Michael Moorcock Trivia

1. Ulric is taught swordsmanship by his tutor, von Asch, who is described as "shrunken and gnarled". What nickname had von Bek's elder brothers given this swordsman?

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: The Walnut

The walnut, a nickname which seems appropriate from the description, descended from a long line of smiths and swordsmen. Here we see the first of many resemblances of our hero to Elric is his name. He is also an albino (a family disease), the last of his earthly line and as having eyes described as ruby like. All very reminiscent of Elric of Melnibone. One of the von Asch's main lessons was to listen to the song the sword would sing. As to Ulric's brothers, all died in World War One, either from disease or being blown to bits. He is the youngest and sole survivor of the family line.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: Young Kingdoms

Pikarayad is described as being the easternmost of the Young Kingdoms. The Young Kingdoms arose in the lands that were formerly under the control of Melnibone before the Melnibonian's lost interest in an empire. Rhovianion is from Tolkein's Middle Earth, Lankhmar is from the writings of Fritz Leiber and Hot Dang is a small place on Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: The Land of the Bulgars

Apparently, he was a particularly unpleasant character who was killed by his own guardians.

From Quiz "The Books of Corum" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Glandyth-a-Krae

Corum's and Gladyth's hatred towards each other makes one of the most important plotlines during all the trilogy. I think's Corum's willingness to kill Glandyth and avenge his families is the main reason for fighting the Chaos - and when Glandyth dies at the end of the third book, it is the logical ending for the strife between the two - for the Good must win and the Bad must be punished, isn't it so?

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: Ravenbrand

Although it is described as the Raven Sword, the name given is Ravenbrand. The family legends claim it was forged in Venice, but another version claimed that it had been found and that only the hilt was added by known hands. Here is yet another link with Elric: a black sword, whose origins cannot be established but has been in existence for a long time.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Aigues Mortes

Most of the place names in 'The Jewel in the Skull' are 'corruptions' of contemporary names. However, Aigues Mortes is unchanged.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Serpent

The Order of the Serpent was the main 'scientific' arm of Granbretan's Armed Forces and, as its Grand Constable, Kalan was Cheif Scientist to the King- Emperor.

From Quiz "The Books of Corum" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Broggfythus

The name of the plane is mentioned several times, although the plain doesn't play an important role in the book.

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: Sachsenburg

After three months Count von Bek is released into the custody of his cousin Gaynor, but only because Gaynor and his SS companions have failed to find the sword in the Bek family castle. Hoping the Ulric will show them where it has been hidden, they take him around the ransacked property. Although he does not reveal it, Ulric is not aware of where it is either. The hideaway where he placed the sword has been found but the sword is not present. Since he will not (and cannot) reveal the sword's current location, von Bek is returned to Sachsenburg the next morning, with the only expected release being death. In the real world Sachsenburg was indeed a concentration camp, but was a four story mill not a castle as the camp in the tale is. However Lichtenburg was a castle. These two camps were both opened in 1933 and both were in Saxony as is the camp in the story. Herzogenbusch and Vaivara were both camps opened in 1943, in Norway and Estonia respectively.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: Agak & Gagak

Agak and Gagak, brother and sister, sorcerers from another universe form the challenge for the heroes. Fully half of the company are slain before the creatures are vanquished. Jagreen Lern and Theleb K'aarna are both sorcerers from Pan Tang who are met by Elric in other stories. Radagast and Saruman are both from "The Lord of the Rings" by Tolkien. Gog and Magog are (amongst other things), a pair of giants, the traditional guardians of the City of London.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Deau Vere

I first read this book when I was about 9 years old and some of its subtleties eluded - like the fact that Deau Vere was actually Dover.

From Quiz "The Books of Corum" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Murderers

Denledhyssi are the warriors of Glandyth-a-Krae, Corum's worst enemy.

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: Hameln

Ulric is assisted in his escape firstly by his sword, although he is not sure how it came to be in his cell, then by a female archer who turns out to be the titular character. Subsequently the two of them are met by an Englishman, Captain Oswald Bastable who drives off through Germany. Hameln is better known in English as Hamelin and it seems an appropriate place for a link to another world. See the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin for another example. Back to the story, the trio open and enter a cave, closely followed by Gaynor, Klosterheim and a troop of the SS. At first this is a subterranean world, but at other times seems to be a totally new plane of existence. Eventually it is identified as Middlemarch, or Mittelmarch in German, the borderland between human and fairy kingdoms.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: Purple Towns sea-warrior

Smiorgan Baldhead was the captain of a merchant ship which was attacked by the pirates. Having pretended to be able to help them, he took the opportunity presented when the pirates attacked Elric. Another notable point of the gang of pirates is that they appeared to come from wildly differing periods of history in Elric's world yet all co-exist in this place.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Mahtan Just

The bull fight scene, so early in the book, is one of the defining moments for the character of Count Brass.

From Quiz "The Books of Corum" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Moidel's Castle

Moidel was the name of Rhalina's Husband, the Margrave of Allomglyl. When he died in a shipwreck, his wife continued to rule the castle, but its name hasn't changed.

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: Classical Greek

To be more precise, he reaches a university close to Mu-Ooria before he reaches Mu-Ooria itself. Regardless, he discovers that it is considered impolite to speak any other language than classical Greek amongst the Mu-Oorians. The first people inhabitants Ulric meets upon entering seem to have French associations and French seems the logical language to speak. Ulric is welcomed to the lands of the Mu-Orrians by a human-sized red fox dressed as a French nobleman of three centuries past. Then Ulric is ministered to by a member of the French foreign legion. Further along in the story Ulric also gets to meet Baron Blare, Lord Bragg and Duke Bray who are respectively horse, cockerel and mule (though not totally). All are dressed as cavalry officers from the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: Earl

Earl Saxif D'Aan is a distant kinsman of Elric's, distant in both time and family. In particular he is about two centuries back in the history of Melnibone when he was presumed to have died. As with the pirates, this is evidence that the place Elric finds himself is outside of the normal concept of the flow of time.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Silk

This is from a private poem of the philosopher/poet. The same poem is also referred to in Volume 4 - 'The Runestaff'.

From Quiz "The Books of Corum" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Arioch, Xiombarg and Mabelrode

Arioch is the Knight of Swords; Xiombarg is the Queen of Swords; Mabelrode is the King of Swords. All of them are Lords of Chaos. All the other characters mentioned side the Law.

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: Lady Miggea of Law

Although all of these appear in Elric stories, only two appear in this story: Arioch, who is Elric's patron demon, and Lady Miggea, who appears to be insane. Elric is tricked by the word of a lord of law and subsequently can only travel via dreams. Thus he has met and helped Ulric von Bek. Gaynor in his turn betrays Lady Miggea to Lord Arioch, only to find he also has been deceived. Once Tanelorn is saved, Elric can return to his own body. Thereafter Elric and Ulric are once again two separate minds and bodies.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: Crimson Gate

The un-named captain advises Elric that the only way back to his own plane of existence is to: "Seek for the gateway - it is crimson and it emerges from the sea off the coast of the island." To pass through the gate Elric also needs the key, in the form of a large ruby coloured crystal that he obtains from Saxif D'Ann. Of the other options, the wikkit gate has significance in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series while Watergate is or at least was a hotel in one of the UK's former colonies which apparently suffered a burglary of some local interest in the second half of the twentieth century.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: The Mistral

Also known as the Life Wind, the Mistral is the name of a real wind that blows through southern France.

From Quiz "The Books of Corum" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: The Ghanh

To this description I can add that Ghanh's body is in the size of a large bull, its wing span is nearly 30 feet, and its eyes are golden. The Ghanh is one of Queen Xiombarg's favourite creations.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: R'lin K'ren A'a

The search is on for R'lin K'ren A'a, fabled as the place the Melnibonians came from before they founded Imrryr. Imrryr, also known as Imrry the Beautiful became the capital of the Melnibonian empire. But to keep things inconsistent, the city of H'hui'shan, is also known to be the original capital city of the Melnibonians. Quarzhasaat was the first human nation which dared to challenge the Melnibonian empire, and failed.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Baragoons

From all accounts, they were fairly unpleasent and dangerous.

From Quiz The Dreamthief's Daughter

Answer: Elric

This gets a bit complicated. Elric and Ulric are not the same person although they are described as aspects of the same person. For part of the story they are both in the same body, and at times it is not immediately clear which of the two minds is speaking. A further complication is that in the end Ulric and Oona marry. Elric does not discover that he has had any offspring until he is travelling in dreams following his defeat in a duel during the siege of Tanelorn. Following the duel he travels in dreams and comes to a cottage where he meets Oona and finds that he fathered twins with Oone the Dreamthief. Frommental is one of the many characters Ulric encounters in the realms around Mu-Orria.

From Quiz Sailor on the Seas of Fate

Answer: Giant dragonflies

In the world of Elric, all creatures seem to have gods or elementals that they acknowledge as their master, as examples, dogs have "Roofdrak, the lord of dogs", birds have "Fileet, the lady of birds" and bovines have "Nuru-ah, the lord of cattle". Many of these gods appear to have had pacts with Elrics' ancestors that Elric can call on for one last time. In this story the king of insects sends a swarm of giant dragonflies that slay all of the attacking forces and terrify Elric's allies.

From Quiz "The Jewel in the Skull" by Michael Moorcock

Answer: Grain

Apparently it was his own invention, and one that he was proud of.

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