#teitho challenge

There are so many ways to approach this challenge—will you use a first chapter from one of Tolkien’s works for inspiration? Or will you choose a story’s beginning and take it in a different direction, choose a new perspective, a fresh viewpoint, alter one small detail and see how that changes the story?

Or perhaps back to the start will mean traveling back in the history of Middle-earth?

Or starting a familiar story in a different place.

Back to the start could also be revisiting a friendship, returning to a familiar place, tracing one’s steps back while on a journey, or even running into a time loop that keeps circling back!

As we start the new year we can’t wait to see where you start your story for this challenge!

Please submit by February 28, 2026 to [email protected]

Your teitho mods,

Sian22, Lotrfan, and Cassie

Will you go back to the very beginning with the heartbreak of Melkor’s discord during the creation?

Or will you take us to the time of Miriel and Finwë? Fëanor’s heartbreak at the loss of his mother?And later his father’s death? Or the loss of the Silmarils themselves, that led to so much heartbreak for so many?

The kinslaying. The ship burning. The Helcaraxë. Battle after battle. Betrayal. The heartbreak of The Oath itself.

The death of Fingolfin. Fingon. Finrod. The sons of Fëanor, one after another. The heartbreak of those left behind: Maglor, Galadriel, Elrond.

The tragedy of the House of Hurin.

Or will you come to the time of Celebrimbor—the glory of Eregion and Khazad-Dûm and the devastation that followed? The Last Alliance?

The travails of Frodo. The lonely travels of Aragorn. The heavy weight of duty straining the hearts of both Boromir and Faramir. Eowyn’s heartbreak in Edoras.

The doomed love stories that are woven into Tolkien’s books—Turin, Finduilas, Gwindor, to name a few.

Heartbreak can be so many things—with love, with loss, with changes that shift our entire world. But heartbreak can also be in the small moments—for a child, a parent, a friend, a comrade. It can be momentary or span years. Or even lifetimes.

Will you break our hearts with your stories and art this time? Or will you find a way to heal the heartbreak and find the hope that can endure and persist?

We can’t wait to see what you do with this prompt!

Submissions are due May 31, 2026. Please send them to [email protected]

Your teitho mods

Sian22, Lotrfan, and Cassie.

That brings us to our November/December prompt: FEAST

Feasts feature greatly in Middle-earth—from Hobbit harvest feasts, to feasts under the stars in the Woodland Realm. Feasts on the eve of battle in Rohan or feasts of welcome in Rivendell. A feast to celebrate Fingolfin’s ascension in Beleriand or feasts under the light of the Two Trees in Valinor. Even stewed rabbit can be a feast under the right circumstances!

Food and drink. Celebration and good cheer. Solemn gatherings and councils.

You can write about the celebrations in the Shire, Mirkwood, Rivendell, or Minas Tirith (and we’re sure even the Rangers found some reasons to celebrate in the wild as well). Or take us back to Beleriand for feasts with Azaghâl and Maedhros, Beor and Finrod, the hidden realm of Melianand Thingol. Or further back—to Finwë and Fëanor in Tirion.

Feasts bring people together—family, friends, acquaintances, allies, and even adversaries. We wish you happy writing, and merry celebrations in these holiday months. We can’t wait to feast our eyes on your submissions for this challenge!

Please submit your art or story to [email protected] by December 31st 2025

Cheers!

Your teitho mods

Sian22, Lotrfan, and Cassie

Our prompt for July/August is Do I Know You?

We hope this one sparks some ideas! So many ways to approach it—will you set it in the Halls of Mandos, where unexpected encounters may occur? Or in the dungeons of Thangorodrim?

You can choose themes of memory, disguise, familiarity, resemblance, or recognition.

How do people change yet retain some recognizable essence of themselves? Or do they change so much that they are unrecognizable to even those who knew them best? This prompt can examine both sides of that question.

We look forward to your stories and art!

Please submit by August 31, 2026 by email to [email protected]

Your teitho mods

Sian22, Lotrfan, and Cassie

Rain figures in many of Tolkien’s narratives. It can slow down an adventure, bring an unexpected need for shelter, or lead to challenges finding shelter.

Rain can nourish crops, provide needed water, alter terrain and visibility. It can put out fires.

Rain can physically wash things away but metaphorically as well.

Rain can be a backdrop to a cozy afternoon at home. It can be a joyous reprieve in the midst of drought.

And rain can also have meanings that have nothing to do with water—a rain of arrows, for example.

How will you weave rain into your stories or art? We can’t wait to see!

Please submit to [email protected] by April 30th 2026

Your teitho mods

Sian22, Lotrfan and Cassie

This prompt could go in so many directions. Will you choose an exploration of the myriad canon events that were the result of bad decisions, missed opportunities, or tragic miscommunication? Or will you give us a comic tale that takes a more tongue-in-cheek approach or perhaps even veers into crack fic! We are ready for all possibilities!

Where do you feel characters made mistakes? A choice not taken? A certain path followed?

Conversations that faltered or ones that never were started? Trust misplaced? Or intuition ignored?

With such a vast cast of characters and so many points of inflection in the legendarium we are sure you will give us much to think about with your submissions for this prompt!

Please submit your stories or art by July 31, 2026 to [email protected]

Your teitho mods

Sian22, Lotrfan, and Cassie