2026 Silmaril Award Nominations for Most Epic Hero - djedwardson.com

2026 Silmaril Award Nominations for Most Epic Hero

September 8, 2026 / 39 Comments
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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
  • 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:

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

Let the nominations for Most Epic Hero begin!

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39 thoughts on “2026 Silmaril Award Nominations for Most Epic Hero”

  1. Pingback: 2026 Silmaril Award Nominations: Most Rakish Rogue – Bard on Pilgrimage

  2. Pingback: 2026 Silmaril Award nominations open - Silmaril Awards

  3. Pingback: 2026 Silmaril Awards Nominations: Most Devoted Couple | Light and Shadows

  5. Chloe the MovieCritic

    I nominate:
    Despereaux Tilling from The Tale of Despereaux
    Daniel from All the Crooked Saints
    The Marvelous Boy from Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy
    Ravin from The Pirate Hunter Chronicles

    I think those are the exact same ones I nominated last year but hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying. xD

    Reply
  6. Willow

    I nominate:

    Cadvan from the Books of Pellinor

    Theo from The Glass Sentence

    Septimus from the Septimus Heap series

    Tristran from Stardust

    Ged from the Books of Earthsea

    Calvin from A Wrinkle In Time

    Charles Wallace from A Wrinkle In Time

    Kvothe from The Name of the Wind

    Mendanbar from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

    Reply
    3. Willow

      More obscure (maybe?) nominations:

      Amsel from Dragonworld

      Alun from The Last Light of the Sun

      Bern from The Last Light of the Sun

      Reply
  7. Journey Bloomfield

    I love the Silmaril awards so much! My nominations:

    Lazlo Strange from Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

    Nikolai Lantsov from King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (Nikolai is THE BEST!)

    Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh

    Apen Shepard from The Silver Eye by Laura Hollingsworth (not sure this shall count, but trying anyhow!)

    Thomas Fawkes from Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

    Achan from the Blood of Kings series by Jill Williamson

    Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

    Kel from A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

    Reply
  8. Kesia Thorne

    I nominate:
    Grayden from The Turrim Archive
    Beren from The Turrim Archive
    Odysseus from The Odyssey
    Brant from The Minstrel’s Song Series

    Reply
  10. deborah o'carroll (offline 2026)

    I nominate:
    Athdar from Wrought of Silver and Ravens by E.J. Kitchens
    Conor from In the Region of the Summer Stars by Stephen R. Lawhead
    Kion from the Swordspeaker Saga by DJ Edwardson
    Marik from the Turrim Archive series by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

    I second:
    Cadvan from the Books of Pellinor by Allison Croggon
    Calvin from A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
    Mendanbar from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
    Achan from the Blood of Kings series by Jill Williamson
    Grayden from The Turrim Archive by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt
    Beren from The Turrim Archive by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt
    Brant from The Minstrel’s Song Series by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

    Reply
  12. Rachel

    I nominate Roderick from The Last Motley
    Gerald Matheson from Servant of the Crown, Heir to the Crown Series by Paul J Bennett

    I second Kion from the Swordspeaker Saga
    Thomas Fawkes from Fawkes by Nadine Brandes

    Reply
  13. Brittany

    I nominate:

    Curdie from The Princess and the Goblin (George MacDonald)
    Fionntan from Song of the Selkies (Sarah Pennington)
    Fade and Jake from The Supervillain Rehabilitation Project books (HL Burke)
    Ash from An Alliance of Ash and Jade (AJ Skelly)
    Jace from The Emerald Queen series (Maegwen Salley-Massie)

    Reply
  15. Lauren G

    I nominate:
    Curdie from George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin

    William Bradshaw from Arthur Daigle’s William Bradshaw King of Goblins series

    Reply
  16. Jenelle Schmidt

    I also nominate:

    Inglebert lucas Chesingwick from What Comes of Attending the Commoner’s Ball by Aimee Elisabeth Brown
    Adon from Dragon Ripples by Kez Sharrow
    Baron Astérien Galronden from The Rending Cauldron by Rebecca P Minor
    Jake Rogers from Jake Rogers’ Planet by Philip Wilder
    Ford Montgomery from Haunted by SL Dooley
    Eric Livna from Lord of Winter by Andrew Swearingen

    Reply

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