2026 Silmaril Award Nominations for Most Epic Hero

Greetings fantasy fiction enthusiasts! Welcome to the eleventh annual Silmaril Awards, the fantasy character awards for readers and by readers.

You have arrived at the nominations page for the Most Epic Hero. This is one of ten stops where you can nominate characters for the internet’s most unique online fantasy fiction awards.

About this award

Unlike most literary awards, these are for the characters, not the authors who create them or the books they come from. Each award will be presented in an online ceremony by one of Tolkien’s characters, since they represent the standard of excellence in fantasy fiction.

Each award is hosted on a different website. You can find links to nominate characters for the other awards below.

Nominees for this award should be men and boys whose acts of bravery, sacrifice, virtue, and loyalty represent the best that there is among heroes of fantasy literature. These are those exceptional characters who captured our hearts not only through their deeds, but inspired us by who they are inside. Their stories are the ones that have staid with us, long after we finished reading and could not have been told without the heroes we have come to love.

As C.S. Lewis put it so well, “Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”

But before you run off into the nominations below. here are a few quick things to know before you put forth your characters.

2026 Silmaril Award Nominations

There are ten awards up for grabs (see the list below for links to the other awards).

All you have to do to nominate is post a comment with the name of the epic fantasy hero you’d like to see considered for the award, along with the book he is from. Or, if you notice that the character has already been nominated, you can simply reply with a “second” to the original comment for that character.

The rules for nominating are as follows:

• You may nominate as many characters as you wish.
• You may also second as many characters nominated by others as you choose. The more “seconds” (and thirds, fourths, etc) a character receives, the more likely that character will move on to the voting round, which will feature the top five most nominated characters from each category (the host will break any ties).
• Nominations can be for fantasy book characters only! (No movie or TV characters allowed).
• The Silmaril Awards are “lifetime” awards. Characters who have already won a Silmaril in previous years are not eligible to win the same award again (though they may win other awards.) Previous winners of the Most Epic Hero include
  • 2025 Kalmar Wingfeather from Wingfeather Saga
  • 2024 The Florid Sword from Wingfeather Saga
  • 2023 Artham from Wingfeather Saga
  • 2022 Janner from Wingfeather Saga
  • 2021 Zero from The City Between Series
  • 2020 Reepicheep from The Chronicles of Narnia
  • 2019 Westley from The Princess Bride
  • 2018 Edmund Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia
  • 2017 Peter Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia
  • 2016 Robin Hood from The Adventures of Robin Hood
• For a list of past winners for other awards, please visit silmarilawards.com.
• Also, characters from Tolkien’s works are not allowed. Instead, they are the presenters of the awards. These awards are for the “other guys.”

This year’s awards

Here is the list of the rest of this year’s awards with links to where you can make your nominations:

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

So draw your swords, storm forth, and raise your banners high!

Let the nominations for Most Epic Hero begin!