TheGandalf Awards, honoring achievement infantasy literature, were conferred by theWorld Science Fiction Society annually from 1974 to 1981. They were named afterGandalf the wizard, from theMiddle-earth stories byJ. R. R. Tolkien. The award was created and sponsored byLin Carter[1] and theSwordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), an association of fantasy writers.[2] Recipients were selected by vote of participants in theWorld Science Fiction Conventions according to procedures of theHugo Awards.[2][3]
The award was given for life achievement,[2][4] and corresponds roughly to theWorld Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, which was started the year after the Gandalf. In 1978 and 1979, an award was also given for a novel published during the preceding year.
TheGandalf Grand Master Award for life achievement infantasy writing was awarded every year from 1974 to 1981. The inaugural winner was J. R. R. Tolkien, recently deceased in 1973.[4]
There was no ballot in 1981.[5] All other winners since Tolkien were among the five or six finalists one year earlier. Others who appeared on the ballot wereC. S. Lewis,Jack Vance,Roger Zelazny,Marion Zimmer Bradley,Anne McCaffrey, andPatricia McKillip.[2]
TheGandalf Award for Book-Length Fantasy was awarded only in 1978 and 1979.[4][2]
