A great aspect of Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse is that it has been used time and time again as a vehicle to introduce characters from one series into another. This device has allowed the author to successfully create new incarnations of a character in different planes, or to bring that very same character into a different world by means of sorcery or time travel. It is one of the many things that has made Moorcock’s works so intriguing and unique. One can feel right at home when diving into the first book of a new series because everything seems somewhat familiar and connected in a way.

In this edition of Demons of the Multiverse, I’ll be talking a bit about a short scene from the Corum Chronicles in which one of these brilliant crossovers occurs. It takes place in The King of the Swords – the third book in the first trilogy of Corum.

At the beginning of the book, the land is tainted by The Cloud of Contention – a magical evil presence that is spreading throughout Corum’s world. The cloud turns man against his loved ones, and murder is raging. It begins corrupting the realm and even makes its way to Corum and his companions at Castle Erorn.

Our scene begins with “Whiskers”, the small winged cat and pet of the Companion of Champions Jhary-a-Conel, flying across land and sea to the Nadragh Isles now conquered by the Mabden. The cat follows a psychic scent rather than a physical one. Once before has the winged animal followed a similar scent, when he had gone to Kalenwyr to witness the great massing of Mabden and the summoning of their now banished gods: The Dog and the Horned Bear. This time, however; the cat acts upon its own impulses. It has not been sent to the Nadragh Isles by Jhary-a-Conel, its master.

It lands upon a rooftop of a small building in which a glowing and transparent dome has been built. By peering within, the cat is able to observe a strange scene taking place within the building.

Within the dome, Whiskers observes the evil Glandyth with Ertil, one of his enslaved Nadragh wizards. Those who are familiar with the Corum series will recall Glandyth-a-Krae as the hated Mabden Earl who was instrumental in the uprising of the Mabden race (that of man), and the banishing of the elder races (the Nadragh and the Vadagh). He is also the one who was responsible for maiming Corum early on in the story by torturing him, cutting off his hand and burning out his eye. In addition to this offense, the Mabden leader brought many more treacheries upon Corum and his kind, and is the Prince in the Scarlet Robe’s arch nemesis.

Glandyth is interrogating Ertil, asking if his spell still works and if the Cloud of Contention still roams. The wizard assures him that because it is aided by Chaos, the spell is strong and will not falter. Glandyth then asks if the wizard can ensure that the cloud destroys Corum. Ertil says that since Corum is mortal he will eventually die like all the rest. Glandyth is not satisfied with his answer, and demands they summon more aid from Chaos. He tells Ertil “summon that demon again”. The Nadragh cowers and pleads against this, as every time he performs the ritual it takes a year off of his life. Glandyth eventually threatens the sorcerer with death, and so the ritual begins.

Ertil goes to the far side of the room where there is a table with potions, spell components, and caged animals upon it. From one of the cages he retrieves a small monkey. It clings to the wizard in fright, and Moorcock makes it unclear who is more afraid; the animal or the wizard. Ertil gives the monkey something to sniff and it becomes quiescent. Next, the Nadragh sets an X-shaped frame upon the table and positions the primate upon it. With a hammer he then crucifies it to the rack, driving nails through its hands and feet. The unseen Whiskers shudders at this and becomes increasingly nervous while observing the animal-cruelty. Ertil continues by drawing a complicated figure on the table around the body of the monkey, then places bowls in each of the ten corners of the figure. He lights the contents of the bowls and a green and yellow smoke starts to fill the dome. Ertil begins poking hot irons in the primate’s body while the smoke thickens. Soon the dome is completely filled with smoke. Whiskers can only observe shadowy figures in the room, but his cat-senses are able to discern the chanting.

Yrkoon, Yrkoon, Esel Asan. Yrkoon, Yrkoon, Nasha Fasal… Yrkoon, Yrkoon, Meshel Faran. Yrkoon, Yrkoon, Palaps Oli… Yrkoon, Yrkoon, Cenil Pordit…

Suddenly, smoke disperses and the scene in the dome becomes as clear as before. No longer does the monkey remain crucified upon the rack, instead: a human form of the same size now hangs comfortably upon the metal frame. It has features such as that of the Nadragh and the Vadagh, but with evil in its tiny face. It is the demonic form of Yyrkoon, the slain Melnibonean usurper from the Elric story. The demon asks why he has been summoned. Glandyth answers that he requires more power in order to destroy Corum, and wishes to claim the Sword Realms for Mabelode (The King of the Swords, and Yyrkoon’s master). Yyrkoon responds that he has already assisted Glandyth in this matter, and here we learn that it was a previous summoning of this infernal entity that created the Cloud of Contention. They continue to bargain, and eventually Yyrkoon grants Glandyth and his men the demonic powers he seeks in return for his vow of loyalty to Mabelode. The scene soon ends while Whiskers returns with more news for Jhary-a-Conel, and Corum’s adventure resumes.

As many of us know, Yyrkoon was slain by Elric with the sword Stormbringer. By this happening, his soul was sent to the Hells of Elric’s patron demon Arioch, and feeds the albino with vitality. In the Corum cycle, we learn that Arioch is actually The Knight of the Swords, ruler of his own chaos realm in The Fifteen Planes. In The Knight of the Swords, Arioch is slain by Corum and thus Law regains that sword realm. Although it is never explained, I would like to ponder if once Arioch was destroyed, all the souls he had collected went to Xiombarg and Mabelode, the Queen and King of the Swords... Or perhaps, since Yyrkoon wielded the sword Mournblade he was a servant of Mabelode all along instead of Arioch like Elric… We may never know the answer to how Yyrkoon came to this state when he was originally damned to Arioch. After all, anything is possible in the Multiverse, but it is fun to speculate. 

A rare occurrence in Moorcock’s works for a secondary character to appear in an entirely different saga, I cannot express how excited I was when I first read this chapter. Who would’ve thought that the evil cousin of Elric would suddenly appear as a demonic humanoid in Corum’s world? In the Elric story, there is no doubting Yyrkoon’s malice and cruelty, so it is no surprise that after being slain he would end up as a cursed entity of Chaos to be summoned by dark sorcerers. An easily overlooked scene, it is a brilliant crossover and a real treat for those who have already dove into Moorcock’s previous works. It perfectly leads up to an even more exciting episode that happens later in the same book when Corum learns what is meant by “The Three Who Are One”…   

Previous installments in the Demons of the Multiverse series:

Quaolnargn

Matthew Knight is the guitarist/vocalist/lyricist/songwriter of the American Heavy Metal band ETERNAL WINTER. Their latest album Archaic Lore Enshrined: Songs of Savage Swords and Dark Mysticism features songs based on works by Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore, Michael Moorcock, Michael Shea, Edgar Allan Poe and others. For more information please visit: www.eternalwinter.com and www.eternalwinter.bandcamp.com.

Knight’s collaborative fantasy/horror novel (co-authored by Howie K. Bentley and Byron A. Roberts), Karnov: Phantom-Clad Rider of the Cosmic Ice, was published by DMR Books in 2019.