Goooooooood morning, cyberspace! I can’t believe I’m writing on this blog again. It’s been…what? Three years six months? It feels like an eternity. So much has happened… so much I can’t wait to tell you all about! But alas. That must wait for a future post, because today I have the incredible honor of announcing that I am once again assisting in the presentation of The Silmaril Awards!

I have hosted a wild menagerie of characters over the years. From Most Nefarious Villains, to Wisest Counselors, to the most Mischievous Imps… And then, in 2024, we hosted the Wayward Souls here on the new blog! In 2025, I took a small break from hosting, as I needed the rest almost as much as my poor, unsuspecting house did…

But we are BACK! And I am so excited to announce that I have received the honor of hosting none other than…

THE MOST FAITHFUL FRIEND

Friends come in all shapes and sizes. There are funny ones and sweet ones and kind ones and the ones who ask the waiter to bring your side of ranch because you’re too scared to. But The Most Faithful Friend is the greatest friend of all. Your ride or die. The one you can go to for gardening tips and also for hiding the body (usually they recommend pigs).

The Most Faithful Friend is the friend that, when all the other friends walk away, remains always by your side–even when it means facing most certain death…

I am very excited to be hosting Faithful Friends this year. I mean, these little fellas certainly can’t get into too much mischief, can they?

…

…right?

Well, anyway, let’s go over some FAQ’s in case y’all need a refresher before nominating your Most Faithful Friends!

---

SILMARIL AWARDS – FAQ

Q1 – What is the Silmaril Awards?

The Silmaril Awards–dubbed, of course, after the beautiful Silmarils of Tolkien’s imagining–was created many years ago by our wonderful Awards Minstrels, Jenelle Schmidt and DJ Edwardson! These two incredible folks decided that it wasn’t enough to love and celebrate our favorite fantasy characters in the safe confines of our own hearts and minds… We needed to hype it all up a bit.

We needed an actual awards ceremony.

And thus the Silmaril Awards burst forth into existence! Part screaming fandoms, part Golden Globes for fictional characters, it is an exhilarating time to come together as a reading community and celebrate the characters who are the backbone and heartbeat of today’s fantasy!

Q2 – How do I participate?

You can participate in two ways! Firstly, you can nominate characters! This begins TODAY! In the comments of this post, you can nominate your favorite fantasy characters, second any characters who have already been nominated, and connect with your fellow Silmaril participants! Please note: only nominated characters who have been seconded are entered into the final round! This is important–so make sure you’re seconding, folks!

Q3 – How many characters can I nominate/second?

All of them.

No, really. There’s no cap on how many characters you can support in the nomination round! So get out there and fling those characters around like there’s no tomorrow!

A SMALL NOTE ON NOMINATION: remember that this aware is for fantasy characters in literature. That means that if the book your character is from is, say, a science fiction adventure, that character will not qualify for the Silmaril Award. However, if the book is a Sci-Fi Fantasy, the evil overlords… er… showrunners may decide that your book still counts! So when in doubt, ASK!

Also! This is the perfect chance to get those “lesser known” titles out into the great wide cyberwebs! Just because your fandom is small doesn’t mean it isn’t well-loved. Go ahead and nominate those nobodies and underdogs. We love to have them!

Q4 – Can I nominate my own characters?

Are you a writer with your own little cast of fantastical creations? Your characters are able to be nominated for the Silmarils! However, you may not, as the author, nominate your own characters. You can absolutely encourage readers to nominate and vote for your characters, though! So get out there and advocate for yourself, you little writer, you!

Q5 – What happens after nomination?

After nomination–in which every single character who gets nominated comes to stay for a small-town getaway at the home of the hosts–we have our official voting round. The form will be available on each of the host’s blogs, so you can access it with ease! This voting round is the hardest. You get one vote per category. While devastating when you have multiple characters you love, this narrows it down to our final victors! After nominations and the voting round close, we have our Awards Ceremony!

These are–in my opinion–the best part of the Silmarils!

Q6 – How many times can a character receive a Silmaril Award?

Silmaril Awards are known as lifetime awards. This means that once they get a Silmaril, they have the Silmaril for life! So pay close attention to which characters have already won Silms, and let some other characters share the spotlight… it’s only fair!

A NOTE ON LORD OF THE RINGS CHARACTERS

Lord Of The Rings characters may NOT be nominated for the Silmaril Awards – we can all agree that Tolkien’s characters are in a league of their own… Leave some room for our other adventurers and nominate someone else!

---

PAST WINNERS OF THE MOST FAITHFUL FRIEND SILMARIL AWARD

• 2025 Oskar Reteep from Wingfeather Saga
• 2024 Nugget from Wingfeather Saga
• 2023 Neville Longbottom from The Harry Potter Series
• 2022 Rose Red from The Tales of the Goldstone Wood
• 2021 Jewel from The Chronicles of Narnia
• 2020 Puddleglum from The Chronicles of Narnia
• 2019 Iko from The Lunar Chronicles
• 2018 Little John from The Adventures of Robin Hood
• 2017 Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride
• 2016 Reepicheep from The Chronicles of Narnia

---

LET THE NOMINATIONS COMMENCE!

And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Go forth and nominate, my friends!

Please remember to comment your seconds as replies to the nominated character you are seconding! This helps me out a ton as I keep track of all our nominations! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitated to ask!

All right, friends! Go forth and nominate! I can’t wait to see what amazing Faithful Friends you send me!

---

FINISHED VOTING FOR FAITHFUL FRIENDS? CHECK OUT THE OTHER AWARD NOMINATION POSTS!

• Most Devoted Couple
• Most Nefarious Villain
• Strangest Character
• Most Rakish Rogue
• Wisest Counselor
• Epic Hero
• Most Epic Heroine
• Most Faithful Friend – you are here!
• Most Magnificent Dragon
• Silver Tongue
• Most Rakish Rogue