In a forest far, far away, the early morning birdsong and quiet rustlings of small creatures in the undergrowth are interrupted. For down the secret paths of this forest comes the marching of many feet. The sounds of laughter and excited talk grow as men and women, boys and girls file through the trees. There is little in common with these folk—except for one thing. The books. They each carry novels, strapped to their backs or waists or carried in their hands. They are readers, every one of them.
At last these many readers tramping down their many secret paths meet together in a wide glen surrounded by trees. White flower chains are strung between the branches. At the far end of the glen stands a wooden stage, and spread before it are hundreds of chairs, half of them ready and waiting. The other half are already filled by nearly a hundred and fifty heroines.
The readers take their seats, murmuring in anticipation. For today dawns the beginning of the Silmaril ceremonies… and they are about to discover who will receive this year’s award for Most Epic Heroine.
A girl with a blonde pixie cut and a long grey cloak climbs onto the stage and smiles at the crowd.
“Welcome, fellow readers, to the fifth annual Silmaril Awards!”
The crowd cheers.
“My name is Tracey, and it’s my distinct pleasure to introduce our hostess for this morning—but before I do, allow me to say that I’ve never been quite so inspired as I have been the past few weeks. Housing one hundred and forty-eight worthy heroines in one’s home has a way of doing that to you. Ah, the stories they told me! The bravery, grace, wit, and wisdom of these ladies would light a flame of courage in any heart. But alas, only five heroines could proceed to the voting round.” She sweeps an arm toward the audience. “And now the time has come to see which one found the most favor among all of you!”
Tracey clears her throat and continues. “But that is an announcement for someone else to share. I now welcome to the stage the White Lady, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, daughter of the house of Eorl, who for a time went under the alias Dernhelm and slew the Witchking. I give you… Lady Éowyn!”
A tall woman with golden hair rises from the front row and takes the stage to the sound of even louder cheers. She beams. “Welcome, friends. It is an honor to stand before you today, and an even greater honor to present a Silmaril to this year’s winner. I wish to—”
At this moment, thunder rumbles in the distance. A bank of low, dark clouds rushes to cover the sunrise. The audience stirs nervously as a sudden wind whips through the trees.
“Don’t worry!” Tracey calls over the howling wind. “I’m sure it’s just an early autumn rainstorm! Er, Nym, perhaps you could help direct it away from us?”
A white-haired young woman in the audience shakes her head. “I would, but this is no storm.”
And that’s when the clouds release a swarm of wraiths.
Tattered cloaks stream behind these horrific creatures as their ear-piercing shrieks ride the wind. They stretch down bony hands, grasping, grasping…
“Heroines!” Lady Éowyn cries. “Rise to battle!”
One hundred and forty-eight heroines leap from their chairs, some drawing swords, some fitting arrows to bowstrings, a few summoning magic. Others rush to shepherd the audience to the safety of the trees.
Wraiths sweep low, snatching at the fleeing readers and heroines alike.
A petite woman wearing a cloche hat and a dress straight from the 1920’s raises her hands, glowing runes taking shape in the air. Their light explodes into half a dozen wraiths, dissolving them to ash.
Another woman stands weaponless, dark hair whipping in the gale. She gazes upward at the swarming enemy and… mysteriously smiles as she speaks words no one can hear over the wraiths’ screeching. But there is no flash of magic, no spell to behold. Just a heavy pause among several wraiths, whose forms seem to shimmer into something much more pleasant before they dissolve as well.
A third woman, young but with the practiced glare of a grandmother pinching her face, clambers onto a chair and swats a passing wraith with her cane. “That’s for coming uninvited!” she yells. Another swat. “And that’s for showing up in rags! Really, I know a wizard who could teach you a thing or two about fashion and grand entrances!”
A fourth heroine, this one a child, staggers upright with the help of a crutch. A small black dog noses her leg encouragingly and wags his tail. She gives him a nod, then raises her whistleharp and begins to play. A whirlwind of wraiths obscures her from sight for a moment, but sweet notes rise into their midst and repel them back into the clouds.
A fifth girl, several years older than the child and clad in black robes, lifts a wand and shouts, “Incendio!” Fire blasts upward and consumes ten wraiths at once. A satisfied grin appears on the girl’s face.
In a matter of moments, the wraith horde is gone. All that remains is ash drifting to the grass as the clouds shred into nothingness. Sunlight envelops the glen once more.
Cautiously, the readers creep out of the trees and back to their seats.
Tracey straightens her cloak and gives a nervous chuckle. “Well, those guys came out of nowhere. I hope this isn’t a sign that Kenzie’s villain situation has gotten out of hand…”
The girl in black robes settles into the front row and primly crosses her ankles. “They reminded me very much of Dementors, but I didn’t suppose expecto patronum would work on them. Hence the fire spell.”
The young woman with a cane (which she really doesn’t seem to need, but which suits her anyway) brushes a heap of ash off her chair. “Gracious me, those creatures left a mess. Ah, well, nothing a little soap and water won’t clean up.”
“You’re telling me,” a girl mutters a few rows back.
The dark-haired woman smiles softly. “Don’t worry about it, Sophie. I’m sure we’ve all faced much worse than a little soot.”
“What was that, Ella?” another girl says in a Russian accent across the aisle. “Speak up.”
“I SAID YOU’RE TELLING ME, NASTYA!” Ella shouted, then clapped both hands over her mouth and turned beet red. “Sorry,” she said between her fingers. “The curse of obedience.”
“You should get that looked after,” says the woman who looks as if she stepped out of 1920’s London. “I might know a spell or two—”
“Or three!” the girl in robes interrupts. “Oh, Lady Cordelia, you and I shall have to put our heads together after the ceremony, don’t you think?”
“Brilliant idea. Hermione, right?” Lady Cordelia reaches over to shake her hand.
Before any more conversation can continue, Lady Éowyn calls out, “Quiet, please! I’m glad to see that no one appears to be hurt. While we may never know from where those dreadful creatures came, it is fortunate that we had so many willing heroines present to come to our aid today. Evil will always lurk in the shadows, and it is for this very reason we need people like yourselves. Thank you for leaping into decisive action. I’m sure the previous winners of the Most Epic Heroine Silmaril—namely Cinder, Aravis Tarkheena, and Lucy Pevensie—would be proud of you! As am I.” She smiles warmly.
The mood in the glen settles under her calming voice, and the morning sun warms the chill out of the air.
“And now, on to more pleasant matters and the reason why we are all assembled here today.” Lady Éowyn pulls a sealed parchment from within her sleeve and breaks the wax. “You lovely readers have studied our five finalists and cast your votes. It was an exceedingly close race, and now it is time to reveal the results. Heroines, when I call your name, please join me on the stage.”
She scans the parchment and a small smile lifts the corner of her mouth. “In fifth place with twenty votes, we have a heroine who has made it to the finalist round before… Lady Cordelia Beaumont from the Afterverse!”
The crowd claps. Lady Cordelia walks briskly onto the stage, where she bobs in a curtsy. “Thank you, friends. It’s an honor—although I daresay Nick will enjoy rubbing it in that I didn’t quite win a second year in a row. Perhaps third time’s the charm?” She winks at the audience.
Lady Éowyn consults her parchment again. “In fourth place with twenty-seven votes… Dame Imraldera from Goldstone Wood!”
The dark-haired woman gracefully climbs onto stage to the sound of cheers. Though she is clothed in a simple gown, her beauty is stunning, almost fae-like, and surprisingly not lessened by the slight crookedness of her teeth when she smiles. “Thank you for the gift of your friendship, my dear readers!”
“And in third place with thirty-four votes,” Lady Éowyn continues, “I give you another returning finalist: Sophie Hatter of Ingary!”
Sophie beams as she springs onto stage. “Third’s not so bad, I think. I mean, it’s a wonder I made it this far again. Must be luck. Or perhaps bad luck that I haven’t won yet? Well, that’s neither here nor there. I’m quite happy to be here.”
Lady Éowyn raises her eyebrows at the parchment. “My, my. Our second place finalist has also been on this stage before. Two years ago, in fact. And but for one vote, she very nearly stole first place today. Coming in second with thirty-seven votes is Leeli Wingfeather!”
The crowd shouts and claps their approval as the little girl with the crutch hops toward the stage, her puppy at her heels. Imraldera bends down to pull both Leeli and the dog onto stage. “Well done, little one,” Imraldera murmurs in her ear.
“And now, perhaps, our first place winner is obvious by process of elimination,” Lady Éowyn says with a smile. “But allow me to give her a moment more of honor. This young woman, though Muggle-born, shines in many ways. She is gifted at nearly every subject she studies and, due to her curious nature, has become a wealth of knowledge. If she encounters a problem beyond her expertise, why, she’ll seek the answer in the library. Known by some as the brightest witch of her age, this heroine is skilled at solving riddles, mixing potions, and more importantly, defending not only her friends, but also those who are overlooked and underestimated.
“Loyal to a fault and courageously passionate, I give you this year’s most epic heroine. With thirty-eight votes, our winner is… Hermione Granger!”
Wild cheers sound across the glen as Hermione stands, furiously blushing from her chin to the roots of her frizzy hair. She hurries up to the stage, and Lady Éowyn drapes a medallion over her head.
“Congratulations, Miss Granger.”
“Thank you ever so much,” Hermione says. “I don’t feel I deserve it, but I shall treasure this Silmaril always.”
“Way to go, ‘Mione!” shouts a dark-haired boy with round glasses, sitting in the back.
“You DO deserve it!” adds his friend, a red-headed fellow.
She blushes again. “Er, well, I’m only glad to contribute a few spells here and there to help out.”
“You contribute so much more than that,” Lady Éowyn says. “And clearly a great many people agree with me.”
Again, the crowd breaks out in cheers and applause.
Tracey steps forward. “And with that triumphant note, our first ceremony comes to a close. But don’t rush off too quickly! We’ve prepared a large morning feast for you all. After all, you have a fair way to journey to your next stop tomorrow, where you’ll find out which strange character shall win the day. So eat up first.” She gestures to the opposite end of the glen, where tables laden with eggs, toast, seasoned potatoes, fried bacon, jams, and platters of fruit await.
“And if you happen to have already taken your morning meal,” Lady Éowyn says, “no matter. Some dear friends of mine are strong advocates of second breakfast, after all.”
Laughter ripples through the crowd.
“Eat and be merry, my friends,” Lady Éowyn calls. “Once again, many thanks to this year’s heroines, a veritable army of strong, kind, and courageous souls. May the roads you take always lead you home.”
And with that, the audience of readers and heroines embarks on their next quest: a morning feast of epic proportions.
Check back here for links to the rest of the awards ceremonies as they are posted! The ceremonies take place (one per day) from September 14th-18th and 21st-25th.
- Strangest Character Winner // Madeline J. Rose
- Most Mischievous Imp Winner // Christine Smith
- Least Competent Henchman Winner // E.E. Rawls
- Most Epic Hero Winner // Zachary Totah
- Most Silver Tongue Winner // Kyle Robert Shultz
- Most Magnificent Dragon Winner // Sarah Pennington
- Most Nefarious Villain Winner // Kenzie Keene
- Most Faithful Friend Winner // Jenelle Schmidt
- Wisest Counselor Winner // DJ Edwardson
What a wonderful, epic ceremony. I loved the way you gave each nominee several nice moments and you really captured their voices and character. What a delightful romp. And it was nice to see a little epic flare thrown in with the appearance of the wraiths trying to dampen the festivities.
Talk about starting off the ceremonies with a bang! Bravo. Great job.
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s always a bit of a challenge to capture the voices of characters that aren’t my own, but it helped that I knew most of them this year! 😅
Can’t wait to see which wise counselor wins!
This was so much fun and AMAZING!!! I loved everything about this post! The interactions between the characters was just the best!!!
I voted for Sophie, but send a hearty congratulations to Hermoine!!!
Ahh, that makes me SO glad! 😀 Thanks, Jen!
Sophie is awesome. I had SUCH a hard time voting for a heroine this year… never mind, I had a hard time in just about all the categories, which is nothing new, haha. XD
What a spectacular ceremony and post! Bravo, all! *applause* And wow, what a close vote! :O Congrats to Hermione! And wowww, this was so much fun to read! Well done, Tracey! You’re a heroine too!
Why, thank you! *grins* And right? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a narrow race. Awwwww, now I’m blushing. Thank you again, Deb! <3
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
THIS WAS SO MUCH FUNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED how your introduced each character by the way they’d take on foes, and everyone felt SO accurate to their character. (I was dyyyying over every single one of Sophie’s parts. SO PERFECT AND ACCURATE. Of course she’d swat a wraith with a staff and scold it. I CAN’T EVEN. XDD) And Hermione’s humble, slightly embarrassed but honored reaction to winning felt so true to her too.
I JUST LOVED THIS SO MUCH. Way to begin all the award ceremonies with one epic BANG!
And all the congrats to our dear Hermione! She absolutely deserves it!
But wow, what a close race! :O It’s anyone’s guess who will win next year. (Though I’m rooting for Sophie, naturally. ;D)
THIS WAS AMAZING, GIRL!!!! *all the applause*
CHRISTINE, you’re always a darling. *hugs* I’m so glad the characters came across accurately! That’s always the hardest part of writing these posts. (And hearing that YOU, one of the biggest Howl’s Moving Castle fans I know, liked Sophie’s appearance? Such a compliment!)
Thank you AGAIN! And yes, my goodness, this was such a close race–I couldn’t believe it! Hermione thanks you for the congrats, I’m sure. 😉
Aw, congratulations to Hermione! (I should imagine a Silmaril is nicer to wear than a horcrux locket…) Next year will be Sophie’s year. ;D
And thanks for inviting us to breakfast. I will absolutely take you up on that, and perhaps I’ll bump into some hobbits while eating??
Yay for Hermione! (I imagine so, haha. Though I haven’t gotten far enough in the series to read about horcrux lockets yet, haha… 😅) Sophie’s been in the running before–I’m sure she’ll make it to the top yet! ;D
You’re most welcome! And who knoooows… you just might. 😉
Wow, the incidents aren’t wasting any time getting started this year, are they? So very epic! (and how fitting is that?) Loved the introductions to the finalists, too, of course. Very creative! But yeah, you should probably check with Kenzie after all that mess.
I’m amazed how close it was to Leeli winning. ONE little vote? Wow. Though I voted for Leeli myself, I’m quite happy for Hermione! She’s very cool.
All around great post and wonderful kick-off to the Presentations!
Good thing we had so many capable heroines around to take care of matters! 😉 I do hope Kenzie is surviving. Quite the dangerous business, wrangling all those villains. Though it may not be *their* fault. Evil has been known to lurk in many corners and take many forms, after all.
SO very close! Leeli should be proud!
Thanks so much, Gracelyn! I’m honored you enjoyed it. 😀
Fabulous post! I like how you gave all the finalists a moment to shine; the wraith idea is pretty cool. I admit that I was *really* hoping for Leeli, Imraldera, or Sophie to win, but I’m not terribly surprised by the actual results. You did write her dialogue (and all the characters’ dialogue and such) very well, in any case.
Thanks, Sarah! It was a lot of fun giving each of them the spotlight. Ahh, I know… all of the heroines were so deserving, it was excruciating to cast my vote too. Here’s hoping one of those three you mentioned makes it next year! 😉
And yay, I’m delighted to hear that the dialogue came across well!
THAT WAS FUN. I expected Hermione to win, and of course she did 😝 I can’t wait to see who else won!
Thanks, Merie! Haha, she does have the advantage of being PRETTY popular. 😉
This was great! I love how you gave all of them a voice, even before the final announcement was made. Congratulations to Hermione!
Aw, thanks, Julia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Hermione is ever so grateful for your support, I’m sure! 😉
This was so much fun!!! I’m always rooting for the lesser-well-known characters, but I love Hermione so much! What a fun ceremony! (I shall have to go have a chat with Kenzie… make sure she’s doing all right… I’m guessing that the dementors were probably sent over by Voldemort, which has me worried that he’s got Kenzie either swayed to his side, or tied up in a closet somewhere….)!
Really enjoyed reading this! You captured each of these characters so well!
So happy you liked it, Jenelle! I know what you mean, the underdogs are fun to cheer for. But Hermione definitely deserves the honor too. (This is why voting is SO DANG HARD every year, haha.) (As for Kenzie… I hope she’s not being held hostage!!! But who knows, there’s a chance these wraith thingies are a completely unrelated incident…)
Thanks so much! 😀
This was immensely fun to read! It took me ages to decide who to vote for and Hermione was one of the ones I thinking of! I’m so happy to see her win because she totally deserves it!
So happy to hear that! Oh goodness, I couldn’t decide this year either! Knowing most of the characters in the running makes it so hard. But I’m glad that YOU’RE glad Hermione won! 😀
Pingback:The Silmaril Awards 2020 Ceremony: Most Mischievous Imp – Christine Smith
Whoop whoop!! I voted for Hermione, and I’m so pleased she won! 😀 😀
You did an awesome job with the story of the ceremony, Tracey–I was hooked from beginning to end! 😀
Hooray! Looks like you picked well! 😀
Thanks so very much, Katie! I’m honored that you enjoyed it!!!
HOORAY for Hermione!! I still have yet to read the HP books…I should really get to that…XD
And TRACEY. THIS WAS A FANTASTIC POST. A perfect way to start off the ceremonies! 😀
Hooray! *throws confetti* And YESSSS, reeeeaaad them! I’ve only read the first four so far, but I love them!
Awww, THANK YOU, Maddie! That makes me smile. 😀
I’m so glad Hermione won! And you did a great job with the awards ceremony–loved it! Thanks for hosting!
Three cheers for Miss Granger! So, so glad you enjoyed it, Samantha. Thanks for coming! 😀
Yay, Hermione! *claps*
Huzzah! 😀
What a wonderful post!! Marvelous work as usual, Tracey. It was awesome “seeing” Cordelia alongside all of these amazing heroines.
Thanks very much, Kyle! It was fun having her here… and maybe she’ll nab a Silmaril next year! 😀