Admin Post: SWG Challenge | Competition | May 15 - June 10

[dawn_felagund]

The history of Arda is fraught with contests and competition. Sometimes, competition can literally shape the fate of the universe, as when Melkor’s music contends with the themes introduced by Ilúvatar. Sometimes, something as petty as sibling rivalry can have far-reaching consequences, as Fëanor’s strife with his half-brothers shows. Sometimes, competition can turn into a matter of life and death, as in the case of Maeglin. Sometimes, competition can be as dramatic as Finrod’s musical duel with Sauron and as deadly as Saeros’ needling of Túrin. Sometimes, people end up in ousting a competitor that they did not even know about, as when Beren beats Daeron to Lúthien’s love. Consciously or unconsciously, all characters vie for something - be it love or power, attention or freedom, treasure or acceptance, artistic expression or survival.

But of course, competing against others can also be an entertaining pastime. According to some sources, Galadriel was a champion swimmer and athlete in her youth in Valinor, so it appears that Elves know competitive sports. There may have been musical or artistic contests among the peoples of Arda in times of peace and prosperity, or tournaments and other competitive demonstrations of military prowess in times of war.

This month’s challenge invites you to take a look at competitions - serious or silly, spectacular or anti-climactic. And because May is the month when the members of the European Broadcasting Union meet to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest, this challenge’s prompts will be past entries from the ESC. You can use any part of the prompt that inspires you - the mood, part of the lyrics, elements of the performance or whatever else tickles your muses.

Challenge responses must be posted to the SWG archive by June 10 to be eligible for a stamp. Most of the songs we have chosen are sung in English; however, we have also collected a few songs in other languages for the brave, bold or bilingual. If you'd like to receive a prompt in another language, list other languages you'd be interested in. We can't guarantee we will have all languages, but if we do, we'll do our best to honor your request. (And if you're willing to take a chance on anything, feel free to encourage us to surprise you!)

If you wish to participate in this month's challenge, leave a comment here or LiveJournal, drop us an ask on our tumblr, or email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org. We will send your prompt to you as soon as possible.

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Some housekeeping notes: First of all, I want to thank Lyra (oloriel), who does more behind the scenes for these challenges than most participants probably realize. Not only does she make the majority of the stamps--often with her own beautiful artwork!--she finds most of the prompts and designed this entire challenge. If you have enjoyed the prompts this year or the stamps, please give Lyra a shout out! (Maybe by commenting on her work--she's also a generous challenger and currently leads the site for the most 2018 challenge comments left! Her stories are here, and her art is here.) Thank you, Lyra!

All stamp collections are updated as of Saturday. If you've commented on challenge stories since then, I'll catch your stamp in the next round. Please check your stamp collection to make sure I've added everything you've earned, and let me know if something is missing. Especially for Rise Above, there were a lot of available stamps for creators, and it's possible I've overlooked a few that were earned.

Creator stamps available for the Rise Above challenge were as follows:

• Fanwork creator


• Fanwork with a major female character


• Fanwork featuring a woman practicing science (please note that "science" is loosely defined and includes more than the hard sciences)


• Fanwork that incorporated a Legendarium Ladies April prompt


• Poetry or a fanwork that includes a poem

And commenter stamps are, as always, available in increments of five comments left per challenge.

Going forward, I will be monitoring new comments on the Middle-earth Museum and Rise Above challenges. If you comment on another 2017 or 2018 challenge and need the stamp for it, please contact me to let me know. I'm always reachable at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org or through any of my/our social media.

Finally, SWG members Raiyana and Narya are running a reverse big bang, the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang. We always encourage our challenge participants to feel free to combine our challenges with other challenges, and we want TRSB to be no exception! Therefore, if your TRSB fanwork incorporates one (or more?) of our challenges, we will be suspending the usual due dates for collecting stamps for those challenges, since TRSB fanworks will not be posted until late August. Simply contact us when your fanwork is up on the archive and let us know what stamps you need. (And yes, there will be a special stamp for TRSB participants!)

Comments

[greatandgrey]

This is interesting! I'll grab a prompt please, and if there's something in Finnish or Icelandic, that would be neat too. :D

[dawn_felagund]

Here's an Icelandic prompt--happy writing! :D

Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson: Ég á Líf (video | lyrics)

[greatandgrey]

This...is excellent and amazing. *_* I love it! Thank you! <3 :D

[heartofoshun]

I'll try! Give me prompt--be gentle with me! Don't make it too hard--I'm not much of a competitor.

[starspray]

I would like a prompt, please!

[dawn_felagund]

I don't actually know any of the songs! But I chose a title that sounds like it might be something you like, and if you try it, and it doesn't work, let me know ... and I'll get Lyra to choose one LOL.

Lucie Jones: Never Give Up On You (video | lyrics)

[dawn_felagund]

Here you go--happy writing! :D

Hovi Star: Made of Stars (video | lyrics)

[dawn_felagund]

You're very welcome! ^_^

[heartofoshun]

Thanks! You are so kind to me!

[heartofoshun]

Oh, that's terrific! The lyrics are great and so is the song. By the way, the "video" link does not work in the US, but the lyrics link had a video at the end. So in case people worry about others--tell them to check below the "lyrics" link.

[dawn_felagund]

Ugh--how annoying! Thanks for the tip on that.

And I'm thrilled that you like your randomly chosen song! :D Lyra can attest that I've been angsting a little over not being able to choose a prompt for people that I think they'll like ...

[grundyscribbling]

Not sure how this will go, but I'd like a prompt, please.

[heartofoshun]

This one has perfect depressing/romantic Silmarillion-suitable lyrics--if you like that sort of thing! Which, obviously, I do!

Rise above Challenge

[hhimring]

Thank you very much for the lovely stamps, both to Lyra and you!

I feel very greedy for asking, but possibly I might rate another one, because my Ivriniel is meant to be a female historian advancing her discipline and mentoring a future female-friendly although male historian?

(I know that probably doesn't come out clearly in the summary or the story notes, sorry!)

[dawn_felagund]

Here you go! :)

Firelight: Coming Home (video | lyrics)

(If the video doesn't work because you're in the U.S., Oshun figured out that there is also a video link on the lyrics page.)

I kept typing your name as "Grunday" on the master list of prompts. Apparently you're a day of the week now? :D

Re: Rise above Challenge

[dawn_felagund]

You are not greedy at all! :) If you wrote the story, you earned the stamp! I've added that one to the list for my next round of updates. (I'll try to have it done before I do the mass update at the end of the month.) I do skim stories if I can't tell from the summary or story notes, but I very easily miss things (hence being more forthright this month about what the stamps were so that you all can check my work! :)

Competition Challenge

[hhimring]

I'm not surprised that it was Lyra who designed this one! (*g*) Thank you, Lyra!

Could I have a prompt?
Maybe you've got a German one?

[dawn_felagund]

My approach to choosing it for you was, "Which one sounds like it would best fit Maedhros and Fingon?" And that's the one I chose. :D

[grundyscribbling]

Thanks! Hm, are crossovers acceptable in challenge responses? Something in my crossover verse is the first thing that comes to mind. Though maybe that will change when I watch the video.

Excellent, Grunday shall henceforth be marked with the eating of good chocolate and in-season produce. (I admit that could be slightly less fun in winter than it is right now...)

Re: Competition Challenge

[dawn_felagund]

Here you go! :)

"Wer Liebe Lebt" by Michelle (video | lyrics)

Re: Rise above Challenge

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Dawn!

Re: Competition Challenge

[hhimring]

Thank you again!

[dawn_felagund]

Crossovers are always welcome! :)

I look forward to Grunday--which is just about every day, actually! :D

[heartofoshun]

Very grateful! What I thought of instantly when I read the lyrics!

[ladybrooke]

I'll take one. Debating on being brave - if you have a French, Spanish, or Portuguese one, I'll give it a try. :P

ETA: Since fictional languages are apparently a thing at Eurovision (...I am suddenly far more interested in this), if one of those is on the list, add that to languages I'd be interested in.

Also, I guess I should have put English on the list.