Text Prompt: “If I give you a hint and tell you it's a hint, it will be information.”― Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle
Visual Prompt:
[Image ID: Oil painting of bare trees and broken tree stumps, covered with snow, under a dark night sky. /.End ID]
Audio Prompt: ‘39, by Queen
Wildcard Prompt: I suppose this is arguably kind of an audio prompt, but there is a visual component too, so…here it is, as a wildcard. Tolkien interviewed by the BBC in 1962.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: The Faery Queen (Smith of Wootton Major), The Birch (Smith of Wootton Major), The WInd (Smith of Wootton Major)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon Fix-It
Summary:
Like Smith, I am haunted by the fate of the Birch that sheltered him from the Wind and paid a price for it.
He was unable to offer it any amends, but here is a small fix-it, written for Narya.
Your mod apparently has a memory like a sieve...however, with apologies for the lateness, I am delighted to share our set of advance prompts for the 2025 event (below the cut). Use these in any way that strikes your fancy!
What is Hidden Paths?
Hidden Paths is an event dedicated to the celebration of smaller Tolkien canons. For the purposes of this event, we define "smaller canons" as any Tolkien canon or text (including academic works and translations) that is not explicitly set in Middle-earth and is not based on The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or The Silmarillion and closely related histories.
Your friendly mod (Narya) will post prompts to tempt your muses - one set a few months in advance of the 'official' event dates, then two more sets during the event itself.
If you like the prompts, then use any or all of them to create and share a fanwork based on one or more small Tolkien canons. If they don't speak to you, please feel free to do your own thing – the prompts are there to spark creativity, not impede it!
Rules, FAQs and useful links can be found here.
We welcome fanworks based on past prompts - these can all be found here.
Our AO3 collection is here.
Thematic Prompt: Feasts and Festivals
Character Based Prompt: Elf-shot
Setting Based Prompt: Thundersnow
Text Prompt: “Even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did." – C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy
Visual Prompt:
[Image ID: The Hermann Hendrich painting, 'Will-o'-the-wisp and Snake.' The painting shows a dark swamp at night. A glowing blue-green will-o'-the-wisp floats above still water. Below, a coiled snake partly rests in the water, its shiny scales reflecting the light. Dense trees and roots surround the scene, with faint mist in the background. /.End ID]
Audio Prompt: The Light Beneath the Eyelids - Toshio Masuda
Wildcard Prompt: I have a theory that Tolkien would have loved tabletop RPGs, so here, have a list of magical trinkets from Dungeons and Dragons. Use dice or a random number generator to select one (or more!) to inspire/include in your fanwork. Some are quite specific to the world(s) of Dungeons and Dragons, so ignore/adapt/re-roll as you see fit – although non-Tolkien canons are permitted as crossovers, so if you’re inspired to make a D&D crossover, please be my guest!
The next round of Hidden Paths is still a few months away, but I'm already starting to think about prompts and logistics, and I have a question for you all...
Would you prefer a round of prompts to be released in advance this time?
Yes
No
Voting ended onSep 23, 2024
(There would still be two rounds of prompts during the event itself.)
With apologies for the wait...I have spent a good chunk of the last fortnight feeling like someone was trying to stick a knitting needle in my ear. I hope these are inspiring - remember, there is no deadline, so use them however you wish, including in combination with prompts for other events!
Thematic Prompt: Homecoming
Character Based Prompt: Bards
Setting Based Prompt: Portals
Text Prompt:
“Fire on the mountain shall find the harp of gold
Played to wake the Sleepers, oldest of the old;
Power from the Green Witch, lost beneath the sea;
All shall find the Light at last, silver on the tree.”
~ From The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper
Visual Prompt:
[Image ID: Geoffrey Bache Smith and Robert Quilter Gilson’s signatures in the guestbook at Samuel Johnson’s birth place in Lichfield, both with ‘T.C.B.S.’ appended. /.End ID]
For those unfamiliar with Smith and Gilson, and their connection with Tolkien, see this entry in John Garth’s blog: https://johngarth.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/tolkiens-immortal-four-meet-for-the-last-time/
Audio Prompt: Loch Lomond, by Alastair MacDonald with Leo Maguire
Wildcard Prompt: Use the tarot to inspire your fanwork. Pick your favourite card and use the image or its associated meanings, or perform a full draw and see where it leads you…
