2016 Silmarillion Awards: Voting

Over the past two weeks, nominations have poured in across all ten blogs hosting the Silmarillion Awards. We asked you to tell us your favorite fantasy characters and items, and your response was thrilling. So many worthy nominations from so many awesome books! (My TBR pile is growing ever larger thanks to this event.)


But only the top five nominations in each category have moved forward to this round: the voting stage. And now it's up to you to pick the best of the best!


I'll include the link to the voting form below, and so will the other nine bloggers. You only need to vote once. So you don't have to check out everyone else's posts, but why wouldn't you want to? Some of us will be talking about the top five in our respective categories, and of course you'd like to read them . . . celebrate those who've come this far . . . speculate who will win . . . all that fun stuff. Right? Right.

• DJ Edwardson // Most Faithful Friend
• Jenelle Schmidt // Most Heart Wrenching Death Scene
• Deborah O'Carroll // Strangest Character
• Abby // Most Nefarious Villain
• JL Mbewe // Best Redemption Story
• Tracey Dyck // Riddling and Poetry
• Jack Lewis Baillot // Best Fantasy Mount
• Madeline J Rose // Most Epic Hero
• Zachary Totah // Wisest Counsellor
• E. Rawls // Best Fantasy Weapon

Before we get to casting our votes, I am pleased to introduce to you . . .

The Top 5 Riddling and Poetry Nominations

Curdie Peterson (The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald)

Curdie is the heroic young miner in The Princess and the Goblin, fearless, resourceful, and skilled at singing rhymes he makes up on the spot. The goblins in the story hate songs or rhymes of any kind (the author observes that perhaps it is because they can make none of their own) and so verses are the chief defense against the goblins for the miners under the mountain or other people who are out after dark. Curdie is very inventive with his rhymes, which not only are very effective weapons, but also often relevant to the story. He drives off goblins and even rescues the princess with the aid of the power of his fearless riddling songs.

Gummy (The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall)

Gummy is one of Them, one of a handful of Minipins in the very orderly Slipper-on-the-Water who doesn't line up with everyone else and isn't afraid to be different or creative--in fact he revels in it. With his yellow cloak and cone-shaped hat and absent, cheerful manner, he's like a perfect, lazy summer day. He has a heart of gold, is a brave friend in a pinch, and practically breathes poetry. His "scribbles" he calls them. Many of the chapters of The Gammage Cup start with a poem from Gummy's Scribbles (Collected Works). Everything's poetry for him and you'll hardly catch him talking without rhyme.

Sir Eanrin (Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl)

This immortal faerie bard is known both Far and Near for his eloquent verse, often penned in honor of his true love. Even in normal conversation, Eanrin speaks with drama and attitude, and is very conscious of his own fame. (He'd better not hear of this Silmarillion business, or his head will get even bigger.) Whether in the form of a man or a cat, Eanrin wields words with ease. For him, they are weapons with which to strike, gifts to bestow, tools to be used. But, more often than not, they are a means of entertainment, and an expression of "higher emotion," as he calls it.

Leonard the Lightning Tongue (Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl)

Prince Leonard wears many hats, not least among them the self-bestowed title of jester. He juggles balls and words with equal skill. Often he will spontaneously produce a rhyme or song, some of which are parodies of the great Bard Eanrin's works (much to the faerie's distaste, of course). These performances tend to ruffle the feathers of dignified people while delighting the less stoic at the same time. He cobbles together entire songs in the space of a breath, unraveling them lyric by hilarious lyric. Yet underneath Leo's joking, carefree exterior lies a broken young man struggling to set things right.

The Sorting Hat (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)

This enchanted brown hat has a tear in its brim, which it uses to talk and sing in rhyme. It decides which of the four houses best suits incoming Hogwarts students. Before the sorting ceremony begins, it always sings a song about each of the four Hogwarts houses. It can also speak telepathically to whomever is wearing it, and it can take into account a student's preference for which house he or she wants. The Sorting Hat's prowess must be great indeed to make it into the Top Five, nonhuman as it is.

It's time to cast your votes!

This link will take you to the voting form. Be sure to hit submit when you're done.

https://silmarillion.typeform.com/to/E8xUZJ

Voting will be open from today (July 4th) until July 14th. Take a look around the other blogs to see the top five in each category, and then pick who YOU think is the very best! May the best characters--and items--win!