Tag Archives: Fantasy Oscars

Silmaril Awards 2019! Silver Tongue Nominations! (Closed!)

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Welcome!

Welcome to the 4th Annual Silmaril Awards! (#SilmAwards2019)

The Silmaril Awards are fan-voted awards for the most outstanding characters in fantasy fiction — a sort of fantasy-book-character Oscars just for fun — and YOU, my friends, get to nominate said characters!

Characters from any fantasy books — unless they are written by J. R. R. Tolkien (since his characters are the Fantasy Standard for these purposes), or have already won the award before — are eligible to be nominated.

You can read more about this blog event at SilmarilAwards.com and check out the list of previous winners.

ALSO! New this year: A Facebook group! Go check it out. 😀

Keep reading for the links to other awards, the timeline, rules, and how to nominate, but first . . .

Here on my blog, I’m hosting . . .

The Silmaril Award for Most Silver Tongue!

This award was originally for Poetry and Riddling, but was updated to this name to include any character who can arguably be said to possess a silver tongue!

Previous winners of this award (who are therefore not eligible for nomination) are:

  • The Sorting Hat (Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling)
  • Mo/Silver Tongue (Inkheart by Cornelia Funke)
  • Wizard Howl (Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones)

(And, of course, our own dear Bilbo Baggins will be presenting it.)

So that should give you an idea of the sort of characters who might be worthy of the Silver Tongue award. 😉

*silver trumpets sound*

Come one, come all!

Those gifted with a way with words!

Poet, bard, or minstrel!

Those whose speech enchants the listener!

Those, perhaps, who speak riddles, or are fluent in snark, or on whose every word the reader hangs breathlessly!

Readers, share your favorite silver-tongued characters from fantasy books, and may the most eloquent win!

Nominate away in the comments below!

Awards List

Be sure to check out the other categories in the list of posts below, on the other hosts’ blogs, and go share your nominations for those!

Timeline

September 2nd: Nominations open!

Nominations run Mon., Sept. 2 – Fri., Sept. 6, so be sure to leave your comments (and come back throughout the week to “second” other nominations!) this week!

September 9th: Voting begins

September 16th-27th: Awards will be announced on the various sites of the various presenters each weekday during this time.

Rules

  1. Again, Tolkien’s characters are not eligible to win these awards. We creators of the Silmarillion Awards see them as the ultimate standards for these categories already, which is why they are the Presenters of the Silmarils.
  2. These awards are for FANTASY characters! This means no science fiction. However, if you can make a good, solid argument for the fantastical elements in a particular science-fantasy, then by all means, go ahead! We will keep a running tab on whether or not a book counts as “fantasy”. (For instance, The Lunar Chronicles has already been accepted as fantasy in this contest.)
  3. Please mention what book the character is from in your nomination. While the hosts of the Silmaril Awards are wizards in their own right and voracious book dragons of speculative fiction, we haven’t all read EVERY book out there, and we might not recognize certain characters.
  4. Authors are welcome to participate, but please refrain from nominating your OWN characters. You may, of course, direct your fans to this event, though.
  5. Characters who have won in a particular category in a previous year are ineligible to be nominated for the same award again. The Silmarils are Lifetime Awards. For a list of the previous winners in each category, please check out our Hall of Fame.
  6. Please remember that these are Fantasy Book Awards. Therefore, a movie character is only eligible for nomination if they were a book first!

How to Nominate

Nominations are now closed! Thanks, everyone!

  • Leave a comment below to nominate the character(s) you think are most worthy of the title “Most Silver Tongue”!
  • If someone has already nominated any of those characters, feel free to reply to the other comments and “second” those votes!
  • You may nominate and second as many characters as you like.
  • The top five characters in each category at the end of the week (the ones with the most seconds) will be the ones which progress to the second round, the voting round.

And now . . .

Nominate Away!

Get to it! I can’t wait to see all the silver-tongued characters you guys nominate! 😀 (And the other categories, of course!)

Let the Silmaril Awards BEGIN!

(EDIT: NOMINATIONS ARE CLOSED! THANKS, EVERYONE!)

Silmaril Awards 2018 Wisest Counselor: Voting!

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The time has come! *cue Gandalf fireworks*

It’s time to vote on the second round of the Silmaril Awards!

Silmaril Awards: Top 5 Wisest Counselor Nominees

There were so many amazing wise counselor characters from fantasy nominated this year (you can see them all in the comments-section), but in the end, only five could progress to the voting stage.

The top five mentor characters nominated for the Wisest Counselor Silmaril are…

Halt (Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan)

Halt is a Ranger, a master of stealth and secrets, always slipping about almost unseen in his great grey Ranger cloak. Normal people are a little afraid of him, and he seems grim and mysterious at times, but also has a dry sense of humor and an unexpected snarkiness mixed in with his seeming grouchy unapproachableness. He always seems to have some sort of private joke, disguised enough that you sometimes don’t even realize he’s having fun. Despite his powerful presence and quiet strength, he’s unexpectedly short (a slight sore spot, since it means people don’t always believe he’s the famous Ranger Halt). Well respected among the Rangers, he makes the perfect mentor to young Will, and I doubt if there are many readers of this series who wouldn’t want to be Halt’s apprentice. 😉

Rayad (The Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight)

Rayad is an older Arcacian man wanted by the emperor for being a rebel. He is the father figure and mentor to a young ex-gladiator-slave. At this youngster’s darkest moments, Rayad is there to offer advice, hope, and words of comfort and wisdom. He can be a bit gruff at times, but is kind, thoughtful, and knows where the Light comes from. He is also a member of the main council of the Resistance.

Prince Aethalbald (Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl)

Aethelbald at first glance seems to be an entirely ordinary, uninteresting young man with brown hair and earnest dark eyes. He’s far more than he seems, of course, being in fact the ageless Prince of Farthestshore. There is none kinder or wiser, or more full of quiet, knowing power, in all the lands Near, Far, or the Wood Between. But he can also be simply a good friend with a sense of humor and a simple word you need to hear — or perhaps a Wood Thrush’s song…

Professor Digory Kirke (Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis)

Professor Kirke is a delightful old gentleman with shaggy white hair and a beard, who lives in a very old, strange house in the country — with a certain magical wardrobe. Having experienced going to Narnia in his youth, he’s the perfect wise counselor for the Pevensie children — he understands them and believes their story. He’s very knowledgeable about many things, including other worlds, time, and logic, and always has a wise thing to say, even though he won’t say more than he needs to. He’s someone who you can seek counsel from, confide your secrets and adventures to; he won’t laugh at you, but will give you advice about how to recognize those who have had similar adventures, and deal with those who haven’t. Professor Kirke is the adult who can be trusted because he listens and understands, and is just the right person to tell you what you need to know if you don’t know it yet — because “Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?”

Puddleglum (The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis)

I shouldn’t wonder if everyone already knows this most famous of Marshwiggles (especially since he won the Silmaril for Strangest Character in 2016) so the bright side of it is, perhaps he needs no introduction. You may find him making eel stew or predicting rain or the worst possible things to happen, but despite his apparent pessimism, he can sometimes be a wise counselor. He’s famous for “making the best of it,” and he’ll often have a wise word when you least expect it. He’s good at sticking to things and reminding you about what’s important.

To read all about the top five characters in the other categories, you can visit the rest of the host blogs:

Silmaril Awards Voting Form (voting is open Sept. 10 – 14)

Go forth and vote on your favorite mentor (which you’ll find at the end of the ballot) and your favorite character from each of the other 9 categories!

*********CLICK HERE to vote!**********

We’ll be posting the winners later on our various blogs, from September 17 to 28.

You can also visit the Silmaril Awards website at www.silmarilawards.com.

And may the best characters win!

Giveaway

ALSO! Check back here tomorrow (Tuesday), because (spoiler alert) it’s going to be my 5-year blogiversary and I’m going to have a giveaway of bookses (Preciousss…) aaand, speaking of Silmarils, one of the items will be a Tolkien-related book, so you don’t want to miss this. 😉

Which of these mentors are you most excited about? Is it going to be so hard to pick? (AAHH!) Are you excited to find out who wins? 😀 Drop all your Silmaril Awards thoughts below!

And thanks so much, everyone, for all your great nominations and seconds! We couldn’t do this without you. ❤

Silmaril Awards 2018: Nominations! (Wisest Counselor)

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It’s that time again! Welcome to the third annual Silmaril Awards! They have returned, and this week is the time to get in your nominations!

This year, I’m hosting the Wisest Counselor award, for our favorite mentors and wise characters from works of fantasy fiction! I’m excited. 😀 (I mean, I do seem to have been talking about mentors a lot this year… like here… and here…)

Not sure what these awards are? They’re a just-for-fun fan-voted award for the best characters from fantasy books! Sort of an Oscars-type event for fantasy characters.

Since characters from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings are the gold-standard, they will be the ones “presenting” the awards (called “Silmarils” in honor of the jewels from Tolkien’s The Silmarillion) to the winners, who YOU get to nominate and vote for!

You can find out more about the awards and visit the hall of fame to see previous winners at www.silmarilawards.com, with links to the awards ceremonies, details about the hosts, etc. 🙂

How it Works

Round 1: Nominations (Sept 3 – 7)

You nominate a character by going to the category’s blog post (there are ten of us hosting these) and leaving a comment there. (Nominees for Wisest Counselor are to be left in a comment on this post; other character categories can be found in a list below.)

You can also SECOND (or third/fourth/etc.) someone else’s nomination by replying to the comment and saying that you second that nomination.

You may nominate as many characters as you like, and you may second as many characters as you like.

Round 2: Voting (Sept 10 – 14)

For the voting round, the top FIVE characters in each category (the ones with the most seconds) will be moved to the second round and you may vote for one favorite character in each category on a voting form which we will link to.

Round 3: Awards Presentations

The final part of the awards runs from September 17 – 28, and will be the announcements of the winner of each category, on each of the 10 Silmaril Awards host blogs. There will be one post per day, with award presentation ceremonies, featuring Lord of the Rings characters presenting the awards to the winners, chosen by your votes in the second round.

A few rules

  1. Authors may not nominate their own characters (but, of course, are more than welcome to tell their fans about the awards).
  2. You may also second as many characters nominated by others as you choose. The more “seconds” a character receives, the more likely that character will move on to the VOTING round, which will be the top five most nominated characters from any given category.
  3. Nominations are allowed for FANTASY BOOK characters only! (Movie characters are not allowed, unless the BOOK came FIRST). If you aren’t sure if a book qualifies as “fantasy” you can leave a comment and ask, and we’ll get back to you on that.
  4. Characters who have already won a Silmaril in previous years are part of the “lifetime” Hall of Fame for that award and may not be nominated for an award they have already won (though they may win other awards).
  5. Tolkien’s characters may also not be nominated, since, as mentioned, they are already the standard for fantasy characters, and we want to give other character a chance to earn their due. 🙂

So what are you waiting for? Nominate away!

Awards list and participating blogs (visit each of them to nominate more characters!)

You can also visit this page on the official site.

Nominate your favorite Wisest Counselor characters by leaving a comment below!

(Not eligible for this award: Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis [2016 winner], Professor Charles Hamilton from the Dragons in Our Midst series by Bryan Davis [2017 winner], and Gandalf, etc. from The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien’s works.)

Also, feel free to spread the word about these awards with any of these graphics, the official www.silmarilawards.com link, and/or #SilmAwards2018 on social media!

Who is your favorite mentor-type character or “Wisest Counselor” from fantasy fiction? Share in the comments!

EDIT: Nominations are now closed. Voting on the next level will open on September 10!

#SilmAwards2017 Award Presentations Begin This Week!

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Just a very small, quick announcement-y post today . . .

The votes are counted, the results are in, and now it’s time for the winners of the best fantasy book characters in the Second Annual Silmarillion Awards to be presented!

(Never gets old. XD)

Here’s the schedule and the links of where to go to “attend” the 2017 Award Presentations for each Silmaril! So they will all be coming soon, and I can’t wait! 😀

Award Presentation Schedule / Participating Blogs

I only know the winner of the award I’m hosting on my blog, so I’m just as much on the edge of my seat to find out the other winners as you all are! Thanks to everyone who voted, and I hope you’ll all enjoy celebrating the winners, whoever they may be! 😀

Be sure to come back here next Monday, July 24, when a brave heroine of Middle-earth will be presenting the Most Epic Heroine Silmaril to the most-voted fantasy heroine, here on The Road of a Writer . . .

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a post of my own to write for July 29th about my love for Tolkien’s works and other beloved fantasy literature, not to mention that I also have characters to manage for said Award Presentation Ceremony which must be prepared for all you readers next week, and the clock is definitely ticking . . .

So I will bid you Namárië for now, and I hope you enjoy the Silmarillion Award presentation posts throughout the next couple weeks!

Which award are you most excited about finding out the winner? Have you enjoyed the #SilmAwards2017 so far? Thanks for reading! 🙂

Most Epic Heroine Nominations! #SilmAwards2017

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And so it begins, my friends!

The Second Annual Silmarillion Awards start today, so it’s time to nominate your favorite fantasy characters!

(Plus, don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of this post!)

The Silmarillion Awards are a just-for-fun “Fantasy Oscars” blog event to recognize our favorite characters from fantasy literature by awarding them “Silmaril” awards for best-in-category — more about it here, if you’re new.

We (myself and 9 other awesome bloggers, not to mention all you fantasy fans out there!) hold it in July to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings. This is the perfect year, too — did you know Tolkien’s earliest pennings of the tales of The Silmarillion can be found in notebooks dating as far back as 1917? That’s 100 years ago, people! :O

The Silmarillion Awards is one of my favorite times of year — a time to celebrate all things Tolkien and fantasy, particularly the beloved inhabitants of our favorite fantasy books!

Here on this blog, I’m hosting . . .

The “Most Epic Heroine” Silmaril

The Most Epic Heroine Silmaril should go to a character who is a truly great heroine: she can be intelligent, brave, loving, with an inner or outer grace that defines her as a most epic heroine, willing to fight (either physically or with her intellect) against all odds for what she loves — a heroine beloved by other characters and readers alike; whether quiet or spirited, she should exemplify the spark of higher qualities which the great heroes and heroines of fantasy fiction hold.

This Silmaril will be presented by a certain shieldmaiden from the home of the horse-lords, famed for her heroism, strong will, persistence in the face of danger, and defeating a foe no man could slay, eventually finding her true place as a fair lady of healing; a graceful and truly most epic heroine.

And now, my fabulous fantasy friends, this is where you come in. These awards are fan-voted, which means you!

Nominate your favorite heroines here!

This post is the place to nominate your favorite epic heroines from fantasy, which you can do by commenting below! (Please mention the book the character is from, as well!)

If someone has already nominated a character you wanted to nominate, you can “second” (or “third”, “fourth”, “fifth” etc.) their nomination by replying to that comment.

The top five characters in each category with the most seconds/nominations will go to the next round of voting (beginning July 10).

A few guidelines…
  • When nominating, please mention which book the character is from!
  • You can nominate or second as many characters as you like!
  • Nominations are only open to fantasy characters, as these are “Fantasy” awards (hence, things like The Hunger Games don’t apply — since that’s Dystopian, for example).
  • Don’t nominate Tolkien’s characters (they’re already the standard for these categories!).
  • Don’t nominate a character you wrote (though your fans are welcome to!).
  • As lifetime awards, the characters who won last year aren’t eligible (though “Most Epic Heroine” is a new award this year, so there’s no one off-limits on that count for this one!).
  • Spread the word on social media using #SilmAwards2017
  • If you have questions that I did not answer, feel free to ask!
  • Have fun!

These awards are just for fun, so enjoy yourself and have a blast celebrating all things fantasy and applauding your favorite characters (including heroines! ;)) from fantasy literature! 🙂

Timeline

Nominations are open July 3 – 7, so nominate away! 🙂

  • July 10-14: Second Round Voting
  • July 17-28: Awards Presented
  • July 29: Fantasy Celebration

The Other Awards

Don’t forget to drop by the other blogs to see the other categories and nominate (or second) characters for those as well! (The other hosting bloggers have more fantasy giveaways too, so be sure to enter those!)

(FYI: You can get this gorgeous graphic by DJ Edwardson on a commemorative t-shirt or mug this year! For 10% off, use coupon code: TOLKIEN2017 [Proceeds go to support future Silmarillion Awards events.])

Giveaway

Speaking of epic fantasy heroines… I’m so excited to share a delightful giveaway with you here on my blog today!

Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win one of two epic fantasy-themed prizes, featuring great heroines as well. 😉

One winner will receive:

Firethorn Chronicles Prize Pack (Kindle copy of The Firethorn Crown, paperback copy of Midsummer Captives, dragon wing necklace, bookmark), provided by fantasy author Lea Doué.

I’ve read and enjoyed The Firethorn Crown, and as a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, it definitely has several great fantasy heroines! 😉

A second winner will receive:

A paperback copy of Paper Crowns by Mirriam Neal, provided by yours truly.

Paper Crowns is one of my top favorite fantasy books of all time, and also features one of my favorite heroines ever. 🙂 So it seemed like the perfect thing to give away! (Plus, everyone needs to read it. XD)

Enter the giveaway HERE via the Rafflecopter

(Giveaway is open for residents of US and Canada, running through July 3 – 9, and winners will be announced sometime thereafter. :))

So what are you waiting for?

Nominate away, my fabulous fantasy friends! Who will you nominate (or second!) for Most Epic Fantasy Heroine? Comment below through July 7th and celebrate your favorite heroines! I can’t wait to see everyone’s nominations! 🙂

NOMINATIONS ARE CLOSED; VOTING BEGINS JULY 10.