u/ApprehensiveGrade113

Reading Moorcock can be tricky, especially when you're not sure what the order should be, or if you should actually read them in the chronological order.

Well, I've experienced one reason why chronology doesn't always work with his stories. I read The making of a sorcerer sometime around last year, and half a year later I read The Skrayling tree. The latter was actually written before the Making of a sorcerer, but chronologically, TmoaS takes place before the first novel. So, makes sense to read it first, right?

Nope.

There was a rather interesting plot twist in The Skrayling tree that I immediately realized because I read TmoaS beforehand, and it was revealed at the very end of the book, but I missed the opportunity to enjoy it as I knew it was coming for more than half of the book.

So, in short, read these two stories by the date of release, not chronology. The Skrayling tree - > The Making of a sorcerer.

Corum's >!death !<was so stupid and embarrassing that he was literally >!brought back to die a proper, epic death!<. I've been thinking about how the Silver hand trilogy ended, and I remember being baffled at it on my first read and hating Medhbh for it, but after revisiting it, I have reached a few conclusions that tie in with the Swords Trilogy.

Corum's biggest fear is being alone. That much is evident in how he acts when he is indeed left alone. He lost his family so abruptly, he thought himself the last of his kind, that's gotta leave you with some deeply rooted anxieties. And then his wife, who is mortal and he has longevity (I refuse to call it immortality, cuz it's not) >!died!<, leaving him completely alone. I'm not sure if this is the case, but the Vadhagh strike me as a community-oriented society, and have rarely lived alone. He became a recluse, refusing to speak to anyone, and was essentially wasting away until Jhari came to see him.

He isn't sure of the people of Tuatha Cremm Croich but his fear of being alone once again overrides his common sense, choosing to stay, despite the impending doom of the prophesy he came to learn not long after arriving. And then there's his new girlfriend Medhbh, who is nothing like his wife. She's brash, bold, a woman who frequently insults him (unintentionally), and who actually instills fear into him. And yet, even as she's forced to >!kill him!< because fate determined so if he refused to leave, his fear of being alone is stronger than the sense of duty he has, and he chose death rather than reliving that loneliness again.

And yet, he's >!brought back to life,!< and boards the Dark Ship.

But here's the sad thing. The fact that he was >!brought back!< meant that he was never meant to >!die !<like that... He had a choice and he took the one he wanted, but that was not what fate intended, so he was >!brought back!< because he was always meant to go onboard the dark ship after he defeated Calatin and the Fhoi Myore. The prophesy to me feels like a warning more than an actual doom set in stone, but it turned into a self fulfilling prophesy because Corum chose it.

But he once again chose how he >!died!<. When he returns to the remains of Rhalina's castle after the defeat of Agak and Gagak, he is encountered by >!Kwll!<, who invites him to go with him and his brother if he wishes to live a little longer, but Corum refuses, and when the >!spirit of the Black Blade comes to claim his soul, !<Corum >!kills himself!< before it can reach him, leaving it enraged, and almost afraid.

Corum was a champion who chose his fate, twice, even if it destroyed him. His defiance of fate is more subtle than Elric's but it's there.

I think I asked about this a few years prior, but what classical piece of music do you associate with Elric or maybe some other character?

For me, I found Ravel's Bolero strangely fitting for the eternal champion as a whole. The repetitive sound, non-evolving melody reminds me of the never changing fate of the champion, always stuck in the same role to save the world. The changing instruments depict the different identity of the champion throughout all their lives, and the snare drum represents the black blade, always present, carrying their burden with them. The sudden change in melody at the end and abrupt ending is their final task being over at last but they depart just as suddenly as they're no longer needed.

For Elric specifically, yes, rite of spring by Stravinsky. the bitonal, erratic rhythm just screams chaos, and I won't even go into the plot of the ballet itself, but the fact that it caused a riot on its premiere is on par with how big of a sensation Elric was himself because both subverted expectations of their respective genres. And the presence of french horns (instrument I associate with him) just adds more to it.

For the Spanish speakers, this guy makes rather good videos about the Eternal Champions. So far, he's made videos about Elric and Corum, but I think he plans to talk about Erekose and Hawkmoon, too.