before the ceremony…
The yard was quiet. The trees had begun to blush in that gentle way they do on the cusp of autumn, when a subtle chill descends upon the air. Fairy lights were strung across the great trees, their branches casting fragments of shade across the lawn. The sun had just begun to set against the sky–the perfect backdrop to today’s ceremony.
A quick rustle through the grass was the only hint of a disturbance. A small, particularly chubby, disturbance, it was, and at this very moment in time, it was running towards the back door of the house with an uncharacteristically hurried step.
“Miss Kenzie, ma’am!” the hobbit bolted through the door and scrambled into the kitchen, hastily catching himself on the kitchen counter. “Miss Kenzie, ma’am… It’s here! The results are finally here!”
“Ah!” The girl at the counter was busy icing cupcakes and barely glanced up at the incoming hobbit, yet she gave him a smile as she dropped a freshly iced cake onto the platter. “You haven’t looked at it yet, have you?”
“No, ma’am. Gandalf told me–he said, “don’t you go peekin’ at those results now, Samwise Gamgee… And I don’t mean to!”
A cupboard door slammed at the end of this proclamation, making both Kenzie and the hobbit jump (the former of which dropping the blue cupcake she had just begun to ice). Perched on the counter was a very disgruntled Pet, her knees tucked to her chin and her scowl fierce as she stared down at them.
“Someone drank all the coffee,” Pet grumbled.
“Pet…” Kenzie began gently. “That was you. You drank all of the coffee.”
“No, no I distinctly remember leaving an extra stash up here.” Pet jammed a thumb at the cupboard she had just slammed. “And now it is gone.”
“Well, it wasn’t us, that’s for sure.”
“Oh, really. And who do you think drank it, then? The horse?”
As if on cue, Artax nudged his head through the open kitchen window. His eyes rolled suspiciously towards Pet as if in challenge.
“Look! He’s even acting guilty!”
“Okay, first of all,” Kenzie cut in while Artax frowned (if, of course, it can be said that horses “frown”), “it’s technically not your coffee. It’s mine. I bought it.”
“I prefer tea myself,” Sam mumbled around a face full of stolen cupcake.
“And secondly, I very much doubt that Artax could brew a pot of coffee even if he tried. No offense, Artax.”
Artax snorted. Whether or not he was offended, it was difficult to say.
“And thirdly, if you’re absolutely sure you didn’t drink it, then you probably just misplaced it or something. I’m sure there’s a solid explanation for its disappearance.”
“I didn’t just misplace my coffee!” Pet insisted. “Someone took it. I’m absolutely certain of it!”
“What is all this mumbling and grumbling that poor Gurgi hears?” A new figure appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, his beady eyes squinting at them all suspiciously. “Perhaps it is time for crunchings and munchings? Oh, glorious day!” Gurgi’s eyes alighted on the cupcakes, and he moved towards them with a delicious excitement before Kenzie swatted him away.
“No, Gurgi! These are for later, when our guests arrive.”
“Oh. Poor Gurgi. Those terrible beans have made his poor head ache so…”
“Beans?” Pet asked, her voice pitching slightly. “What beans?”
“Those bitter black beans in the cupboard behind you,” Gurgi said sadly. “They were very nasty for poor Gurgi. Made his tummy all rumbly and tumbly.”
Pet’s eye twitched, and Kenzie very quickly scooped up the iced cupcakes before she could do something crazy like throw a fit. Or a cooking pan.
“Right, well, let’s get these cupcakes outside and set up for our guests, shall we?”
“Oh! Yes!” Sam hastily wiped his blue hands on his pants as Gurgi stared on sorrowfully. “They’ll be arriving any minute now! Go! Go! You must all make yourselves presentable for the award ceremony!”
Pet slunk off the counter with a pout, and Gurgi toddled off after her into the house as Artax huffed and pulled himself out of the window. His trotting hooves receded into the distance.
“All right, Sam,” Kenzie said, balancing the cupcakes on her palms. “Are you ready to present the award?”
Sam nodded nervously, his mouth set into a grim line of determination. He gave his breast pocket a careful pat, where the beloved Silmaril sat waiting for its new champion. “If Mr. Frodo could carry the ring to Mordor, I suppose I can carry the responsibility of handing out this shiny rock.”
“Good man.” Kenzie grinned and kicked the back door open, letting in the last few rays of goldenrod sunset. “Let’s get this party started!”
the ceremony begins…
Friends have gathered. Cupcakes are being eaten. And upon the rickety, hastily made stage (please tread with caution, friends, we are uninsured), a small hobbit pulls himself to his full height and carefully clears his throat…
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… FRIENDS AND FAMILY… IT IS MY GREATEST HONOR TO ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF OUR 2026 SILMARIL AWARD FOR MOST FAITHFUL FRIEND!”
There was a polite smattering of applause, followed by a disembodied voice shouting, “YE DON’ GOTTA SHOUT, SAMMY! YE GOT A MICROPHONE, LAD!”
“O-oh!” Sam blushed a million different shades of red as he carefully collected himself once more. “Of course. Well, I am very honored to be back again this year to present this award. As many of you know, I have the greatest friend a hobbit could possibly have. His name is Mr. Frodo Baggins, and if he weren’t off adventuring with the elves right now, I’m sure he’d be here instead of me, giving out this most special award tonight.”
(There was another, more confused applause, where many individuals struggled to determine whether Sam was being modest, or if he actually did not fully believe himself to have been the greatest friend and hero to have ever existed in and outside of Middle Earth.)
Sam cleared his throat again and continued. “Anyway… I have here the results of this year’s award, so I suppose I should just go ahead and open it up! ‘You talk too much, Samwise Gamgee’, my old Gaffer says to me. ‘Ain’t no one wants to hear your carrying on when there are finer stories to tell…’ And I suppose he’s right and all. Mr. Frodo always has the best stories, what with all his adventures… But that brings me back to what we’re here for, doesn’t it!” Carefully, Sam extracted a roll of parchment from his pocket. Smoothing it out, he raised it towards the fairy lights strung across the old tree’s creaking limbs and began to read…
“In fifth place, with 11.36% of the votes…
“WYNN FROM THE TURRIM ARCHIVE!”
A skinny, brown-haired boy loped up onto the stage, his boots thunking the hardwood planks that had been rigged to create the platform. He cast a nervous glance towards the onlookers before carefully tucking a pencil behind his ear and coming to stand beside Sam.
“Congratulations, Wynn,” Sam said stoutly. “It is a wonderful thing to make it into the top 5. Mr. Frodo would be very proud of you. Very proud, indeed.”
“Thank you, Sam,” Wynn said gently.
As the applause began to subside, Sam shook out his parchment and continued:
“In fourth place, with 13.64% of the votes…
“COSTIS FROM THE QUEEN’S THIEF!”
Once more, the thunderous applause began, and a stoic figure stepped onto the platform. He stepped roughly towards the center of the podium, where Sam stood beaming up at him and Wynn waited with a glimmer in his eyes. From the outside, Costis oozed confidence–his broad shoulders straight and firm, his every step sure. Only those that knew him–and possibly not even then–would have noticed the nervous beads sweating his brow as every eye locked onto him.
From somewhere in the crowd, someone whistled.
“Congratulations, Costis,” Sam said proudly.
In response, Costis gave a firm nod, his lips sealed tight.
Sam returned to his parchment once more.
“It would appear as though our third and second place finalists have tied,” he said, a crease between his brows. “Will you please help me welcome to the stage our next two finalists, with 23.86% of the votes each…
“GURGI FROM THE PRYDAIN CHRONICLES AND PET FROM THE CITY BETWEEN!”
“You have got to be kidding me…” Pet mumbled as both she and Gurgi ascended to the stage–Gurgi trailing a step or two behind. “Tied with the creature that ate my coffee beans…”
“Poor Gurgi was only searching for some crunchings and munchings…” Gurgi said sadly. “How was he to know that those were your special beans?”
The two approached Sam, who seemed far from shocked by the odd creature before him that was carefully picking bean pulp out from between his teeth. He had seen many an odd creature during his adventures outside of the Shire (and, one could argue, during his years presenting the Silmaril for Most Faithful Friend). A bizarre, leaf-y creature was far from the strangest thing he’d ever witnessed.
“Congratulations, Pet and Gurgi!”
Pet, dowsed in the applause from the stands, seemed to forget her coffee woes as she thanked Sam with a shy grin. Gurgi, on the other hand, eyed the pastry table with beady eyes.
“Did Gurgi win one of those delicious cupcakes for his troubles, perhaps?”
“Er…I’m sure there will be plenty left over after the ceremony…” Sam said uncertainly. This seemed to pacify Gurgi for the time being, but he continued to eye the cupcakes–and anyone who dared take one–with a hungry look.
Sam glanced down at his parchment once more and swallowed. The time had come. The announcement they had all gathered for. The winner of the 2026 Most Faithful Friend Award.
There was a buzzing in his fingertips–the sort of anticipation that occurs when you are about to reveal a secret larger than life. All throughout the yard, the audience stilled. There was a hush quiet that fell, broken only by the croaking call of the last few cicadas.
“And now,” Sam said, his voice shaking only slightly, “it is the greatest honor to announce our winner. With 27.27% of the votes, may I present–
“ARTAX FROM THE NEVERENDING STORY!”
The applause was deafening. It rose like a wave through the crowd, a crescendo of stamping feet and sharp whistles. Another sound erupted, as well, the clipping and clopping of horse hooves as Artax climbed the stage. His gleaming white coat caught against the final rays of sunlight, glittering as though he himself was made of moonlight.
Wynn grinned and clapped Artax on his shoulder as the horse clopped past. The shouts continued for a moment, resigning only when Sam held up a hand for silence.
“Thank you! Thank you!” he said, his voice echoing over the crowd. “Artax…if you would…?”
With a snort of approval, Artax bowed his magnificent head towards the hobbit, who procured from his pocket a most dazzling green medallion. The crowd inhaled a collective gasp, their eyes latching onto the emerald stone as though hypnotized by its beauty.
With gentle hands, Sam slid the medallion onto the horse’s neck, where it rested boldly against his gleaming chest.
“For your bravery, your courage, and your endless pursuit of friendship,” Sam said. “May you always remain faithful to those you love.”
Artax’s eyes glittered as he pulled his great head higher, emboldened by the hobbit’s kind words.
“And now, my friends, let us celebrate this most glorious day with music, dancing, and feasting!”
There was a shout of approval from the stands, followed by a sharp cry, a smash, and a flurry of blue frosting.
Gurgi, it seemed, had finally descended upon the dessert table…
CONTINUE THE ADVENTURE!
Thank you all so much for reading the 2026 Silmaril Award Ceremony for the Most Faithful Friend! Don’t let the fun stop here! Check out the other Silmaril Award Ceremonies to see what other fantastic fictional characters have won the hearts of readers!
- Wisest Counselor Awards Ceremony
- Most Magnificent Dragon
- Strangest Character Awards Ceremony
- Most Rakish Rogue Awards Ceremony
- Most Devoted Couple
- Most Epic Heroine
- Most Silver Tongue
- Most Nefarious Villain – Coming Soon Tomorrow!
- And check out The Silmaril Awards Website for links to the other ceremonies as they are posted!
Talk To Me, Peasants!