Welcome, welcome to the opening of the fifth annual Silmaril Awards, where you get to nominate and vote on your favorite literary fantasy characters across ten different categories!

YES. It is that time again where we get to spend three-ish weeks celebrating all things fantasy characters. This will be my 2nd year as a host and I am so honored and thrilled to be a part of such an amazing group and bring YOU GUYS such an epic event. This is going to be a journey to remember!

So don your cloaks, grab your weapon of choice, and let’s embark on this mission…quest…thing.

What Are The Silmaril Awards?

Alrighty, so you may be scratching your head thinking, “Where am I? Who am I? I have no memory of this place???” Never fear, questers. Gather ‘round and I shall tell you a tale…

Once upon a time the most esteemed and illustrious wizards, Jenelle Schmidt and DJ Edwardson, knew something was lacking in the world. Awards were bestowed all across the land to a wide array of people groups—actors, singers, sports players, and more. And yet there was a certain group that received no such gifts—great beings, noble beings, dastardly beings, impish beings, innumerable kinds, but memorable all. Ones who deserved far more recognition than they received.

Yes, these beings were known as fictional characters.

To right the wrongs of man and fill that chasmal gap in the land, Jenelle and DJ orchestrated a new type of awards ceremony, one spread out across the vast blogosphere to touch the far reaches of the world.

Rules were set in place, hosts were gathered, and ten great categories were forged. Those who wish to participate may nominate and second their favorite fantasy characters in each award, giving them the recognition they truly deserve, and then vote for the top chosen to receive a coveted Silmaril, an award of all awards, named after the great works of the most renowned author of the land—J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

And so The Silmaril Awards was born!

AHEM.

Basically, this is just an excuse to geek out over our favorite fantasy characters, ‘cause we book lovers gotta do that now and again. It’s literally like the Oscars for literary fantasy characters! I KNOW. IT IS EPIC. Because, come on, fictional characters deserve ALL the recognition. I mean, sheesh, do you know how many times the world has been saved by these people? (Or almost destroyed if we’re talkin’ villains.) Seriously now.

So let’s get to how all this works so you guys can start nominating! (Don’t worry, it’s all super simple.)

How Does It Work?

There are ten Silmarils in all, each presented in ten different categories—Most Epic Hero, Most Faithful Friend, Most Nefarious Villain, etc., etc. Ten of us hosts each have a category on our blogs, and in the comments of our posts you get to nominated and second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.) the characters YOU think deserve to win in that chosen category. Then we will tally the seconds and the top five will get to move on to the voting round. After the votes are closed, the awards ceremonies begin!

• Week 1: Nominations – Aug. 31 – Sept. 4

This week you will be nominating your favorites in the comment sections of the presenters’ blogs. You can also “second” characters others have nominated by replying to their comment and saying you second that character.

You can nominate and second however many characters you want!

• Week 2: Voting – Sept. 7 – 11

Once nominations are closed, us presenters will tally up how many “seconds” each nominated character received. The top 5 in each category with the most seconds will move on to the voting round! You will vote for your favorite out of those 5 in each category via a voting form we’ll provide.

This is simultaneously the easiest and hardest part of the awards. The actual voting is just a manner of a few clicks, but it’s the CHOOSING who to vote for that always gives me an existential crisis or two. Good times, good times.

• Week 3: Awards Ceremony – September 14 – 25

AND SO IT BEGINS. Over the course of two weeks (excluding the weekends), one by one each blog host will provide the awards ceremony for their chosen category and announce which esteemed character won said category! Oh yeah, and have I mentioned yet that each award is presented by specific Tolkien characters??? *BEAMS*

Though things are pretty simple and straightforward, we do have a few rules in place, so do be sure to peruse those before getting in your nominations.

The Rules

1.) Tolkien’s characters are NOT eligible to be nominated. We see them as the Ultimate Standard in fantasy fiction and thus choose to give them the honor of presenting The Silmaril Awards. Basically, we already think they won. This will give some other characters a chance to shine, ‘cause otherwise every single year it’d just be Tolkien characters who take home the prize, am I right?

2.) Characters from LITERARY FANTASY ONLY can be nominated. That means no characters from TV shows, movies, or video games. Books only! As well as no sci-fi, dystopian, etc. (Yes, this excludes poor Katniss since her story is, in fact, not fantasy.) WITH THAT SAID, if you can make a strong argument that a certain book IS fantasy, we will discuss it and get back to you. (For ex. The Lunar Chronicles is allowed. Though, yes, it’s sci-fi, it also has fantastical aspects.)

3.) We ask you to MENTION THE BOOK the character you’re nominating is from. As hard as we try to be well-read, we haven’t read everything. (Alas, ‘tis a tragedy indeed.) We definitely need to know from which story each character hails, please and thank you. And mentioning the author is always a plus too.

4.) There are NO LIMITS TO NOMINATIONS OR SECONDS. Remember, the TOP 5 characters in each category who get the most seconds moves on to the voting round. So go wild nominating and seconding ALL your favorites!

5.) With that said, AUTHOR’S CANNOT NOMINATE THEIR OWN CHARACTERS. But definitely encourage your readers to do so for you! *wink, wink* *nudge, nudge* And of course the book needs to actually be published to qualify.

6.) PREVIOUS WINNERS CANNOT BE NOMINATED AGAIN. The Silmarils are Lifetime Awards. So characters who have won in the past cannot be nominated again in that specific category. Though you are welcome to nominate them in another category. For a list of previous winners, check out the Past Awards Section of the website.

7.) HAVE FUN! This is nonnegotiable. Do not pass-go, do not collect $200. Have the time of your life…or else. *cue mysterious, eerie music*

Find more information on the official website: SilmarilAwards.com

ALRIGHTY. Now that we’ve got the stuffy official jargon out of the way, let’s get to the real fun!

My Category

For this year, I shall be hosting the award for…

MOST MISCHIEVOUS IMP

Ahh yisss. For anyone who’s read like…anything I’ve written, you know I have an affinity for those little troublemakers. *grins*

This category is for the mischief-makers, the lovers of tomfoolery, the pranksters, the sly-handed little rascals who may have “accidentally” set ablaze the biggest fireworks or flooded the school hallways. Whether they’re causing harmless pranks or truly dastardly shenanigans, somehow we can’t help but grin and giggle over their nonsense. They worm their way into our hearts one antic at a time.

And they also tend to like shiny things, so how about we give one of them such a treasured possession!

Comment below with your nominations for your favorite literary fantasy Most Mischievous Imps!

Previous Winners for this Category:

• 2019 Crispin Beasley from The Afterverse
• 2018 Peter Pan from Peter Pan
• 2017 The Weasley Twins from Harry Potter

That means those characters are NOT eligible to be nominated in this category as they have already earned their lifetime Silmaril.

Also, apparently being a host means I have to house literally every single imp nominated until after the awards ceremony. Last year I had to deal with the Least Competent Henchmen and I’m pretty sure my house almost caught on fire on at least three and a half occasions during that ordeal. But I fear hosting a slew of imps isn’t going to fare much better. I’ve already padded the walls, removed any sugar and glue from the house, and tossed shiny things all around as distractions from mischief. So…we’ll see if I still have my sanity (and my house) by the end of all this. >.>

The Other Categories

Don’t forgot to nominate (and second) in the other categories as well!

• Most Mischievous Imp – Christine Smith (You are here!)
• Most Epic Hero – Zachary Totah
• Most Epic Heroine – Tracey Dyck
• Wisest Counselor – DJ. Edwardson
• Most Faithful Friend – Jenelle Schmidt
• Most Silver Tongue – Kyle Robert Shultz
• Strangest Character – Madeline J. Rose
• Least Competent Henchman – E.E. Rawls
• Most Nefarious Villain – Kenzie Keene
• Most Magnificent Dragon – Sarah Pennington

Be sure to do it in the comments section of those bloggers’ posts, not mine, though. Nominations and seconds for Most Mischievous Imps here only!

The Giveaway

Oh yes, one more thing. WE’VE GOT A GIVEAWAY THIS YEAR. And, man, I’m kind of jealous I can’t participate because wow, SO. MANY. EPIC. PRIZES.

From ebooks to physical books to a giftcard to an epic Thorin key-pen and bookmark to a custom fantasy map by our very own Zachary Totah, there is an immense amount of goodness you could snag!

Just look at all this deliciousness!

And each prize goes to one person, so there is a high chance you can win something!

Enter the giveaway with the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If the embedded form isn’t showing up you can use THIS LINK.

The time has at last come! The rules have been given, the information bestowed, the giveaway shared, and now, my dear friends, it is time for YOU to take action.

GO FORTH! Nominate those characters. Spread the love and geekery. Let’s show these fictional people that they have not been forgotten.

Also, the more the merrier. We’d be delighted if you shared about the awards across your own blogs/social media/carrier pigeon/noble steeds/dragons/what-have-you. And if you do, be sure to use the hashtag #SilmarilAwards2020 (although I’m not sure dragons allow use of hashtags. But who knows, 21st century dragons may be on top of the times).

Onward and upward to the beginning of the fifth annual Silmaril Awards!

LET’S TALK!

Who’s excited? *flails hand wildly in the air* Let’s get this thing going!

Nominate for your favorite Most Mischievous Imps below!