The 2020 Silmaril Awards: Most Silver Tongue Nominations (CLOSED)

The Silmaril Awards are back!

Wait, whoa, hold on, why are you hiding behind furniture? That wasn’t a threat. Yes, I do realize this is 2020 and…yeah, there isn’t much more I need to say, is there…BUT, the Silmaril Awards are a GOOD thing. No murder hornets or vampire aardvarks involved, I promise.

Malcolm, PUT THOSE BACK WHERE YOU FOUND THEM.

Ahem. As I was saying, the Silmaril Awards are extremely fun, and you will enjoy them. Also, you will be very happy to know that after three years of henchmen, villains, and dragons, I have chosen a very safe and benevolent category that cannot possibly result in any interdimensional cataclysms.

But before we discuss the category, let’s go over what the awards are.

The Silmaril Awards are all about celebrating fantasy fiction. But whereas most awards go to authors or books, these awards go to the characters themselves! Sound like fun? Read on.

Started in 2016, these awards are a four week online celebration of all that’s best in fantasy literature. There are ten awards given every year. The characters who receive them have to be from books generally considered to be in the fantasy genre. And a given character cannot receive an award more than once. These are lifetime awards.

Nominations are submitted on the websites of each of the presenters for that year. Anyone can submit a nomination and you can second (and third and fourth, etc.) any number of nominations besides your own.

After the nomination period (lasting one week) ends, the five characters receiving the most nominations will make it onto the ballot and you’ll have one week to vote. After the votes are tallied, the winners will be announced, one per day, over the final two weeks of the awards.

 

This year, I will be managing the Most Silver Tongue award. As I said, there is absolutely no way that this can go wrong, so submit your nominations in the comments without fear. Which fantasy character do you consider to be the most gifted with words? The most skilled at diplomacy, exhortation, and persuasion? The most capable of convincing his or her enemies that they are actually plotting against each other so that they destroy each other without the character actually having to lift a finger?

(Okay, fine, I will admit that the potential antiheroic qualities of a Silver Tongue MAY have played a role in my asking for this award category. But at least I’m placing an equal emphasis on heroism and villainy this year. I have clearly grown as a person.)

Now, let’s go over the rules for nominations.

  1. All characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien are ineligible to be nominated. With regard to these awards, Tolkien characters are considered the ultimate standards for their respective categories already. As such, they will present the awards at the end of this event.
  2. These awards are for fantasy characters only, so no science fiction characters are eligible. That said, we are willing to consider characters from a sciencey book if it has enough magickey stuff going on to warrant admission. For example, characters from the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer are admissible due to the presence of some magical elements in that series. If you’re not sure whether a character is eligible, let me know in the comments, and I and the other Silmaril Awards presenters will decide the issue via gladiatorial combat.
  3. When you nominate a character, you must mention the book that the character comes from. Otherwise you might end up nominating another character with the same name from a completely different book. For example, do you have any idea how many fictional characters are named “Steve”? I rest my case.
  4. Feel free to nominate as many characters as you wish and “second” as many characters as you wish. The top 5 MOST seconded characters will go on to the final voting round. Characters dismissed from the first round will be returned to their respective universes after having their memories of the Silmaril Awards erased. If you complain about the character’s dismissal, you will be sent to a random universe after having your memory erased.
  5. If you are an author, you are welcome to participate, but you can’t nominate your own characters; sorry. That said, feel free to direct your minions to this event. Fans. I meant fans.
  6. 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.
  7. Please remember that these are Fantasy BOOK Awards. A movie character is only eligible for nomination if they were in a book first. Novelizations, tie-in books, coloring books, and Hallmark cards do not count.
  8. We have a Facebook group for the people voting in the awards to get together and discuss them. Click here to find out more and to join.
  9. Finally, don’t forget to visit the other blogs and nominate characters for all ten awards! You can find a full list of the other participating blogs in the graphic below, and there are links to all of them on the official Silmaril Awards website.

One more thing before you start nominating: in addition to Tolkien characters, here are the other characters who have won the award in the past and are therefore ineligible for nomination:

Nominations close on the evening of September 4, so put your choice in the comments below while you can! And check back on September 7 to discover which characters are moving on to the voting round. You can find out more about the Silmaril Awards on the official website. Below, I’ve got links to all the other nominations posts. Be sure to visit them all and nominate characters in the rest of the categories!

Tracey Dyck – Most Epic Heroine

Madeline J. Rose – Strangest Character

Christine Smith – Most Mischievous Imp

Sarah Taleweaver – Most Magnificent Dragon

D.J. Edwardson – Wisest Counselor

Zachary Totah – Most Epic Hero

Mackenzie Keene – Most Nefarious Villain

Jenelle Schmidt – Most Faithful Friend

E.E. Rawls – Least Competent Henchman

We also have a fantastic giveaway for you to enter! You will have a chance to win:

  • A Book Depository gift card
  • A BEVY of books
  • Character stickers
  • White Tree of Gondor bookmark
  • Thorin key, pen, and bookmark
  • A custom hand-drawn map

You can enter via the Rafflecopter widget below.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

177 thoughts on “The 2020 Silmaril Awards: Most Silver Tongue Nominations (CLOSED)”

  2. Pingback: The 2020 Silmaril Awards: Nominate…The Strangest Characters You Know | Short & Snappy
  4. Pingback: THE SILMARIL AWARDS BEGIN! — Most Nefarious Villain Nomination – Smudged Thoughts

  5. I nominate:

    Wit from the Stormlight Archives (yes I’m aware this is a particular alias for Hoid but it’s the persona who’s most wordsmithy on-page thus far SO)

    Jasnah also from Stormlight Archives

    Lady Isabella Farrah from Masque by W. R. Gingell

    Moiraine from Wheel of Time

    Gen from The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

    Sage from The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

    Reply

  6. Hmm, I’ll have to think about it but to start off I nominate: Jest from Heartless by Marissa Meyer. And maybe Hatter too?

    Reply

    1. Excellent. We’ll just count that as a nomination, since I forgot that I was actually supposed to refrain from nominating/seconding characters myself until later in case we need a tiebreaker. 😀

      Reply

      1. Haha. I almost nominated him earlier but then couldn’t decide if he should be a villain nomination instead or not.

        Reply

          1. The power of fantasy, when a character could qualify for most nefarious villain AND most epic hero. 😉

  15. My daughter wants to know if Star Wars counts if it’s a book character, who did not come from the movies? If so, she’d like to submit a nomination for Thrawn. (I really won’t be surprised if the answer is no, though.)

    Reply

    1. I’m fairly certain that Star Wars doesn’t count regardless, because of those pesky midichlorians… ???? But I will check.

      Reply

      1. I wouldn’t expect the midichlorians to matter, if “evolving mind control” didn’t disqualify the Lunar Chronicles. But Star Wars was a movie first and foremost which probably does.

        Reply

        1. So I did discuss it with the other presenters, and we came to the conclusion that Star Wars doesn’t count. Mainly because of the movies coming first. Sorry about that!

          Reply

  16. I nominate:

    -Idris from Fairest Son by HSJ Williams
    -Leonard Lightning Tongue from Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
    -Eugenides from The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
    -Fisk from the Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell
    -Cedric from Winter Cursed by Nicki Chapelway

    Reply

    2. I second Fisk.
      (Also: note that Eugenides has already been nominated several comments up under his nickname “Gen” and the book “The Thief”. Just in case Kyle hasn’t read the books.)

      Reply

  17. I nominate:

    – Merlin (Dragons in Our Midst and Oracles of Fire series by Bryan Davis [he was so fond of his poems and prophecies and songs])
    – Korin (Dragons of Starlight by Bryan Davis [she could captivate vicious dragons with her stories so yes, quite a silver tongue!])

    It seems Bryan Davis liked creating silver tongued characters. XD

    Reply
  18. Pingback: 2020 Silmaril Awards Nominations: Most Magnificent Dragon! | Light and Shadows

  22. Okay, so here goes:
    -Vikram from Crown of Wishes (LOVE THAT BOY)
    -Ignifex from Cruel Beauty
    -Alyrra from Thorn
    -Hua Cheng from Heaven Official’s Blessing (I swear he has the most quotable lines)
    -Mordred from The Guinevere Deception
    -Can I nominate one character for two categories? Because if so, Marak from The Hollow Kingdom
    -Luneta from The Lioness and Her Knight (she’s my fave)
    -Guinevere from Chretien de Troyes’ romances (just pretty much any of his stories where she shows up as a side character)

    I wish I knew of more silver-tongued female characters–it seems like a lot of times authors give this quality to the guys? I don’t know why.

    Reply

  24. I nominate Coren from Moonscript by H. S. J. Williams, and Mor Bo-Lidere from the Weaver Trilogy by Lindsay A. Franklin.

    Reply

  29. I nominate:

    Winter, from “The Lunar Chronicles”. Everything the girl says is interesting, and that’s without glamour!

    Fezzik, from “The Princess Bride”. The rhymes, the rhymes, the rhymes.

    Westley, also from “The Princess Bride”. I honestly just want to nominate everybody from this book.

    Ah! I could do this:

    The Narrator, from “The Princess Bride”. He’s one of those narrators who comments on EVERYTHING, and has his own perspective on the book as one who read it as a kid. He’s got a very unique style.

    I almost wanna nominate Screwtape, from “The Screwtape Letters”, because yes, he’s a wicked demon, but he certainly knows how to get people to listen to him. Then again, I don’t really WANT a demon to win.

    Well, to balance that out, I’ll nominate Old Cass, from “The Nicholas Book”. This frail, little old man has a surprisingly fiery passion for imagination and for Faerie. His words have indeed, as he put it, “baptized the imagination”.

    Alas, that Wodehouse never wrote any fantasy.

    Reply

    4. I second ALL of them and for those who haven’t read the Nicholas Book I would suggest you read it preferably around Christmas but any time is fine
      also I would like to nominate
      Phoney Bone from Bone by Jeff Smith he can manipulate almost ANYONE to do what he says with his words
      also PLEASE tell me Bone counts its definitely a fantasy but its a graphic novel but with nine books and all together over thirteen-hundred pages so I hope it counts

      Reply

      1. I’m afraid it doesn’t, since graphic novels aren’t eligible (only prose books). Sorry about that! I’ll put down your seconds, though.

        Reply

  36. “I have clearly grown as a person.” LOL, I can’t wait to see what shenanigans actually play out this month…

    I second:
    Eanrin!!!!! (Please oh please let this be his year.)
    Sage
    Idris
    Leonard/Lionheart
    Merlin
    Koren (yesss!)
    Cruedwyn Creed (it’s been forever and a day since I read anything from that series, but I remember liking it)
    Tanwen (she was born for this Silmaril!)
    Winter

    And I nominate:
    -Jess Brightwell (The Great Library series by Rachel Caine… if it counts as fantasy)
    -Lazlo Strange (Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor)
    -Bonnie Silver (Dragons in Our Midst/Oracles of Fire by Bryan Davis)

    Reply

  38. I mean, I feel like the only option is the LITERAL Siren from Deadwood, but … I am not sure if her name is Ivana or Ilena … and I’m embarrassed about this. You know who I mean, though.

    Reply

  42. I second:
    Lady Isabella
    Rena
    Irina

    And I’m sharing my siblings’ seconds too because of internet. XD

    (my brother’s:)
    Kiernan Kane
    Curdie
    Irina

    (my sister’s:)
    Eanrin
    Kiernan Kane
    Armulyn the Bard
    Curdie
    Irina

    Reply

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