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: Potluck Bingo Sit down to a delicious selection of prompts served on bingo boards, created by the SWG community.
Bingo Cards Wanted for Potluck Bingo Our November-December challenge will be Potluck Bingo, featuring cards created by you! If you'd like to create cards or prompts for cards, we are taking submissions.
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.
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.
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.
A series of articles featuring fan-made maps of all the lands of Arda. Part III explores the island of Númenor and mainland Middle-earth during the Second Age.
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…
Current Challenge
Potluck Bingo
Help yourself to a collection of prompts on bingo boards designed by members and friends of the SWG. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Heroes
Create a fanwork about a hero, whether the typical saves-the-world type or the unlikely, unsung, and accidental, those who have been forgotten or perhaps were never noticed at all, who made their worlds a better place. Read more ...
A series of articles featuring fan-made maps of all the lands of Arda. Part III explores the island of Númenor and mainland Middle-earth during the Second Age.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kiliel Week 2024
Kiliel Week is a Tumblr event for fanworks about the Kili/Tauriel pairing.
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!
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* Maitimo, and yours is someone wonderful. He....well, he understands love and swallowing pride so much better than any others of the Noldor. He values his brothers more than the works of his hands, and this wisdom will serve him well in the years to come. I don't think he truly forgets it until the 5th battle.
I'm sorry to have taken so long to reply to this, MithLuin! I had to reread the piece myself, as it's been a long time since I wrote it, and it definitely shows why I chose to follow Maitimo primarily in my stories about the Noldor. In my mind, he had the furthest to fall, as I wanted this piece to show. Thank you for reading and commenting. :)
Once upon a time, I could do nothing but write about him! :) And I still would if not for other obligations. I had to reread this piece, as it's been a long time since I wrote it, but it is definitely Classic Maitimo. I catch flak in some circles for making him "too perfect," but I think this ficlet details exactly why I chose him, because in my mind, his fall was the furthest. Thanks for reading and commenting, Ziggy!
I don't know why I decided to look at these this morning. I felt like I needed some Vintage Dawn Feanorians! Unlike others commenting here, I do not see Maedhros in this story as a sainty or outstandingly virtuous creature. But he is a young man of integrity, honor, and a mature sense of balance. His compassion and love for his brothers means that he is able to hold them together through long years of struggle and a myriad of differences of opinion and conflicts.
People instinctively see this in his actions throughout the texts--you said in a response to another comment: he had the furthest to fall. Which is one of the aspects that makes The Silmarillion tragic and not just a disaster. Why we keep reading it and why we care what happens.
Since it's a trend in replying to comments on this story ... I had to reread it to remember it. Ouch. Maybe I'll get another comment in a couple years time and will be able to remember enough to reply without having to reread it again.
I do not see Maedhros as saintly either, although that's probably the #1 complaint about AMC (mostly on ff.net, to be fair). But he's a pretty extraordinary character in the Silm, even when seen through Pengolodh's biased eyes. (Even Pengolodh can't completely eradicate that "integrity, honor, and ... sense of balance"! :)
Thanks for reading this dusty old thing and commenting on it too!
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.