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…
My newly drawn map of Aman, as complete as I could make it.
Current Challenge
Bollywood
Prompts this month are films, songs, and tropes from India's dazzling film industry, Bollywood. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Holiday Party
No matter if you're in the Northern or Southern hemisphere, it's a time of year to think about holidays. Whether you're bundling up in blankets or slipping a swimsuit into your suitcase, we invite you to an SWG holiday party! 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.
I quite like this - it's a very interesting idea, and I think it is indeed quite likely that some (perhaps even most) subjects of the witch king may have disagreed with his rule, but had no choice but to serve him out of terror... (after all even the Orcs in LOTR discuss that they don't really like serving Sauron, but don't have much of an option. It is hard to believe that the humans and others in Angmar wouldn't feel likewise!)
That terror came across really well in this short piece. Poor protagonist!
Thank you so much for your kind review! I am very pleased to see that you found my attempt at horror-lite enjoyable, and to hear other people's opinions on whether or not the servants of Angmar served the witch king out of loyalty or fear. In my mind, the idea was always rather simple - you practically feel the horror when the witch king is described in the books, and so I decided that well, humans don't serve that kind of nastiness willingly unless they're horribly nasty - or scared shitless. Which was what I went for. I'm happy it came across well!
Firstly, do not apologize. This is not in the least shoddy! Sometimes late night ramblings allow us to reach down and find that "sweet spot" (so to speak) in the heart of darkness, and you've done it here. The use of second person, which not many writers attempt, is very effective here. Likewise, the repetition of motif works well -- the wind, the scartching of branches, the terror that extends from the child to the grown warrior.
I expect you wouldn't be surprised to know that I share you sentiments regarding those who served the Witch King or his dark master: that these minions were not evil through and through. So your chilling vignette is a fantastic way of capturing this.
"I hope you've all enjoyed my attempt at horror-lite."
Oh, yes! Very much so. You nailed this character (and how!) here and put us into his head.
I'm so happy you found it enjoyable, and I'm glad that I managed to make the repetition and second person come across well.
I am not the least bit surprised that you share my sentiments regarding the servants of Sauron and the Witch King. Some of these people had to have been good - the people of Angmar conquered many realms of the Dúnedain, and so there must have been some good people there as well - and these had no choice but to serve the Witch King, out of fear for their lives. At least, that was how my logic saw it.
Thank you very much for your kind review, and I am so happy you enjoyed my attempt at horror-lite! It is not entirely Lovecraftian, but then again, I doubt many people can manage his excellent way of chilling the reader.
I like your story very much and I believe that every word in it rings true. You built the atmosphere excellently. Congrats on the job well done and thank you for sharing. :)
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.