Stormbringer

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This article is about the sword Stormbringer, for the 1974 album by Deep Purple, see Stormbringer (album), for the video game publisher see Stormbringer Software, for the video game see Stormbringer (video game).

Image:Stormbringer Lancer 1967.jpg Stormbringer is the name of the infamous black sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. Created by the forces of chaos, it is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes carved deep into its blade. It is wielded by the doomed albino emperor Elric of Melniboné.

Chaosium’s role-playing game set in the world of Elric is also called Stormbringer. (One edition was published as Elric!.)

1 Description
2 Books by Moorcock about Stormbringer
3 References to Stormbringer
4 Music inspired by Stormbringer
5 See also
6 External links

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Description

This powerful enchanted black blade is a member of a demon race that was forged into the form of a sword, and as such is a force of chaos and evil. Stormbringer's edge is capable of cutting through virtually any material not protected by potent sorcery, and it can kill any unprotected human in one swing. Its most distinctive features are that it is sentient (if not sapient), with a mind and will of its own, and that it feeds upon the souls of those it kills. Elric loathes the sword but is almost helpless without the strength and vitality it confers him.

Stormbringer’s hunger for souls is such that it frequently betrays Elric by creating a bloodlust in Elric and turning in his hands and killing friends and lovers. The cursed nature of the sword adds to Elric’s guilt and self-loathing even as he feels pleasure when the stolen lifeforce enters his body.

Stormbringer has a ‘sister’ sword named Mournblade, which was at one time wielded by Elric’s cousin and enemy Yyrkoon. It is identical to Stormbringer in most regards.

In the novel Stormbringer, Elric summons others of Stormbringer’s demonic race (also in the form of swords) to fight against three Dukes of Hell.

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Books by Moorcock about Stormbringer

Elric of Melniboné (1972)
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1961)
The Weird of the White Wolf (1967)
The Vanishing Tower (1970)
The Bane of the Black Sword (1967)
Stormbringer (1963)
The Fortress of the Pearl
The Revenge of the Rose

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References to Stormbringer

Stormbringer makes an unofficial appearance in the computer role-playing game NetHack, with much the same attributes that it possesses in Moorcock's works (tendency to attack by itself, including friends; sucks the force of the living beings that it hits, etc).

Many fantasy games, including the Diablo series, feature swords and other weapons which possess the ability to heal their wielders when they are used to attack and kill enemies (known as “life leech” or “life steal”). This property is similar to Stormbringer’s ability to grant health and vitality to Elric by slaying foes, and Stormbringer serves as a likely inspiration.

A number of Stormbringer-like vampiric swords appear in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, most notably in the adventure White Plume Mountain, whose cover art features a pale-skinned elf wielding a black blade called Blackrazor.

In Dave Sim’s graphic novel Cerebus, the Elric parody character Elrod of Melvinbone wields a sword called “Seersucker”, which leads Cerebus to remark to himself, “Tarim! Who would believe a sword could get rusty enough to turn black?”

In the Forge of Virtue expansion pack to Ultima VII: The Black Gate, players obtain The Black Sword, which is a clear derivation of Stormbringer.

In the game Drakan there is a spin off of Stormbringer called "Mournbringer" matching the description of Stormbringer and the Mournblade.

In the Warcraft mythos, Arthas (a prince who betrays his country, becomes undead and albino; ending up looking rather like Elric), wields Frostmourne; a black, soul-stealing Runeblade.

In Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark; it is possible to find a black sapient Runeblade in the midst of Undermountain, which contains the soul of a previous adventurer; not only does it heal you when you strike other enemies, but it is also capable of holding a conversation with you.

The bunny girl in Gainax's legendary Daicon IV short for the opening of the 22nd Annual Japan Science Fiction Convention in 1983 flies riding on top of Stormbringer.

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Music inspired by Stormbringer

The band Hawkwind, who have had a long association with Moorcock, released an entire album about the story of Elric and Stormbringer, The Chronicle of the Black Sword.

The 1980 Blue Oyster Cult song "Black Blade" on the Cultosaurus Erectus album was created as a collaboration between Eric Bloom and Michael Moorcock.

Seminal hard rock/metal act Deep Purple have a track entitled Stormbringer on their 1974 album of the same name.

The German metal band Blind Guardian’s song Fast to Madness is based on Elric and references Stormbringer several times. It is found on their Follow the Blind album.

The Italian metal band Domine have a number of songs based on the Elric saga and referencing Stormbringer. These songs are The Chronicles of the Black Sword(from the Champion Eternal album), Last of the Dragonlords (Lord Elric’s Imperial March) and Dragonlord (The Grand Master of the Mightiest Beasts) (from the Dragonlord (Tales of the Noble Steel) album), Horn of Fate, The Bearer of the Black Sword, For Evermore, and Dawn of a New Age (A Celtic Requiem) (found on the Stormbringer Ruler album), and The Song of the Swords (from the Emperor of the Black Runes album). Additionally, Elric and Stormbringer are featured on the cover art for all four albums. Michael Moorcock himself is also specifically thanked and noted as an influence in the liner notes for each of their albums.

The song Bane of the Black Sword by American metal band Apollo Ra on their Ra Pariah album deals with the adventures of Elric and Stormbringer.

The American metal band Cirith Ungol’s song Nadsokor from their One Foot In Hell album references Elric, Stormbringer and the city of beggars found in the Elric saga. Michael Whelan’s paintings of Elric and Stormbringer are also featured on the cover art of all 4 Cirith Ungol albums.

The song Mourning Sword by the Greek metal band Battleroar on their self-titled album deals with Stormbringer.

The spanish metal band Dark Moor features an Elric and Stormbringer related song titled The Fall of Melnibone as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their album Hall of the Olden Dreams. The song was later made available to the American and European markets on the album Between Light and Darkness.

The song Borrowed Time by the NWOBHM band Diamond Head on their Borrowed Time album deals with Elric and is told from his point of view. In this song, he refers to himself as “a slave to this black blade”. Elric and Stormbringer are also featured on the album’s cover artwork.

The song Sword’s Lament by the American metal band Cauldron Born references both Stormbringer and Mournblade.

In Terry Pratchett's novel The Colour Of Magic, a sword by the name of Kring features, which is said to have been owned by many heroes, is many years old, and is black of colour.

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