But perhaps one of his most interesting notions was his idea of an Eternal Champion, an agent of Balance that tries to keep the opposing forces of Law and Chaos from gaining too much of an advantage, a state of affairs that would end existence. He was concerned with ongoing struggle between Law (Order) and Chaos. He was one of the first writers to regularly invoke the concept of the Multiverse, an idea that’s now standard in science fiction and fantasy. Moorcock’s general philosophy was influential as well. (Photo by Catriona Sparks Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.) That running thread made Elric markedly different, and the story’s influence would creep into other media, like the story of the Black Knight and the Ebony Blade in Marvel Comics, or the frail but powerful sorcerer Raistlin in the massive series of Dragonlance novels. Even if he undertook an objective with the best of intentions, the constant threat of Stormbringer would lead things to ruin, even costing the lives of people close to Elric. The weighty backstory brought a complexity and tragic nature to Elric. According to the stories, Stormbringer itself was a Chaos demon in the form of a black sword, and to lend that strength to Elric, it had to consume the souls of its victims. When he found the sword Stormbringer, Elric discovered that it made it him strong and healthy however, it exacted a huge price. Despite his frailty, Elric used magic and herb lore to overcome his physical weakness. He was described as thin, even frail, with long white hair, and he looked markedly different from other heroes due to his albinism and red eyes. Whereas Conan was brawny and Aragorn was the noble romantic hero, Elric was a tortured soul whose body was wracked by physical ailments. (Image ©DAW 1979 with cover art by Michael Whelan Wikimedia Commons via Fair use).Įlric was the complete opposite of other fantasy or sword and sorcery protagonists that were popular at the time. Michael Moorcock’s The Weird of the White Wolf. The novella introduced the world to his unusual protagonist, Elric of Melniboné. In June of 1961, Moorcock published The Dreaming City in Science Fantasy No. By 18, he was working on novel-length projects while writing and editing for other outlets. By his late teens, he was an editor of the weekly magazine Tarzan Adventures and publishing his own stories in its pages. London-born Moorcock got interested in writing and literature at a young age. Launched 60 years ago this month with the novella The Dreaming City, the series continues to fascinate readers. But Michael Moorcock’s The Elric Saga is a majorly important series even if you’ve never heard of it, The Elric Saga has had a major influence on books you read and games you play. When it comes to fantasy literature, almost everyone knows The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia.

Elric by Michael Moorcock