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Registration for attending Mereth Aderthad is open for both in-person and virtual attendees and will remain open through the day of the event.
SWG News
Fanwork sign-ups are open!
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New Challenge: Birthday Bash
In honor of our twentieth birthday, we look back at twenty years of SWG history with a new poetry, image, and word prompt each day.
So You Want to Present at a Tolkien Conference? Putting Together the Presentation
Part of our ongoing series to support fans who want to present at Mereth Aderthad and other Tolkien conferences, this session will share strategies for putting together a paper and presentation.
Mereth Aderthad Interview: Interview with Shadow by Himring
Himring interviewed Shadow about their upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad, "The Aromantic in Tolkien," and their inspiration for pursuing this topic that is rarely covered in Tolkien scholarship.
New & Updated Fanworks
[Writing] Clear Pebbles of the Rain by StarSpray
But at the very end of the letter she spoke of one more prisoner that Elladan and Elrohir had discovered in one of the deepest dungeons of Dol Guldur, locked away behind a door unopened in so long that the hinges had rusted.
Maglor has been rescued from Dol Guldur, and now faces…
[Artwork] 2025 Birthday Bash Prompt Fills by silmalope
Sketches inspired by the 2025 Birthday Bash challenge prompts!
[Writing] A Grief Ever-Worsening by Flora-lass
Maeglin writes to Idril.
[Writing] Return to the Sea by daughterofshadows
Cúrandil knows the stories, knows how their people first awoke in the water. How they came to walk the land and how the sea has called them back ever since.
It is their turn to follow the call now.
[Writing] Torchsong by Dawn Felagund, Elleth
Maglor performs the Noldolantë and the room reacts.
Current Challenge
Birthday Bash
Daily word, image, and poetry prompts are loosely structured around events and milestones leading up to our 20th birthday. Read more ...
Random Challenge
Middle-earth Olympics
Complete Olympic events Middle-earth style! Read more ...
New in References
Interview with Shadow by Himring by daughterofshadows, Himring
Aromanticism is a topic not often covered in Tolkien scholarship, but many Tolkien characters can be read as aromantic. In this interview, Himring talks with Shadow about their upcoming Mereth Aderthad presentation "The Aromantic in Tolkien."
Interview with Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch by Quente by Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch, Quente
Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch has always felt deeply connected to the character of Elu Thingol. In this interview, Quente asks about this connection and how Stella sees Thingol as unjustly treated by many in the fandom.
Interview with Acha Rezak (Quente) by Shadow by Acha Rezak (Quente), daughterofshadows
Shadow spoke to Acha Rezak about her upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad, which reads Tolkien less as a Catholic Christian work and more as a world inclusive of many religions, especially in its focus on nature and landscapes
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] Paradox of the Fourth Age by Alassante
One wrong decision can make a world of difference. When one of the Fellowship makes the mistake, the consequences are so severe that only the Valar can repair it. But will they?
Glorfindel daughter's life is in Elrohir's hands and only she remembers th eir love for each other. The fate of…
[Writing] By Mirrormere by bunn
A new Age dawns, and Moria is retaken at last.
[Writing] Beneath the Bitter Rain by bunn
The Gardens of the Entwives are fallen, but two Entwives remain.
Around the World and Web
C&C Week 2025
C&C Week is a Tumblr event for fanworks about Celegorm and Curufin. This year, the event will run from March 16-23, 2025, with prompts featured every other day.
Teitho March/April Challenge: Mothers
The Teitho Contest theme for the months of March and April is mothers.
March Challenge at tolkienshortfanworks
The challenge for March has been posted to the tolkienshortfanworks community on Dreamwidth. New participants welcome.
March of the Quendi 2025
March of the Quendi is a month-long Tumblr event to celebrate the long walk the Elves took from their home on the shores of Cuiviénen, across great and unknown lands, to the blessed realm of Aman with optional weekly Great Journey-themed prompts.
March 2025 Calls for Papers and Proposals
Calls for papers and conference proposals that are open during the month of March.
Great Journeys
The Silmarillion is filled with characters going places, from the great and important journeys to the daily travels that must have occurred but live only in our imaginations. This month, we join our favorite characters on the road, to discover the actual and symbolic importance of journeys.
So where shall you go? Here are a few places to start:
- Follow the early Elves as they journey to start a new life in Valinor. What challenges did they encounter? What of those who turned away on the road? What were their hopes, dreams, and fears, and did the journey help the Elves to realize them? Or just the opposite?
- Follow a character on the road to visit a friend. Fingon visits Maedhros in Himring; Haleth visits Caranthir; Beren seeks Luthien: What motivates these characters to take to the road? Love? Friendship? Political gain? Take us on their journey, both on the road and in their thoughts.
- Many groups of people great and important journeys during the earliest days of Middle-earth, but we hear little about them. Men, Dwarves, Moriquendi...history was shaped by such travels. Take us along with either canon or original characters as the history of Middle-earth unfolds.
- Take the point of view of the proverbial bearer of bad news. What are the thoughts of an ordinary Elf or Man as he or she brings news of death or defeat?
This challenge opened in .
Fanworks Tagged with Great Journeys
Chronicles of the Fifth Voyage of the Númerrámar: The Loremaster Arrives by pandemonium_213
Before he became Tar-Aldarion, Anardil, Tar-Meneldur's heir, sailed far and wide on the great ship, the Númerrámar. While Captain Anardil prepares to embark on his seven year voyage, a young loremaster writes to him, eager to accompany captain and crew in search of strange flora and fauna. In letters exchanged prior to the voyage, Captain Anardil discovers that the loremaster has some unusual ideas pertaining to the origins of species.
