hidden_paths | Welcome and FAQs

"Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate;

And though I oft have passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the Moon, East of the Sun..."

- J. R. R. Tolkien

~~*~~

Hello, and welcome to Hidden Paths, a fortnight-long event dedicated to the celebration of smaller Tolkien canons!

We all know and love the tales of Tolkien's Middle-earth, but the Professor's creative and academic endeavours didn't stop there. However, fanworks for smaller Tolkien canons (such as Farmer Giles of Ham, Mr. Bliss, Leaf by Niggle and more) are much rarer than works inspired by their Middle-earth counterparts. This event was created to be a low-pressure, low-commitment opportunity to explore those lesser known works, and create and share fanworks based on them.

Define “smaller Tolkien fandoms”.

Basically, 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. This includes, but is not limited to:

Beowulf/Sellic Spell
Farmer Giles of Ham
The Fall of Arthur
The Father Christmas Letters
Finn and Hengest
The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son
The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun
Leaf by Niggle
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
Mr. Bliss
Mythopoeia
The Notion Club Papers
Pearl
Roverandom
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Orfeo
Songs for the Philologists
Smith of Wootton Major
The Story of Kullervo
Tolkien (2019 film)
Tolkien's essays, poems, letters and non-ME artwork

We also accept fanworks based on The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (because it collects a number of poems that were not originally intended as part of the Middle-earth canon) and The Book of Lost Tales (because it differs so significantly from later versions of the legendarium), and/or centring characters or concepts that only appear in extremely early drafts of The Lord of the Rings (e.g. Trotter).

We know that this leaves a bit of a grey area, but ultimately, we will trust and accept the judgement of fanwork creators. Act in good faith, and assume that others have done the same.

How does it work?

At the start of the event (14th February) the mod will post seven optional prompts to inspire you. There will be a thematic prompt, a character-based prompt, a setting-based prompt, a text prompt, a visual prompt, an audio prompt, and a wildcard prompt. A second batch of prompts will be posted on the 21st.

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, then please feel free to do your own thing – the prompts are there to spark creativity, not impede it!

What types of fanworks do you accept?

Anything you like. Fic, poetry, meta, art, edits, vids, podfic, craft, cosplay, rec lists, playlists, compositions, interviews with fellow fans...it's all good.

Are there any minimum requirements?

No, none. Want to write a six-word story? Be our guest.

Are crossovers permitted?

Yes! We accept crossovers with the Middle-earth canons, and with non-Tolkien fandoms. We only ask that one of the smaller Tolkien canons plays a significant role in your fanwork.

What do you consider a significant role?

We don't. The event is intended to be low commitment and low stress for both participants and the moderator, and we trust that people will act in good faith. We are not going to police fanworks or apply an arbitrary definition of “significant” - we leave that up to the creator to decide.

Does actor RPF count?

For the purposes of this event, no it doesn't, unless you are also drawing on elements from a smaller canon (e.g. Liv Tyler encountering the Shadow-Bride).

Where do I post my fanworks?

We have an AO3 collection, but you may post your fanworks anywhere you like. We'd appreciate a link back to our Dreamwidth or Tumblr page, though, to spread the word about the event!

Are there any restrictions on rating or content?

Nope. Tag and warn appropriately, as you normally would, but make whatever your heart desires.

Can I post fanworks that were inspired by or created for another event, or created prior to the event's inception?

Yes! The goal is to celebrate and increase content for the smaller Tolkien fandoms. Please feel free to share your creations and add them to the collection, regardless of whether they were created specifically for this event.

I want to take part but I don't know anything about the smaller canons. Help!?

Tolkien Gateway has helpfully collated a list of Tolkien's writings, and some of the articles reproduce or link to the actual text. This is a great place to start browsing, and to find out more about a text before you invest in your own copy.
Have a look at fanworks for some of the smaller canons and see what appeals. Our AO3 collection has 34 works across 24 fandoms as at January 2024! Innumerable Stars and TRSB both also have several works for the smaller canons in their collections, and many of them can be understood with no prior knowledge of the source material.
New for 2024 - we are collating promo posts for the smaller canons! See our Useful Links sticky for a list of the ones we have so far. Many of these contain links to where the texts can be found for free on the Web!
Lists of characters appearing in the various texts and canons can also be a useful jumping off point - like this one for The Book of Lost Tales.
Many of the smaller canons are just that - small! If you can get hold of a copy from your local library, book store or from a fellow fan, they are generally quick to read and digest.

If anyone has any other ideas and resources for folks wanting to dip a toe into the smaller canons, please get in touch so they can be added to this list.

When does the event run?

Officially, February 14th-28th. Unofficially, as long as you like; the prompts will stay up and the AO3 collection won't close.