⸸ ᚱ ᚢ ᚾ ᚨ ⸸ Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné · Vol. I

Elric: The Stealer of Souls

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Michael Moorcock  ·  Stories first published in Science Fantasy magazine, 1961–1964  ·  Del Rey collected edition, 2008

Part I — The Stealer of Souls

The Dreaming City Science Fantasy #47, June 1961 War · Betrayal
The Sack of Imrryr
Elric, the albino last lord of Melniboné, exiled and bitter, secretly enters Imrryr to find his beloved Cymoril held in sorcerous sleep by her brother, the usurper Yyrkoon. Unable to wake her, he makes a terrible pact with the sea-lords: he will guide their fleet through the secret maze-channels of the Dreaming City's harbour in exchange for helping him reclaim Cymoril and the Ruby Throne. He leads the greatest reaver fleet in the world to destroy his own birthplace. The city burns. The Dragon Masters ride their war-beasts in a last desperate sortie, routing the fleet.
⚰ In the chaos of battle, Elric slays Cymoril with Stormbringer — the sword drinks her soul before he realises what he has done. Yyrkoon escapes. The Dreaming City is gutted, its towers toppled. Elric flees alone across a sea strewn with the dead of two civilisations. His exile becomes absolute.
Imrryr · The Dragon Isle · The Shazaar Sea
While the Gods Laugh Science Fantasy #49, October 1961 Quest · Grief
The Dead Gods' Book
Elric, wandering the Young Kingdoms in desolate aftermath, is approached by Shaarilla of the Dancing Mist, a half-human woman who believes the Dead Gods' Book — an ancient tome of ultimate cosmic truth — holds the answers to the meaning of existence. She hires him to help retrieve it. Elric, racked by grief over Cymoril and desperate for any purpose, agrees. He also meets the wandering merchant-adventurer Moonglum of Elwher, who becomes his loyal companion and counterbalance — cheerful, practical, and utterly faithful where Elric is tragic and brooding.
✦ The trio reach the Black Mountains. Within a fortress of the dead, Elric discovers the Book — and reads it. The truth within destroys Shaarilla's faith utterly. Elric, characteristically, refuses to be broken by it. Moonglum becomes his permanent companion.
The Young Kingdoms · The Black Mountains
The Stealer of Souls Science Fantasy #51, February 1962 Chaos · Sorcery
The Elemental War of Tarkesh
Elric and Moonglum arrive in the city of Bakshaan where an old enemy, the merchant Nikorn, plots their deaths. A deeper danger emerges: in the mountain city of Tarkesh, a great war between elemental forces — of Wind and of Fire — is about to engulf the region. A sorcerer summons Elric to arbitrate between the warring elements. Stormbringer's soul-drinking power becomes the focal point of a cataclysm.
⚡ Elric uses Stormbringer and his Chaos Lords' pact to unleash devastating elemental forces, ending the conflict at terrible cost. Once again, the sword saves him — and damns him.
Bakshaan · Tarkesh · The Young Kingdoms
Kings in Darkness Science Fantasy #54, August 1962 Journey · Marriage
The Forest of Troos & The Three Kings
Elric and Moonglum journey through the dread Forest of Troos, said to be a place of ancient, sleeping evil. There they encounter the half-mad blind minstrel Veerkad, who sings of the Three Kings in Darkness — long-dead monarchs of the buried kingdom of Org — whose undead presence still curses the land. The travellers descend into the tomb-city of Org itself. Elric encounters and rescues Zarozinia, a young noblewoman of Karlaak. Against his own melancholy instincts, he falls in love.
♥ Elric and Zarozinia marry, settling briefly in Karlaak. The tomb of Org is destroyed, its ancient evil cleansed. For a time, Elric knows something like peace. Moonglum remains at their side.
Forest of Troos · Org · Karlaak by the Weeping Waste
The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams Science Fantasy #56, 1962 (orig. "The Flame Bringers") Chaos · Dark Sorcery
The Flame Bringers of the Desert
A caravan crossing the Weeping Waste brings strange fire-creatures — the Flame Bringers — entities of living fire that consume and destroy. Elric must use sorcery and his pact with Chaos to combat them. The story, originally published under an alternative title, was revised by Moorcock for this collected edition and bridges the early, more pulpy tales with the increasing cosmic scope of the later stories.
🔥 Elric's reliance on Stormbringer and his Chaos patrons deepens. The threat is contained, but at a cost to those around him. His curse makes him dangerous to all he loves.
The Weeping Waste · The Young Kingdoms

Part II — Stormbringer (The Four-Part Serial)

Dead God's Homecoming Science Fantasy #59, 1963 Doom · Dead Gods
The Return of Darnizhaan
The four-part serial begins. The warlock-priest Jagreen Lern makes a pact with the Lords of Chaos to conquer the world. Through his ritual tampering, one of the ancient Dead Gods — Darnizhaan — is enabled to return to Earth. Jagreen Lern's cult grows in power across Pan Tang and the southern nations. Elric's wife Zarozinia is abducted by Darnizhaan's acolytes as a hostage and sacrifice. The mysterious Sepiriz, one of the ancient Nihrainian people who serve Fate, appears to Elric and reveals the true scope of the coming catastrophe.
⸸ Sepiriz reveals that Elric carries one of two sister-swords forged to destroy the Dead Gods themselves. Elric and his cousin Dyvim Slorm must journey to confront Darnizhaan and rescue Zarozinia. The war between Law and Chaos over the fate of the Earth begins in earnest.
Karlaak · Nihrain · The Realm of the Dead Gods
Black Sword's Brothers Science Fantasy #60, 1963 Chaos vs Law · War
The Sister Swords & The War Gathering
Elric recovers Zarozinia but the Dead God Darnizhaan is not yet destroyed. Sepiriz explains the full cosmology: the forces of Chaos — including the Dead Gods — threaten to overwhelm the balance of the world entirely, extinguishing the age of men. Law fights back through Fate's agents. Elric and Dyvim Slorm wield the two paired runeblades — Stormbringer and Mournblade — which together are uniquely capable of destroying the Dead Gods. Allies gather: nations of the Young Kingdoms, Moonglum, Dyvim Slorm. Elric must become not just an exile but a war-leader.
⚔ The two swords are revealed as having been forged in a previous cosmic age specifically to combat the Dead Gods. When paired, their power is catastrophically amplified. Darnizhaan is confronted and destroyed. But Jagreen Lern and the full might of Chaos still looms.
Nihrain · The Young Kingdoms · The Sea of Chaos
Sad Giant's Shield Science Fantasy #63, February 1964 Doom · Catastrophe
The Shield of Law & The Fall of Nations
Jagreen Lern's forces — backed by the Lords of Chaos — sweep across the Young Kingdoms. Nations fall one by one. Elric leads desperate resistance, calling on every power available to him: his Chaos pacts, the Dragon Lords of Imrryr's remnants, the Nihrainians, and the raw devouring power of Stormbringer. A great relic — the Shield of Law — becomes central to the struggle, a last bulwark against absolute Chaos. The world's geography itself begins to warp as Chaos bleeds through from its own realm.
🌊 Catastrophic losses. Zarozinia's fate grows uncertain. The balance of Law and Chaos tips further toward dissolution. Elric begins to understand that his own existence, his Chaos-tainted blood and soul-sword, is part of the cosmic mechanism — he is not merely a pawn but a fulcrum.
The Young Kingdoms · The Boiling Sea · Pan Tang
Doomed Lord's Passing Science Fantasy #64, April 1964 Doom · World's End
The End of the Young Kingdoms
The final chapter of the serial. Elric and Moonglum make their last stand against Jagreen Lern and the assembled forces of Chaos. The cosmic war reaches its conclusion. Elric calls upon powers beyond his usual pacts — the very forces of Fate that Sepiriz serves — to tip the balance. Stormbringer feeds on souls beyond counting, devouring even those Elric loves. The Young Kingdoms as a civilisation are shattered. A new age will begin — but not for men as they were.
💀 Elric slays Moonglum with Stormbringer — the sword takes his closest friend's soul as its final feast. Elric himself is consumed by the blade at last. With his death and the death of the age, Stormbringer — freed and triumphant — departs into the void. The world turns, and a new, less magical age begins: the Age of the Young Kingdoms gives way to what will become our own history.
The World's End · The Shore of Eternity

⊕   Publication Record — Stories in This Volume

Story First Publication Magazine No. Type
Putting a Tag on It Amra vol. 2 #15, May 1961 — Essay (non-fiction)
The Dreaming City Science Fantasy #47, June 1961 #47 Short novel — Elric's début
While the Gods Laugh Science Fantasy #49, Oct 1961 #49 Short story
The Stealer of Souls Science Fantasy #51, Feb 1962 #51 Short story
Kings in Darkness (w/ J. Cawthorn) Science Fantasy #54, Aug 1962 #54 Short story — co-authored
The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams Science Fantasy #56, 1962 #56 Short story (orig. "The Flame Bringers")
Mission to Asno! (Sojan story) Tarzan Adventures, Sept 1957 — Early Moorcock — pre-Elric
Dead God's Homecoming Science Fantasy #59, 1963 #59 Stormbringer serial, part 1
Black Sword's Brothers Science Fantasy #60, 1963 #60 Stormbringer serial, part 2
Sad Giant's Shield Science Fantasy #63, Feb 1964 #63 Stormbringer serial, part 3
Doomed Lord's Passing Science Fantasy #64, Apr 1964 #64 Stormbringer serial, part 4 — finale