Regarding STORMBRINGER!

[Straasha]

What I would like to see is more on Stormbringer as a character.

At the end of 'Stormbringer' the blade itself takes on another form (which in my mind's eye is a woman) :lol: and mocks Elric's lifeless form. We are also told many times that both Stormbringer and Mournblade are sentient creatures with personalities and desires of their own.

It would be cool if perhaps we could see the world through Stormbringer's "eyes".

[Kitsune]

Possible SPoiler
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Aren't Stormbringer and Mournblade aspects of the same entity? At least that was one of the implications of the end of the Hawkmoon Saga.

[Michael Moorcock]

Nice idea. Maybe I can do it as a graphic novel sometime.
The Mournblade and Stormbringer who appear in The White Wolfآ´s Son
donآ´t appear as characters. I felt it might weaken the overall impact of the final novel (Stormbringer) if I made the swords have too much personality of their own. Maybe when things have had time to settle down a bit... :)

[Straasha]

Thank you Mr. M!!!

I've always been fascinated with the blades themselves. The last scene in 'Stormbringer' was quite chilling and made me think differently when I reread the series.

[Anonymous]

Chilling, ummm. I wouldn't have said chilling so much as enlightening, finally we understan precisely what Stormbringer is. As it is a sentient being, and actually personified in the final paragraph, is Stormbringert he ultimate manifestation of Chaos. It can banish Chaos, it can banish Law and kills whimsically. However, it is purposeful, always seeking to slay and feed itself, rather than just alter the world or dominate it, as Chaos is usually wont to do. So, could Stormbringer be the most powerful Chaotic Force in the Multiverse? Alongside its brethren, of which there are thousands, so, they're virtually invincible.

Or am I just reading too deeply into it?

[kid]

Alongside its brethren, of which there are thousands, so, they're virtually invincible.

On that point. . . I’ve a reckoning that Stormbringer and the ‘brethren’ are one and the same entity. Initially, I thought that the Black Sword in all its incarnations was actually an echo of some original and whole manifestation, but upon further reflection, it occurs that (As in the ‘dream within a dream’ scenarios: Sword within a sword within a dream within a sword within a dream within a sword within a sword.) they are all echoes of each other, and none of them are whole, even as the EC itself is never entirely whole. Hence, a gathering of the ‘brethren’ as happens in Stormbringer can be seen neither as ‘coming together of a whole divided’ or as ‘many different entities’ but as a collection of slightly different echoes, which if amalgamated, would not make an even whole, but which are not complete unto themselves. Also, I think the incarnations tend to adapt their shape according to what plane of reality (or dream) they are in, hence there are more similarities between the two Black Swords than between Stormbringer and Cornelius’ needle-gun, and Stormbringer seems to lose or gain power depending where it is in the Multiverse. I’ve often wondered if the Iron Orchid is an incarnation of the Black Sword. . . the trick that she pulled at that party with splitting herself made me quite suspicious.

[Michael Moorcock]

And you have every reason to be suspicious, given that Lord Jagged and a certain Lord Arioch are also apparently related...
Oh, no! Now my headآ´s started to hurt again.
:)

[kid]

Was that a yes? Awww . . . Poor Mr M. . . :(

[Kitsune]

True. "Alas poor Elric I was a thousand times more evil than you" has stuck with me for years.

Thank you Mr. M!!!

I've always been fascinated with the blades themselves. The last scene in 'Stormbringer' was quite chilling and made me think differently when I reread the series.

[Straasha]

It seems that Stormbringer is actually the most evil out of all the other incarnations.
Von Bek's sword Ravenclaw doesn't seem nearly as evil as Stormbringer. Then again there is the different plane of existence in which the power of the sword waxes and wanes.

There was one Eternal Champion novel I read, it was one of the first Moorcock novels I read, but there was some talk about Mournblade and a reference to 'the other one' and how the main character felt absolute dread at the thought of the other Runeblade. I don't remember the name of the novel only that the Ursine Princes played a big part.

Anyways, Stormbringer seems to be 'The Big Bad' of the Runeswords.

I'm glad you share my sentiment Kitsune, I often come back to that quote when I read anything dealing with Elric and the blade.

I wonder what the swords will sound like when there is a movie adaptation made.

[Pellaz]

Von Bek's sword Ravenclaw doesn't seem nearly as evil as Stormbringer.....

...and as for Von Bek's other sword, the unfortunately-named Hufflepuff....well...that one he just never took out of the armory. :lol:

[Clangador]

as much as i love Mr. Moorcock's works, this is my biggest gripe. i really hate sad endings. i hate it when our heroes die. scratch that: I REALLY HATE IT WHEN OUR HEROES DIE! (but he never listens to me.) seriously though, he fills the hero void for me with Corum and Hawkmoon and Jhary and so forth, so i'm not completely empty.

Since when is Elric a hero? Isn't he billed as somewhat of an anti-hero?

~Clangador

[Clangador]

And you have every reason to be suspicious, given that Lord Jagged and a certain Lord Arioch are also apparently related...
Oh, no! Now my headآ´s started to hurt again.
:)

Interesting. I'm just now reading The Dancers at the End of Time right now. I read somewhere that Jagged might be Arioch, but I don't recall where. Very interesting indeed. Elric of Melnibone was one of the first novels I ever read, and the second fantasy novel I was exposed to after The Hobbit. So, I've been reading eternal champion stuff for 25-30 years now. I didn't start reading early. I was in high school before I really began to read for pleasure. (And, in high school, I got teased about reading Moorcock all the time. Like someone's last name has any bearing on anything.) Now I have all these Michael Moorcock books all over the place. On my bookshelf, in boxes, and at my mom's place. I must say, I'm just now getting into some of the more subtle nuances of the stories. I’m finding the Jherek Carnelian to be one of the most interesting incarnations of the eternal champion. Good stuff indeed.

Oh, and as a side note. Arthur C. Clarke is my favorite hard scifi author. Michael. Moorcock is my favorite fantasy/literature author. I read somewhere here that hard scifi fans were unlikely to like your work, but you have at least one of us.

~Clangador

[Pellaz]

Count me in as another hard-SF lover who also loves MM's works. (And most of the better fantasy out there, as my nickname might imply.) Larry Niven, M. Moorcock, Tad Williams, A.C. Clarke, Storm Constantine, James P. Hogan.... I've found that, where possible, I try to alternate reading SF and fantasy books; keeps the mind fresh...with the occasional out-of-genre work thrown in for spice. :D

[Alexa]

yeah there is a whole other series of elric that is recently being released. the dream theifs daughter, the skrayling tree and the white wolfs son. and the white wolfs son is the last EC novel :(

O.o
Really??? That's too bad for me!! I mean, now I'll be dying until I can get a copy of each one (or borrow it, at least) and read it!