to conclude his account of the Anglo-Saxon tower of its allegory.
Why People Don't Comment: Data and History From the Tolkienfic Fandom by Dawn Walls-Thumma
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.
Death, Grief, and the Other in the "Quenta Silmarillion" by Dawn Walls-Thumma
The narrator of the Quenta Silmarillion uses death, grief, and mourning rituals to generate sympathy for or dehumanize groups of characters considered the Other.
Featured Themed Collection
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.
Alliterative Verse for Arda by Rhunedhel
Part of our Themed Collection series for our newsletter, this collection features alliterative poems about Middle-earth.
Beyond the Silmarillion
[Writing] Staging a Battle by StarSpray
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.
[Writing] From whose bourn no traveller returns by losselen
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.
[Writing] Sand Sorcery by StarSpray
It is well known that Psamathos does not leave his cove. He does not like to get his feet wet, and prefers to spend his days dozing under the sun.
Around the World and Web
Tolkien Horror Week 2024
Tolkien Horror Week is a Tumblr and AO3 event that celebrates all things spooky and creepy in Tolkien’s work—both the things he tells us explicitly and the things he leaves up to our imaginations.
Tolkien Latin American and Caribbean Week 2024
Tolkien Latin American and Caribbean Week is a Tumblr event dedicated to celebrate Latin American and Caribbean cultures, peoples and traditions through Tolkien's Legendarium.
Lúthien Week 2024
Lúthien Week is dedicated to the characters of the Beren and Lúthien story, from the star-crossed protagonists to faithful allies to villains ... and everyone in between.
Half-Elven Week 2024
Half-Elven Week is a Tumblr event dedicated to celebrating Tolkien's half-Elves.
Tolkien Society: Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference
The Tolkien Society will be hosting the online Christopher Tolkien Centenary Conference on November 23-24, 2024.
Birds of the Field by Zdenka
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Birds of the Field
The seasons came and went, while Erendis dwelt at Emerië. Her bitterness grew as the years passed beyond the time of Aldarion’s promise, and the gentle spring did not melt the coldness in her heart. All thought of the Sea was hateful to her, and she resolved she would not leave Emerië again.
I will not go to the harbor, she thought, to hear the raucous cries of gulls or see their white wings spread like the sails of a ship that departs. Here are songbirds with melodious voices; they are tender to their chicks and faithful to their mates!
