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I am going deeper in Moorcock's mythology and I have developed a keen interest in the characters of both Elric of Melniboné and Corum, both Ethernal Champions.

They both seems to appear in the same Universe (as in a part of Moorcock's Multiverse), but it is unclear (to me at least) if they exists in the same Plane or if they are from somewhat connected Planes. I find this question to be related, but the answer not quite conclusive.

I understand that the Multiverse is a soft-magic environment, with rules that are unclear. However, we know some things:

  • only one Ethernal Champion exists per Universe;
    • this alone should exclude they both are part of the same Universe, however:
  • Arioch (and his siblings) co-exists in both Corum and Elric - and yet;
  • Corum banishes Arioch from the Fifteen Planes;
  • Human exist in both contexts and the term mabden applies equally;
    • I'm unsure about true canon, but I am sure Chaosium RPG manuals state Pantanagians call themselved mabden;
  • I feel there are numerous humanoid species shared by both contexts: Myrrhyns came to mind immediately, although the term is never acknowledge in Corum's context afaik.

Is there a canonical source (Moorcock's own work) shining some light on their relationship? I know I should probably turn to The Vanishing Tower and The King of the Swords and I am actually reading the latter for help, yet I felt in the mean time I could also bring this up in the community as well.

The inner child in me hopes that Corum is set somewhere in the past of Elric.

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    Also read The Eternal Champion which is about Erekosë and his meeting with both Elric & Corum.
    – Detective Chimp
    Dec 26, 2020 at 2:09
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    It's quite complicated and retconned quite a bit, but it seems the Vadhagh are descended from the Eldren, and the Meniboneans themselves are descended from the Vadhagh who fled through the dimensions to escape the mabden. At least that's what Moorcock himself implies. multiverse.org/forum/q-a/q-a-◦-questions-for-mike-news/the-q-a-archives/elric-of-melniboné-archive/5561-relationship-between-melniboneans-and-vadhagh
    – user83948
    Dec 26, 2020 at 11:47
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    I fear that you are looking for a level of internal consistency that’s not available in books that were written very quickly as purely commercial propositions in order to raise money to let Moorcock keep doing what he was actually interested in, which was editing New Worlds.
    – Mike Scott
    Dec 26, 2020 at 11:51
  • My related question.
    – Spencer
    Jan 8, 2021 at 21:02

2 Answers 2

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Corum can't very well be set in Elric's past, since, at the end of The King of Swords:

The god Kwll tells Corum that he and his brother Rhynn has slain (not banished) the gods of Chaos and their minions, as well as the gods of Law "for good measure".

Also in The King of Swords, in the chapter "Into the Small Storm", Corum meets Elric and explains to him, after revealing that he has destroyed Arioch and Xiombarg (which Elric finds hard to believe): "There are many planes of existence. In some the Lords of Chaos are strong. In some they are weak. In some, I have heard, they do not exist at all." Corum also mentions that in his world, Mabelrode is by far the strongest of the Laws of Chaos, while Elric says that in his world, they are equally strong. This exchange clearly indicates that Corum and Elric come from different planes.

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  • I can't wrap my head around this: if a Universe is made of Planes (and the Multiverse is a collection of Universes), they has to be from different Universes, not from different Planes in the same Universe. I'll probably ask this in a different question, but, if that assumption is true, then a Corum's people may phase in and out the fifteen planes of their universe, but may as well travel to other Universes alltogether (with a little help from some higher power). Does it make sense to say they are from different Universes, not only different Planes?
    – Daemon Painter
    Dec 26, 2020 at 11:25
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    I believe that the "fifteen planes" mentioned in Corum are a closely connected group of universes in Moorcock's greater multiverse, but it has been so long since I read the Corum books that I can't be sure.
    – Klaus Æ. Mogensen
    Dec 26, 2020 at 11:28
  • If they were from two Planes on the same Universe (and thus the Multiverse is just a collection of Planes), then we should rephrase "there is only one Ethernal Champion per Plane - and Vhadhag may travel between planes freely". Also this would imply that destroying a Chaos (or Law) Lord in a Plane doesn't affect its existence in the other planes - or that Corum and Elric destroy their Gods bringing the end of time at the same time, if that makes sense.
    – Daemon Painter
    Dec 26, 2020 at 11:31
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A piece in the Broken Barrier, part of the Vanishing Tower, very well states that

Corum tells Elric that his world his neither on Elric's level nor time.

Although Mike Mignola's immagination has the Vadhraghs capable of phasing out of their plane, which is one of the fifteen planes of the earth, somehow, they can exist on the same plane and in another plane and yet Corum's earth is not Elric's earth.

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