The Silmarillion

The term Silmarillion is used for JRR Tolkien's stories of the creation and early "history" of his invented universe, the myths that underlie the events of The Lord of the Rings. 
Tolkien began creating this universe and writing these stories during World War I, and never really stopped until his death.Tolkien Online accessed 2010-7-3 These tales are in more formal and mythical styles than the Lord of the Rings. The work was collated, edited and published as The Silmarillion by JRR's son, Christopher Tolkien, with help from Guy Gavriel Kay in 1977.Tolkien Library review of the Silmarillion accessed 2010-7-3. 
Later collections and variants of the stories include Lost Tales, Unfinished Tales and HoME (History of Middle Earth) in multiple volumes. Many fans use The Silmarillion to encompass all the history of Arda before the Third Age, or even up to the The Hobbit; some restrict it to just the First and Second Ages.
==Fandom==
:See also Timeline of Tolkien Fandom
Pre-internet Silmarillion discussion and art probably appeared in Mallorn, the journal of The Tolkien Society, but the society is not fanfiction friendly. Fanfiction zines started to appear from the 1960s, but early ones understandably largely focused on The Lord of the Rings. Nevertheless, the first known work of Tolkien fanfiction covers the First and Second Ages; 'Departure in Peace' by George Heap, published in I Palantir in August 1960, is a personal account of events by Sauron.Sumner Gary Hunnewell. Tolkien Fandom Review: From its Beginnings to 1964 (accessed 7 September 2012)
[when did Silmarillion fic get going?; when did it pick up momentum? was it linked to the PJ films? what effect did LJ have?] The Tolkien fandom grew exponentially during the 2000s, due to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, and within that larger fandom, a tiny fraction began writing Silmarillion-based fanfiction and discussing the canon in-depth. (accessed 26 March 2018)
The main forum for Silmarillion fanfiction and related discussion from 2002 to mid-2005 was the Silmfics Yahoo list, founded by Joan Milligan. Fiction was predominantly archived at the Silmarillion section of fanfiction.net [when did it split from LotR?], and Finch indexed selected stories from fanfiction.net and elsewhere at Romancing the Jewels until December 2005. A fiction livejournal, SilmFics, was founded in February 2004, but never gained momentum.
There is an apparent shift in Silmarillion fandom activity after mid-2005, from Silmfics and Romancing the Jewels to the Silmarillion Writers' Guild, which had been founded in March 2005 by Dawn Felagund. By 2005, the activity on the Silmfics list had declined, Silmfics: Profile (accessed 2 September 2012) possibly because the list's moderator stopped approving new messages, and Romancing the Jewels also stopped updating that year. According to Dawn Felagund, the establishment of the SWG was unrelated to the diminished activity on the Silmfics list. The SWG was initially intended to serve primarily as a writers' workshop; however, it did not evolve into this purpose, as group members chose to focus their energy on building a Silmarillion-specific archive. The SWG automated archive was founded in April 2007.
Many of the authors who participated in the Silmarillion fanfiction community prior to 2005 on Silmfics ceased participating around this time, after the Yahoo group slowly died out. [who?] Few joined the Silmarillion Writers' Guild, which largely drew its members from authors archiving Silmarillion-based fiction at general Tolkien archives. [need more on why--if there is a reason--so many Silmarillion fandom members stopped participating around 2005] [doesn't appear to reflect a move to livejournal -- could it be related to general Tolkien fandom fading away after the PJ LotR films?] Loss of community is one possible reason why the decline of the Silmfics list correlated with authors from that list posting less on large archives. Communities, such as those located on mailing lists, are understood to drive posting on community archives, and while Silmfics did not have its own community archive, it is possible that its members used the discussion and interaction on the list to inspire and encourage their fanworks on sites such as FanFiction.net and larger Tolkien-specific archives.Abigail De Kosnik, Rogue Archives: Digital Cultural Memory and Media Fandom (Cambridge, MIT Press: 2016), 95: Community archives are "a central archive typically operated in tandem with a single central mailing list," which is where "all discussions and arguments within a fandom take place ...."
In 2010, the Silmarillion Writers Guild created the Library of Tirion, a collection of early Silmfics selected by early authors created in order to recommend almost-forgotten fanfics to newcomers in the fandom.
==Popular Pairings==
* Maedhros/Fingon, also known as the ship name Russingon
* Morgoth/Sauron, also known by the ship name Angbang
* Celebrimbor/Sauron, also known by the ship names Silvergifting and Silverfisting
* Fëanor/Nerdanel
* Glorfindel/Ecthelion
* Glorfindel/Erestor
* Curufin/Finrod
* Caranthir/Haleth
* Celegorm/Aredhel
* Celegorm/Oromë
* Idril/Maeglin
* Túrin/Beleg
* Beren/Lúthien
* Elrond/Gil-Galad
* Melian/Thingol
=== Events ===
The Silmarillion fandom has created many annual fanwork events, including:
* Feanorian Week, since 2014
* Legendarium Ladies April, since 2014 
* Tolkien Secret Santa, since 2014. Original 2014 blog now defunct, with 2017 content onwards being hosted on officialtolkiensecretsanta. 
* Back_to_Middle-earth_Month
* Finwean Ladies Week
* Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang, since 2018
==Fanfiction==
Although The Silmarillion never had the popularity of The Lord of the Rings, even before the Peter Jackson films, fanfiction is fairly abundant, with several thousand Silmarillion stories on the web. In September 2012, The Silmarillion was ranked the 25th book fandom on fanfiction.net, ahead of popular lit fandoms such as Pride and Prejudice and Discworld. 
The brothers Maedhros and Maglor vie for the title of most popular character. Maedhros is particularly popular amongst slash writers; his pairing with Fingon is probably the most common slash pairing in the fandom. Maglor's popularity might stem in part from the influential Maglor in History challenge; he sometimes gets paired with OFCs, often modern-day Mary-Sues. Other frequently written characters from the enormous cast include Feanor, Finrod Felagund, Maeglin, and any character that appears in Lord of the Rings -- Elrond, Galadriel, Glorfindel, Sauron and others.
===Example Fanfiction===
====2000-2005====
*Under the Curse by Finch -- influential early Maedhros/Fingon story (2002)
*As Little Might be Thought by Deborah Judge -- Maglor, Elrond & Elros (2002)
*A Boy, A Girl, & A Dog: The Lay of Leithian Dramatic Script Project by Philosopher At Large -- Luthien/Beren (2002-2004)
*One Ring to Bind Them by Tyellas -- Sauron/Celebrimbor (2003 or earlier)
*Across Dark Waters by Zimraphel -- Maeglin (2003)
*Captain Tinkerbell by Lipstick -- from the Maglor in History challenge (2003)
*Oak and Willow by Marnie -- Galadriel/Celeborn (2003)
*I Will Lead and Thou Shalt Follow by Spiced_Wine — Fëanor/Fingolfin (2007)
==== 2005-2012 ====
*Strange Alliances by Erestor -- the Vala, fangirls, and tea-cozies. (2006)
*A New Day by Oshun -- Maedhros/Fingon (2007)
*The Apprentice by pandemonium_213 -- OMC, Sauron, and Celebrimbor (2007)
*A Little More Conversation by Keiliss -- Erestor and Glorfindel (2009)
*Bright Are The Stars Upon the Margin of the World by Kenaz -- Beleg (2009)
*Anadûnai by Darth Fingon -- Elrond and Elros for the Silmarillion Writers' Guild Akallabêth in August event (2009)
*The Tempered Steel by Lyra -- Maedhros (2010-?; WiP)
*Spark by GoldSeven -- Maedhros (2012)
==== 2012-2016 ====
*Dancing With My Punchlines by LiveOakWithMoss -- Modern AU featuring many characters (2014)
*This Game We Play by theeventualwinner -- Morgoth/Sauron (2014)
*Open Wounds by theeventualwinner -- Maedhros/Fingon detailing Maedhros' post-Thangorodrim recovery (2014)
*The Amplitude of Time by amyfortuna -- Maglor and Fëanor time travel fix-it (2015)
*The Starless Road by emilyenrose -- Fingon/Maedhros retelling of Orpheus myth (2015)
*And What Happened After by thearrogantemu -- Fourth Age fic dealing with Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam meeting legendary figures from the Blessed Realm (2015)
*The Starless Road by emilyenrose -- Fourth Age Fingon/Maedhros involving hobbits (2015) 
*Tales of Lake Mithrim by Beleriandings
*The Light in the Void by Doitsuki (2015) -- Sauron after the destruction of his One Ring.
*Righteous by Doitsuki (2015) -- Lawful Good Manwe used to love his brother. A pity they cannot be together any more. (with fanart also by Doitsuki)
*The Revolutionary and the Usurper by Encairion — The Years of the Trees. Fëanor and Fingolfin. 
==== 2016-2022 ====
* The Storc Brought Him by TheLionInMyBed and LiveOakWithMoss -- Gil-Galad origin story featuring Fingon/Maedhros 
* These Gifts That You Have Given Me by thearrogantemu -- Celebrimbor/Sauron (2016)
*a fact or a weapon by simaetha -- Celebrimbor/Sauron (2016)
*You Are Coming Down With Me by TheLionInMyBed -- a collection of vignettes concerning Elrond and Elros, and their life under the care of Maedhros and Maglor (2016-?; WIP)
* Return to Aman series by bunn -- a series of stories about Elrond's return to Aman at the end of the Third Age. (2017-2018)
* To Catch a Falling Star by drag0nst0rm -- Third Age Elrond & Maglor (2019)
===Archives===
There are a couple of Silmarillion-specific archives:
* Romancing the Jewels -- medium-sized archive hosted by Finch
* Silmarillion Writers' Guild -- ~1400 stories
Several general Tolkien and multifandom archives have substantial Silmarillion content, including:
* Faerie
* Henneth Annûn Story Archive
* Library of Moria (slash only)
* Many Paths to Tread (mainly gen, to R rating) -- ~400 stories
* Open Scrolls: Silmarillion (gen & het only) -- ~300 stories
* Stories of Arda 
* Tolkien Fan Fiction Archive
* Silmarillion tag at Archive of Our Own -- ~10,000 stories
*Silmarillion@fanfiction.net -- over 3000 stories
===Recs===
*Tolkien Fic Recommendations Master List by Spiced Wine (all Tolkien's books but there's a large Silm selection. Some dead links but most of the works can be found on The Silmarillion Writers Guild) and AO3
*Espresso Recommendations: The Silmarillion by Espresso Addict
*The Silmarillion tag on Crack Van
*Tolkien Darkfic Recommendations Page by Tyellas (all Tolkien's books but substantial Silm selection)
===Zines===
Zines believed to include some Silmarillion-related content include:
*Ansereg - The Grey Book (2004)
*Endóre (1999-2005)
*Miruvor (1990-present?)
*Nigglings (1991-1997)
*Orcrist (1966-1973)
*The Tales of Aragorn and Arwen
*The Tale of Gondolin (1994)
*Terra di Mezzo (1992-2000s)
*Tolkien Journal (1966-1971)
*Le Tolkieniste (1998-2001)
*Wargs! (1978)
*Once Upon a Time in Gondolin (2015)
==Fan Art==
The Silmarillion has some extremely talented fan artists, including but not limited to: 
* Anke Eissmann
* Hope Hoover
* Jenny Dolfen
* Kasiopea
* Phobs
* Cy-lindric
* Gerwell
* M0rket
* Anastasia Algrass
==Fan Musicals==
Several fan musicals dedicated to different parts of The Silmarillion have been created in Russia. The most notable of them are:
*Finrod's Song, more often referred to as Finrod-Zong -- a slightly canon-divergent retelling of Lay of Leithian, focusing on the fate and death of Finrod Felagund.
*Melkor-Zong, written by Vera Trofimova -- a musical inspired by The Black Book of Arda by N. Vassilyeva and N. Nekrasova.
==Meta==
Discussion is a major part of the Silmarillion fandom. Some essays with Fanlore articles:
*What Tolkien Officially Said About Elf Sex by Tyellas (2002)
*The Tolkienian War on Science by Joan Bushwell (2007)
*Twenty-Two Words You Never Thought Tolkien Would Provide by Darth Fingon (2009)
*On Female Characters and Femslash in the Silmarillion Fandom by vefanyar (2015)
==Communities==
===YahooGroups===
* Silmfics -- the oldest YahooGroup, founded April 2002
* Silmarillion Writers' Guild -- founded March 2005
 
===Livejournals===
* Silmarillion -- discussion
* SilmFics -- fiction & recs
* Silmarillion 30th Anniversary community
==Resources==
*The Silmarillion: An Overview -- Crack Van overview, by Espresso Addict
* Official Tolkien Harper/Collins bookstore in paperback or deluxe edition.
* wikipedia:The Silmarillion
* LotR Wiki Silmarillion page
* Tolkien Library Silmarillion review
* Tolkien Online Silmarillion page
* Silmarillion Chapter Summaries
*Silmarillion Character Biographies
==References==
Category:The Silmarillion