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.
SWG News
Themed Collection: Alliterative Verse for Arda
Rhunedhel shares ten alliterative poems about Tolkien's world, which build on Tolkien's own reverence for alliterative verse.
Mark Your Calendars! Mereth Aderthad 2025
The SWG will be hosting a hybrid event in Burlington, Vermont, and online on 19 July 2025. Mark your calendars and watch this space for calls for presenters and fanworks to be shared at the event!
Cultus Dispatches: Why People Don't Comment
Many an author has stared at her clicks and her comment count and wondered: Why don't most readers comment? An update on a 2018 article for Long Live Feedback, this month's column uses Tolkien Fanfiction Survey data to reveal three big factors: skill, confidence, and community connections.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Meet Me In The Woods (We'll Make Beautiful Music Together) by cuarthol
Lúthien escapes Menegroth for a clandestine meeting in the woods.
[Writing] The Elendilmir by pandemonium_213
A young child of Men befriends Sámaril, the troubled master smith of Imladris. The Noldorin craftsman experiences the joy and pain born of friendships between the Eldar and mortal Men and comes to question his people’s values as his life becomes entwined with Isildur’s youngest son and two…
[Writing] The Eyes and Ears of Morgoth by Chilled in Hithlum
I recently revisited my first submission called The Eyes and Ears of Melkor (still listed) and found it somewhat lacking. Obviously the outline was already set by Professor Tolkien and in this alone the idea holds up, so I decided to have another crack at telling the tale of Húrin's captivity…
[Writing] Crossroads by Gwanath Dagnir
Of Elros and Elrond growing up in the First Age during the War of Wrath.
Chapter 1: the long winning streak of Finarfin's renowned Liberators comes to an end when an orc raid does not go according to plan, and the twins must accept a new path
[Artwork] On the Way Home by silmalope
Doriath Family Reunion AU: Túrin twisted his ankle in the woods, and big sister Lúthien is giving him a ride home. :)
[Link Collection] Orcs Are People by cuarthol
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.
[Series] Themed Collections by SWG Newsletter Staff
Themed Collections are a periodic feature of our weekly newsletter and are intended to feature fanworks centered on a theme as a jumping off point for members to add their own recommendations to the collection. Themed…
Current Challenge
Idiomatic
Raining cats and dogs. A short fuse. Up a creek without a paddle. A piece of cake. Sometimes colorful, sometimes puzzling without backstory or explanation, these delightful turns of phrase enrich our language—whichever one it happens to be. Prompts this month are idioms from languages around the world.
Read more ...
Random Challenge
Restoration and Rebuilding
Create a fanwork around a prompt focused on the theme of rebuilding and restoration. Read more ...
New in References
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.
Spiral Staircase by Simon J. Cook
The Anglo-Saxon poet looks on the sea from the highest point of the tower and then, without saying all that was seen, begins a descent. The way of the poem traces a spiral staircase. Ultimately, the plan of this staircase follows an Elvish design. The staircase is a picture of the descent of mortal generations in history, drawn from the perspective of those who do not die.
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
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.
Teitho October/November Challenge: Legacy
For October/November, the Teitho contest invites fanfiction and art around the theme of Legacy.
October challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The October challenge at tolkienshortfanworks on Dreamwidth has been posted. This month's challenge allows you to pick a sequence of words from Tolkien prompts that you have to use in the same order. New participants welcome.
Fanworks Tagged with Lúthien & Túrin
On the Way Home by silmalope
Doriath Family Reunion AU: Túrin twisted his ankle in the woods, and big sister Lúthien is giving him a ride home. :)
