Back in March, we spoke with polutropos' about her presentation on the "kidnap fam" trope and its broad appeal in the fandom. Few episodes in the legendarium provoke such fascination and range of interpretations. Reese is the featured author for polutropos' Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, "'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium." Dawn spoke to Reese about her story, which is an epistolary found fiction, and the appeal of alternate universe, mythology and Tolkien and the many fruitful connections they share, the kidnap fam trope—and how the silences in all of these invite storytellers to fill the gaps.

You can read Dawn's interview with Reese here.

Dawn Felagund is the featured author for Savannah Horrell's paper "By Guile Committed: Comparing Tolkien’s Thieves to Beowulf" for Mereth Aderthad 2025. Shadow spoke with Dawn about her story for Savannah's presentation, the juggling act of creating a fanwork for the event while also organizing it, and the power of reading Tolkien as a work of history.

You can read Shadow's interview with Dawn here.

Chrissystriped is a prolific author on the SWG whose work spans characters and ages and topics. For Mereth Aderthad 2025, chrissystriped is writing for Shadow's presentation, "The Aromantic in Tolkien," and will be sharing a Third Age story that features Bilbo and Boromir as aromantic characters. Dawn spoke with chrissystriped about her story, her process as a writer, and the importance of representing aro-ace characters in fanfiction.

You can read Dawn's interview with chrissystriped here.

The third kinslaying at Sirion is one of the most controversial and discussed moments in The Silmarillion by its fandom. But what makes this moment stand apart in a novel that Dr. Zara Ashkenazi-Khan describes as one of "spectacular violence"?

Saelind interviewed Zara about her upcoming presentation for Mereth Aderthad 2025, "Exile, Ruin and Resistance: Beleriand as Postcolonial Palimpsest." They of course discussed the third kinslaying and why it is "a moment of rupture ... [exposing] a faultline in the narrative’s presumed moral and civilisational order," but they also discussed how The Silmarillion is a text full of such breaking points, moral ambiguities in Tolkien's work, and the role of fanworks and scholarship both in revealing and understanding these complexities.

You can read Saelind's interview with Dr. Zara Ashkenazi-Khan here.

Have you ever noticed that Lúthien, Maeglin, and Arwen share names that mean "twilight child"? While Lúthien and Arwen might make sense, how does Maeglin factor in? For her Mereth Aderthad 2025 presentation, JazTheBard explores this connection, noting that while Tolkien was surely aware of it in his own work, "he probably wouldn't agree with the conclusions I'm drawing from it!" Maglor interviewed Jaz about her upcoming presentation, "Twilight, Child Of: Comparisons Between Tinúviel, Lómion, and Undómiel," her love of music (and musical plans for the presentation!), and how gender further complicates her conclusion.

You can read Maglor's interview with JazTheBard here.

The Hobbit is essentially the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf told from the perspective of the thief: Bilbo Baggins. Although embroidered significantly beyond the poem that gave it its inspiration, that key plot element remains, along with other important connections to the Germanic literature that Tolkien loved. For the latest in our series of interviews of presenters for Mereth Aderthad 2025, Anérea spoke with Savannah Horrell about her upcoming presentation "By Guile Committed: Comparing Tolkien’s Thieves to Beowulf." Savannah notes important connections between Tolkien and Beowulf but observes that the two authors depict thieves quite differently, leading to works with very different tones and themes.

You can read Anérea's interview with Savannah here.

We are excited to offer a first look at the program for Mereth Aderthad 2025, our twentieth birthday event coming up on July 19, 2025! The day will feature twelve presentations of Tolkien scholarship, each accompanied by stories, poetry, performances, and art.

The program will continue to evolve as our creators work on their pieces for the event, and you can always find the most up-to-date program on the Mereth Aderthad 2025 page, but we're delighted to share the range of topics and fanworks by so many brilliant writers, researchers, artists, and performers!

9:00-9:15 Welcome!

9:15-9:45

• "Cherished antagonist, despised protagonist - a defence of Elu Thingol" by Stella Getreuer-Kostrouch
• "Elu's decision" by Idrils Scribe
• "Of Thingol and the Silmaril" by Flora-lass
• Featured art Grey by fish

9:45-10:15

• "The Aromantic in Tolkien" by Shadow
• "Unexpected Commonalities" by chrissystriped
• Featured art A Spectrum by Silmalope

10:15-10:45

• "The Design of Dragons and Doom of the Dwarves" by cloudyhymns
• Written fanwork by bunn
• Featured art The Dragons, the Earth and the Dwarves by Varda delle Stelle

10:45-11:15

• "Gil-galad was an Elven King: Kingship and Personhood in the last High King of the Noldor" by Maglor
• "Arisen" by Shadow
• Featured art Banner of Stars by Kai

11:15-11:45

• "Exile, Ruin and Resistance: Beleriand as Postcolonial Palimpsest" by Dr. Zara Ashkenazi-Khan
• Story by cloudyhymns

11:45-12:15

• "By Guile Committed: Comparing Tolkien’s Thieves to Beowulf" by Savannah Horrell
• "Noble Thieves" by Dawn Felagund
• Featured art by bunn

12:15-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:30

• "Mythmakers vs. the made myths: Exploring a reader’s levels of religious alienation and connection in works about and by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis" by Acha Rezak (Quente)
• "Great Stories" by Janeways
• Song by Zdenka

1:30-2:00

• "Love, Grief, and Alliterative Verse in Tolkien’s Legendarium" by Paul D. Deane
• Poem by Zdenka

2:00-2:30

• "Tolkien, Lunatic Physicists, and Abnegation" by Cynthia (Cindy) Gates a.k.a. pandemonium_213
• "Lightborn" by Azh, Admirable Monster
• Featured art by Grundy

2:30-3:00

• "Twilight, Child Of: Comparisons Between Tinúviel, Lómion, and Undómiel" by JazTheBard
• Story" by Maglor
• Featured art Three twilight children for the elven-kings under the sky by sesame

3:00-3:30

• "How To Make a Star From a Tree: The Science of Telperion and Laurelin" by Zhie
• "Light of the World" by Shadow
• Featured art Light of the Two Trees by Anérea

3:30-4:00

• "'Kidnap Fam' and the Living Legendarium" by polutropos
• "Lost Stars" by reese

If you'd like to join us, registration is free, and there are both in-person and virtual options. You can register for Mereth Aderthad 2025 here.

When we think of poetry, we often think first of the "roses are red, violets are blue" rhymed poetry or, if we're feeling avant garde, free verse. However, before rhymed poetry came with French culture after the Norman Invasion, poetry was alliterative: structured around complex metrical rules and cohered through alliteration: multiple words starting with the same sound.

Tolkien loved alliterative poetry, translated several important alliterative poems, and wrote his own original verse. At Mereth Aderthad 2025, Paul D. Deane will be sharing a paper titled "Love, Grief, and Alliterative Verse in Tolkien’s Legendarium" about how Tolkien and his fans have used alliterative versus to convey some of the works' most important themes surrounding love and grief. Himring had a chance to speak to Paul about his upcoming presentation, as well as his considerable body of research and original work on alliterative verse.

You can read Himring's interview with Paul D. Deane here.