by Anthony Perconti
in Issue 82, November 2018
2018
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
-Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
In 1971, Michael Moorcock started a new fantasy series starring Corum Jhaelen Irsei, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe. The White Wolf omnibus edition, The Coming of Chaos, is comprised of three novels, The Knight of the Swords, The Queen of the Swords and The King of the Swords. Corum is of an Earth that is going through a cataclysmic transition. The Old Races, the Nhadragh and the Vadhagh, of which he is a member, are being killed to the point of extinction by the upstart race of humans, known as the Mabden. Also, the Vadhagh connection to the five planes (of the local fifteen) of existence has been severed, thus blocking their access to these other realms. The book starts out on a journey of investigation that Corum is sent on a by his father, Prince Khlonskey, to make contact with Vadhagh kinsman scattered across the continent of Bro-an-Vadhagh. Rumors abound that the animal race of the Mabden have been mobilizing and destroying Vadhagh strongholds. At each family castle that Corum visits, he is confronted by devastation and ruins. The race of the Vadhagh is long lived (average lifespan number in the thousands of years) and has elfin features (much like the Eldren and Melniboneans). They are a rational, thoughtful people who have a deep sense of natural inquiry and aesthetics.
The Old Races see humans as bipedal animals; prodigious, short lived and crude. They harbor no ill will against them. Upon observing this trail of devastation with his own eyes, Corum fears the worst. His concern is that his familial castle is next to be destroyed by the Mabden raiders. He hastens back to Castle Erorn, only to arrive too late. His entire family has been desecrated and murdered, while Erorn burns. The chariot riding Mabden raiders, the Denledhyssi, are still on site and Corum, in a fit of rage goes on the offensive. After thinning some of their number, the prince is eventually overpowered and captured, only to be tortured and mutilated by Earl Glandyth-a-Krae, the leader of the Denledhyssi. Prince Crum loses his right eye and left hand and upon fear of death, he is able to shift with great difficulty to a neighboring plane. Corum is rescued by the Brown Man of Laahr, a shaggy creature named Serwde. The Brown Man tends to the wounded prince and leads him to the island of Moidel’s Mount, populated by the cultured Mabden from the distant kingdom known as Lywm-an –Esh. There Corum meets his great love the Margravine of Allomglyl, Rhalina. Peaceful months pass by, while Rhalina helps Corum heal from the trauma he has endured. The peace is broken when in late winter a host of Mabden raiders, collectively known as the Pony Tribes arrive at Castle Moidel, intent on its destruction. Leading the barbaric horde is Earl Glandyth-a-Krae.
Starting with the tenth chapter (“A Thousand Swords”) of The Knight of the Swords, Moorcock accelerates the momentum of the plot. Not only does the action escalate, but Moorcock’s signature fantasy tropes come into play as well. In order to avert the destruction of Moidel’s Mount, a bargain has been struck with the sorcerer Shool-an-Jyvan. The bargain, while highly effective (the drowned, reanimated Margrave and his rotting sea crew comes back to drive off the Pony Tribes) takes a heavy toll on Rhalina and Corum. To fulfill the bargain, and free his lover from captivity, Corum must trek to the ends of the earth to steal the heart from Arioch, a Lord of Chaos, who is known as the Knight of the Swords on this planar cluster. Shool is an amoral (and near immortal) body swapping sorcerer whose ambition is to ascend to godhood. The character of Shool is highly reminiscent of Mazirian the Magician, from Jack Vance’s Tales of the Dying Earth. Both are megalomaniacs, who think nothing of creating and taking life, causing pain and suffering and ultimately using and discarding people to further their ambitions. Moorcock puts a Vancian veneer of high civility and refinement on his unscrupulous sorcerer. Before departing on his quest, Shool grafts onto Corum a replacement hand and eye for the ones that were taken from him. The Eye of Rhynn and the six fingered, bejeweled Hand of Kwll, are the remnants of two departed fraternal gods; these artifacts can be utilized for supernatural aide when necessary. Albeit, that help comes at a cost; these godly relics are akin to the pair of black swords, Mournblade and Stormbringer, from the Elric saga. While both protagonists gain powerful assistance from these devices, they also put a moral and psychological burden on the user. Friends and loved ones tend to end up dead sooner or later, the longer they are exposed to these artifacts. This is a long running theme in Moorcock’s body of work; the occult always extracts a toll from the wielder. Deities and devils are not to be trusted.
Initially Corum seeks vengeance against Glandyth-a-Krae and his Denledhyssi raiders. But as he progresses throughout the series, he comes to the realization that his true adversaries are the Sword Rulers who have carved up the fifteen planes for their private fiefdoms. A paradigm shift occurs within the Vadhagh prince. At the trilogy’s beginning, Corum is living a comfortable, satisfied life of leisure and the mind. He is highly skeptical of the supernatural, as embodied by the Sword Rulers, as say, a modern day atheist (or perhaps agnostic) is today. Corum’s journey from skeptic to believer in forces inscrutable and vastly greater than himself (many of which, whose ends are diametrically opposed to that of mortals) comprises the character’s arc of these three novels. “Beings of a hundred different races marched or rode or were carried in that procession and he knew that he watched all the mortal races that had ever existed since Law and Chaos had begun their struggle for the domination over the multitudinous planes of the Earth…The procession marched on, not seeing Corum, not seeing the two banners flying, not seeing the Cosmic Balance that hung over them.” (1)
By the end of book two, The Queen of the Swords, Corum is a full-fledged agent of the Cosmic Balance, working for his benefactor, Lord Arkyn of Law, with the purpose of reestablishing equilibrium. Travelling with Rhalina and the Companion of Champions, Jhary-a-Conel the trio are sent to the plane of Xiombarg, the second Sword Ruler in an attempt to aid the City of the Pyramid, the final stronghold of Law in that realm. The people of the City are a lost tribe of Vadhagh who employ advanced science (flying ships, beam rifles) against the hordes of Chaos. Also worth noting, in Queen, Moorcock introduces the long time antagonist of the Eternal Champion, Prince Gaynor the Damned. While in the third book, The King of the Swords, Corum combines forces with Elric and Erekose, two alternate avatars of (himself), the Three Who Are One, against Voilodion Ghagnasdiak (who also appears in the Elric novel, The Sleeping Sorceress AKA The Vanishing Tower). By the finale of the third book, Corum and his supporting cast of characters have avenged the killing of the Vadhagh (against Earl Glandyth-a-Krae), while attaining a resolution to the conflict with the three Sword Rulers. The manner in which Moorcock deals with the final Sword Ruler, Mabelode the Faceless, is ingenious and provides a wonderful plot twist. Let’s just say that when Kwll engages in a task, he is determined to see it through until the very end. He is an entity that doesn’t do things by halves; “Now you can make your own destiny.”(2) The Coming of Chaos is unique in that at its conclusion, the book ends on an optimistic, life affirming note (in stark contrast to the Elric saga). Corum and Rhalina achieve long term peace and happiness together; content to live out their days within the ‘Mabden dream’ that is now ascendant in the world.
New readers to Michael Moorcock who want to explore his myriad worlds, are faced with the conundrum of choosing where the heck to begin. Given the fact that Moorcock’s output has been prodigious for well over fifty years, pumping out multiple series like other writers put out short stories; it can seem like a daunting task. The Coming of Chaos is an ideal place to start for someone who wants to experience the tale of the Eternal Champion, without much of the attendant baggage. This omnibus is a ‘done in one’; while Moorcock went on to write a second Corum trilogy, The Coming of Chaos stands perfectly on its own as a complete, self contained work. No long term commitment is necessary on the part of the reader (although The Prince with the Silver Hand is a wonderful companion piece). Unlike other aspects of the Champion, the protagonist of Corum is genuinely heroic; he strikes the perfect balance between the two opposing poles of self pity and gloom versus sheer altruism. Erekose is desperately trying to reunite with his lost Eldren love Ermizhad, cursed with the psychic weight of remembering all of his past (and possibly future) incarnations. The transgressive, fractured, narrative structure of the Jerry Cornelius novels can be off putting to new readers. While fan favorite, Elric, the albino emperor who holds the title of Kinslayer, has a series of wonderful adventures, yet ultimately is a doomed anti-hero. At times, Corum exhibits bouts of self pity and doubt, but his actions are generally informed by nobility of spirit and a sense of duty to others. This trilogy also showcases Moorcock’s strengths as a (psychedelic) fantasist and world builder. These pages are overflowing with travel to parallel worlds, power mad sorcerers, conflicts on a cosmic scale, super science, wastelands composed of dried blood and several capricious deities. Although there are multiple inexpensive versions available of this collection (that have differing titles), I recommend purchasing a gently used White Wolf edition. You can get them reasonably priced on Amazon or Abe Books. The Coming of Chaos has a brief introduction by the author and sports a magnificent cover that captures the essence of the Vadhagh prince perfectly; Corum standing in the foreground, six fingered, alien hand raised high to port. The cover and the three accompanying black and white interior illustrations are masterfully rendered by Don Maitz.
ENDNOTES:
- Moorcock, Michael. Corum: The Coming of Chaos. Georgia: White Wolf Publishing, 1997. Page 146.
- 2. Moorcock, Michael. Corum: The Coming of Chaos. Georgia: White Wolf Publishing, 1997. Page 397.
©November 2018, Anthony Perconti
Anthony Perconti lives and works in the hinterlands of New Jersey with his wife and kids. He enjoys good stories across many different genres and mediums.