The Tengwar are one of the delights of visiting Middle-earth as a fan of Tolkien's work. Whether a serious student of the letters; dabbling with them, Appendix open, on a lazy afternoon; or simply admiring the way they flow across a title page (or the One Ring …), most Tolkien fans find them beautiful and packed with meaning beyond what it seems should be contained within a single letter.

This month (and a bit beyond!), we will feature a prompt per day taken from the Tengwar chart. The prompt will include a graphic of the tengwa and its name in Quenya and English. You can use any part of the prompt: the tengwa itself, the name, the English translation, the graphic, or some other creative interpretation we haven't even dreamed up yet! You may do as many or as few of the daily prompts as you would like. One prompt is worth as much as challenging yourself to do them all, so work at the level and pace that is comfortable for you. (However, there may be a special reward for anyone ambitious enough to try them all!) Tengwar prompts can be found here.

Prompts will be posted daily at midnight UTC on our website, Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and the #monthly-challenges channel on our Discord. You do not need to do the prompt on the day it was posted; you can go back and do prompts you missed or do them out of order.

In honor of Poetry Month, we will have a special stamp for fanworks that are or include poetry. In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 June 2024. Note that the deadline is a month later than usual since the challenge runs longer than usual. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

Thank you to Cuarthol and Anérea for the gorgeous banners and stamps this month!

It comes in Threes

✍ Prompt: Ages of captivity + the Fëanturi | Melkor, Námo, Irmo & Nienna ✍ Synopsis: During three ages of captivity, Melkor is visited by all three Fëanturi siblings. ✍ Warnings: / ✍ Triple drabble ✍ SWG archive

Námo is the first to visit him, unsurprisingly — it's his halls Melkor is trapped in, after all. 

He expects him to relay his brother's flimsy excuses or lecture him on laws and morals, but the Judge is silent. All he does is check on him and linger, as if he's quietly offering his companionship and wisdom. 

Melkor meets his silence with his own, proud and stubborn. He cares little about whatever Námo has to offer, feeling cheated and betrayed by his own kin.

The law is meaningless to him, and fate can be changed. 

He greets Námo with mocking smiles. 

Irmo appears even before his sorrowful sister does, and Melkor envies him for how easily he enters and exits his brother's halls, as if Námo's spells bend to his every will and whim. 

And perhaps they do — Irmo has always been his one weakness. 

To Melkor's surprise, he doesn't attempt to scold or preach; rather he seems curious and asks him questions. 

The fallen Vala lies and evades some, of course, but he deigns to engage Irmo in conversation.

"Why do you ask?" he inquires nevertheless, and the Fëantur smiles mildly. 

"I want to understand, and I know I can."

Nienna visits him last, and as predictable and inevitable as it seems to him, Melkor finds that he harbours no ill will towards her. 

She is perhaps the only one he cares to see, and this time he is the one to speak first. 

"How is it that you still defend me," he wonders, "even though everyone is of the opinion that I am the cause of every single tear you shed?" 

"Because you too deserve compassion, and I was never angry with you," Nienna answers.  "For I know well that, to cause such hurt, you yourself must be hurting.”

Thanks for reading! ♡

taglist: @angbangbaby @asianbutnotjapanese @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @bluezenzennie @edensrose @eunoiaastralwings @i-did-not-mean-to @melkors-big-tits @melkors-defense-attorney @singleteapot @stormchaser819 @urwendii @wandererindreams

Calma

A ficlet written for SWG's Tengwar Challenge prompt calma (lamp).

Celebrimbor/Annatar, T, 239 words.

Summary: Celebrimbor is reading a novel, but there's a distraction.

Celebrimbor doesn’t remember lighting a lamp. Night has fallen; he has been reading all day. It’s a horror novel about a creepy forest in the distant past, and he enjoys reading it. The doom in the story is different from his, and the horrors the protagonist faces are different from what he has encountered. Besides, it’s almost impossible to stop reading it before the end.

The lamp bothers him, though, so he reluctantly raises his head from the book. There’s no lamp; the light comes from Annatar, from his body. He’s lying in bed, close to Celebrimbor, and his whole body radiates light, so bright that it’s difficult to see the shape of him behind all that light. It’s an eerie sight, and Celebrimbor is dazzled. He doesn’t know what to say.

The light dims, and he can see Annatar again, Annatar’s real body. No, not real; the one he prefers to use with the Elves. He’s completely naked, and Celebrimbor finds himself suddenly blushing.

“I thought you needed light,” Annatar explains. “It’s getting dark here.”

Annatar gives a confused look as he sometimes does after revealing too much of his Maia-nature. Celebrimbor finds that little expression cute.

“Perhaps we can light a lamp,” he suggests, then hesitates. “Unless you want to be my lamp a little more? Does it bother you?”

“Not at all,” Annatar says happily, and his golden light fills the chamber again.

Celebrimbor continues reading.

Things You've Done

Summary:

They sat in silence for a little while, until Maglor finished his cup of water and sighed. “There is something on your mind,” he said. “Out with it.” To his vague surprise, Elros did not look up. He carefully plucked another flower and added it to his growing chain. “Why did you do it?” “Why did I do what?” “Not—just you. You and—everyone. Why did you come to Sirion?”

Major Characters: Elros, Maglor

Major Relationships: Elros & Maglor

Genre: General

Challenges: Secret Gate

Rating: General

SWG Meet & Greet Challenge prompt

👋 Hello fellow participants in the SWG's Meet & Greet Matryoshka challenge,

Here is the writing prompt I received today to share with you:

A fresh start

Also, here's a link to the challenge page to remind you about the rules for the challenge, etc.

You can also find information on that page about how to ask me for another writing prompt I have collected or a reminder about this one, if you would like to.

Good luck with the writing! ☘

And while I am about it, here is a heart for you, whether 14 February is a particular day for you or not (only if wanted, of course!):

💚

Manwë’s Mailbag Silmarillion Writers’ Guild Nov-Dec-Jan Challenge.

I’m so enjoying creating postcard prompts for this challenge and just had to share one:

More info on the  Manwë's Mailbag challenge is here: https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/taxonomy/term/1761

And although backs are not required, I felt like turning this one into a “real” postcard, with a quote from the Athrabeth (and a stamp from Ladros):

“In dream, many desires are revealed; and desire may be the last flicker of Estel.”

Various characters from a homebrew D&D campaign as different styles.

From left to right, top to bottom Lalassu (Danganronpa), Jibirl (Panty & Stocking), Rimirez (Samurai Jack) Kirk (Mob Psycho 100), Gabriel (Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell), Kuste (Adventure Time) Cocoa (Monster High), Kuste (Pesterquest), Anna (Sailor Moon) Asafetida (Soul Eater), Sull (Tim Burton), Blaar (Hazbin Hotel) Tzarina (Hellsing), Arzu (Tron Uprising), Agalinda (Toilet Bound Hanako-kun)

07 April 2022

First set of drawings of 2023 let’s go (Also bunny fursona jump scare)

I wrote this article for my monthly Tolkien fandom studies column, Cultus Dispatches as part of the OTW's "ten things about fandom" challenge for International Fanworks Day. Normally, my Cultus column begins with a gnarly soup of data, and I often don't even know what (if anything!) will come out of analyzing it. This month, due to the relative lack of data, I thought I was giving myself an easy month of writing. I just needed to come up with ten things, right?? Ha! I think this might be the most challenging article I've written for this column to date.

Here are some fun facts I learned while researching these 10 Important Moments in Tolkien Fanfic History:

Tolkien fanfic is older than Star Trek fanfic.

The first known Tolkien fanfic was an alternate-history Sauron redemption fic.

The first Tolkien fanfic archive was a slash archive.

Three out of four archives opened after the LotR films left theaters used the eFiction open-source script.

The first Angbang story was posted in 2002 (though it wasn't called Angbang yet).

Want to know more? Go read the article! And I'd love to hear what I didn't include that you'd add to your own list. (Or if you make your own list, let me know!)

Many, many thanks to all of the people who talked with me about their work for this article and to those involved in the discussion on the SWG Discord's #fandom-studies channel about this topic.

Matryoshkha-inspired art for the SWG Meet & Greet Challenge

Doors of Durin, Celebrimbor, and Narvi. This was inspired by the collaborative nature of the challenge and was used as the banner art.

Ink and watercolor on paper.

 Eol, Aredhel, and Maeglin (and his pet mole).  This was for the International Fanworks stamp.

Ink and watercolor on paper.

To fit the Meet & Greet challenge, I picked some famous "meetings" out of the Silmarillion to depict. These were for the creator and comment stamps

In order of largest to smallest: 

Thingol and Melian meeting in Nan Elmoth Finrod finding the Beorians and playing to them as they slept Oromë finding the awakened Elves at Cuivienen Beren seeing Luthien dancing in Doriath

Ink and watercolor on paper

Blend, Bond, Blaze

A little something I wrote about Fingon, Angrod, and Aegnor's canonical friendship for this month's SWG challenge, using the prompt "three strands of a braid."

It is the great frustration of their childhoods that they do not match: FingonandAngrodandAegnor, close as brothers; three flashing, crackling sparks of the same bright fire. They share eyes that mingle blue and green, nimble fingers, quick and sometimes thoughtless mouths. No one of them is faster or stronger or wilder than the others. What accident of form is it that makes Fingon’s locks so dark, when they should quite obviously be fair? Noldor, all, they experiment with change. Angrod crowns Fingon with a mop; Aegnor braids his curls with hay. Fingon holds his cousins in a fearsome grip and coats their long, bright hair with mud: all three are black of mane, then, until it dries and cracks. For a while, they wear identical scarves to hide their dissimilar hair – if they cannot match in outward seeming, let none look at them and know them somehow strange. But scarves slip. They cannot be worn in water. They catch in tree branches and are torn free in the wind of a gallop. They are impermanent, when FingonandAngrodandAegnor will always, always be the same. Finarfin finds them in the laboratory, deep in argument over the merits of stripping dark from light or weaving shadows into gold. What chemical marvels might they blend, to align their three fine heads and make them all alike? A chemistry lesson bleeds into genetics, and then into metallurgy: if they may not dye (as their fathers categorically forbid), how might they otherwise embellish and adorn? All their energy pours into anodizing, plating, hammering thin and fine. Managing weight and durability to shape jewels that represent the closeness of their ties. Fingon’s dark braids gleam with ribbons of gold; Angrod and Aegnor weave theirs with blackened steel. They are tiger-striped; lightning-struck. Three wild spirits, finely alloyed.

Also on SWG and AO3.

February 15 is the International Fanworks Day, and we will be celebrating this year with an instadrabbling session the following weekend, on 17 February 2024 at 13:00/1PM until 17:00/5PM UTC (see this in your timezone) and again on 18 February 2024 at midnight until 2:00AM UTC (see this in your timezone). This instadrabbling session will also be a part of our Meet & Greet challenge and will provide one way to collect prompts for this challenge.

What is the Meet & Greet challenge? Every year, we run a Matryoshka challenge where participants receive two or more prompts, which you open one by one to create a fanwork that responds to each new prompt as you go.

This year, our Matryoshka challenge comes with a twist. We will send participants only the first prompt. It is up to you to seek out additional prompts from other participants in the challenge!

You can interact directly with other participants to pick up more prompts. SWG moderators also have prompts to give out; connect with us here! If you prefer not to interact directly with anyone, you can seek out prompts posted publicly to participants' social media.

The Meet & Greet challenge begins on February 15, but you can sign up now to get your prompts as soon as the challenge starts. Complete Meet & Greet challenge guidelines are here.

What is instadrabbling? Instadrabbling is a long-standing community activity in the Tolkien fanfiction fandom. A group of friends gets together on chat, someone throws out a prompt or four, and everyone writes a drabble (or whatever comes to mind).

On the SWG, we meet on the #instadrabbling channel on our Discord server. Discord invites will be posted on the dates of instadrabbling to our tumblr or can be requested at any time from the moderators. This year, we will celebrate International Fanworks Day with instadrabbling, which also offers the opportunity to grab prompts for the Meet & Greet challenge!

It comes in Threes

✍ Prompt: Throuple + veni vidi vici | Arien/Eönwë/Melkor x Mairon ✍ Synopsis: On Almaren, Mairon finds various lovers; in his hubris, he wants them all. ✍ Warnings: Mairon is a little shit ✍ Triple drabble ✍ SWG archive

The first time Mairon acquires a lover, it is purely by happenstance. 

It is Arien who seeks him out, who comes to him when he is by himself and makes the effort to get to know him. 

He is the only fire spirit left beside her, and she desperately craves a companion who understands her, Mairon knows. But he too grows fond of her — her grace, her pride, her temper, her nature that is so similar to his own. 

And it's a comfortable position to be in, to be sought after by one of Almaren's most admired and desirable Maiar.

Eönwë has been watching them, both him and Arien. Mairon has long since seen his longing glances and observed his attempts to be near either of them, visiting Vána's meadows and Aulë's forges to talk to them under some pretence. 

His attention, too, is flattering, much like Arien's, as he's the chief of the Maiar and renowned for his strength in battle. 

Arien thinks of him as a cute little toy. Mairon agrees. They decide together that they want him. 

Eönwë is overjoyed when they embrace him, having expected rejection; yet now he's a part of the love he desired. 

Melkor has little consideration for Mairon's Maiarin lovers and thinks himself the victor of any competition before it has even begun. 

At first Mairon is irate and rejects him, but later he begrudgingly sees a strange wisdom in his stance. For would he not be a fool to trade a Vala for a few Maiar, lovers he so easily acquired no less? 

To become Melkor's would be effortless, Mairon thinks, but to claim him on his own terms would be a challenge. 

The willful Vala has his own plans, but in his hubris, he wants him for his collection still. 

Thanks for reading! ♡

taglist: @angbangbaby @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @blauerregen @destinyeternity1 @elanna-elrondiel @eunoiaastralwings @i-did-not-mean-to @just-little-human @melkors-defense-attorney @saintstars @sauron-kraut @singleteapot @stormchaser819 @urwendii @wandererindreams

The latest dream I ever dreamt

Silvergifting poetry. Written for SWG Cheesy Corn Chips monthly challenge. The image prompt was La Belle Dame sans Merci.

-----

You rode into my life when I least expected it

Your hair was the colour of the dawn beyond the mountain range

And fire burned in your eyes like the forges of Aulë

I had faced war and destruction but did not yet know

That also love can shake your foundations

They say you seduced me like you were seduced yourself

But we both know that those tales are distorted

When you wrapped the scarlet scarf around our wrists

I gave myself to you and you bound yourself to my fate

Do I regret it? I only know this:

When you rode into my life and keenly bent over me

The hand that was holding the reins slipped

And for a moment, at least, I made you lose your balance

The Unrest of the Noldor

Summary: Minyelmë comes to Tirion to see Lalwen, arriving just in time to see things come to a head.

Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Lalwen

Major Relationships: Lalwen/Original Female Character

Genre: Drama, Family, Femslash

Challenges: It Comes in Threes

Rating: General

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Characters: Elros Tar-Minyatur, Maglor Additional Tags: Book: Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Númenor, Canonical Character Death, Bears, SWG Challenge (Tolkien), Second Age (Tolkien) Series: Part 27 of Numenor Summary:

Before his death, Elros has a near-death experience. Featuring Numenorean bears, just because.