Dorian Hawkmoon, Duke of Köln is one of the fictional characters created by Michael Moorcock in his series of the Eternal Champion books. Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939, in London) is an English writer primarily of Science fiction and fantasy who has also For the video game see Eternal Champions The Eternal Champion is a fictional creation of the author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in
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Overview
Dorian Hawkmoon is one of the less "problematic" characters Moorcock ever created a series around. Unlike the anti-hero Elric of Melniboné, or the alienated and tragic Corum, or the sometimes savage Erekosë, Hawkmoon is described as being very much close to an all-around "good guy", despite lacking some subtlety (or perhaps, for this very reason). Corum Jhaelen Irsei is the name of a fantasy hero in a series of books written by Michael Moorcock. Many of Michael Moorcock 's heroes are aspects of one all-encompassing hero the Eternal Champion. [1]
Hawkmoon is captured by the evil forces of Granbretan (implied as a perverse and villanous version of Great Britain where the noble classes hide behind metal masks of various totem animals) who implant by means of arcane wizardlike technology a sinister jewel in his skull; he is sent to Kamarg(implied as a future version of the southern French region of Camargue) to act as a recon scout for a coming invasion (the jewel will record all he sees and transmit it in real time to Londra). See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Camargue ( Occitan: Camarga in classical norm or Camargo in Mistralian norm is located south of Arles, France, between the Temporarly freed by the curse of the jewel he leagues with the stout and noble defenders of Kamarg and then embarks on a quest to find and implement the will of the Runestaff, a magical item which preserves the Cosmic Balance. The Runestaff is a novel by British author Michael Moorcock, and was first published in 1969 under the title The Secret of the Runestaff During his adventures, he has to collect two more magical items, the Red Amulet held by a mad god and the Sword of the Dawn, winning many battles in which he is hopelessly outnumbered, but helped by loyal companions, by mysterious allies who arrive in the nick of time, and by dissension, scheming and treachery in the ranks of his foes.
The Runestaff is one of the major artifacts in Moorcock's multiverse. The multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of multiple possible Universes (including our universe that together comprise all of Reality. The Black Sword (whose aspects in Elric's milieu are the soul-stealing swords Stormbringer and Mournblade) is another. Stormbringer is the name of the infamous black Sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. The Black Jewel, which manifested itself in the world of Hawkmoon as the Jewel implanted in Hawkmoon's skull, is akin to the Black Sword. Another artifact, the most powerful, is the Cosmic Balance: it powers the Runestaff to produce Order. The Horn of Fate is still another artifact or power. Often artifacts are carried by the Champion Eternal.
Some of the artifacts have servants. The enigmatic Warrior in Jet and Gold serves the Runestaff, as does Orland Fank of the Orkneys.
Hawkmoon's struggle with the empire of Granbretan was treated in The History of the Runestaff, which consists of four books ("The Jewel in the Skull", "The Mad God's Amulet", "The Sword of the Dawn", and "The Runestaff"); the setting of this tale is a post-holocaust Earth. The History of the Runestaff is an omnibus collection of four Fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of The Jewel In The Skull The Jewel in the Skull is a fantasy novel by Michael Moorcock, first published in 1967 The Mad God's Amulet is a fantasy Novel by Michael Moorcock, first published in 1968 as Sorcerer's Amulet. The Sword of the Dawn is a novel by British author Michael Moorcock, and was first published in 1968 The Runestaff is a novel by British author Michael Moorcock, and was first published in 1969 under the title The Secret of the Runestaff [2]
Hawkmoon later returned as the main character of a sequel trilogy, the Chronicles of Count Brass ("Count Brass", "The Champion of Garathorm", and "The Quest for Tanelorn") that branched out into Moorcock's Multiverse proper. The multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of multiple possible Universes (including our universe that together comprise all of Reality. The second Hawkmoon series brought the Eternal Champion cycle to a conclusion of sorts -- though not exactly a finale, as subsequent Eternal Champion books show. For the video game see Eternal Champions The Eternal Champion is a fictional creation of the author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in
Music
Hawkmoon, along with other aspects of the Eternal Champion, is mentioned briefly in the song Damned for All Time by German power metal band Blind Guardian, on their Follow the Blind album. For the video game see Eternal Champions The Eternal Champion is a fictional creation of the author Michael Moorcock and is a recurrent feature in Power metal is a style of Heavy metal music combining characteristics of traditional metal with Thrash metal or Speed metal, often within Blind Guardian is a German heavy metal band which is often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in Power metal and Speed metal The band has also performed a song titled The Quest for Tanelorn, based on the Hawkmoon story (and recurring Moorcockian concept) of the same name. Tanelorn is a Fictional city set in The Multiverse of Michael Moorcock 's fantasy novels. That track appears on their Somewhere Far Beyond album.
Other Media
The Sword of the Dawn, from the Hawkmoon saga, appears as a hidden weapon that may be found in the Reverse Keep section of the game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Castlevania Symphony of the Night is a 2D Action-adventure game developed and published by Konami in 1997 In the Hawkmoon stories, it is a powerful sword that summons "The Legion of the Dawn", a nigh unstoppable legion of club-wielding primitive warriors who fight for the sword's wielder. In the game, it is a two-handed sword of moderate power, with a special move that allows it to summon "dawn warriors", to fight against the player's enemies. These warriors may be summoned as often as the player wishes.
The History of the Runestaff was adapted into comic book form by Gerry Conway, Roger Salick, and Rafael Kayanan. The History of the Runestaff is an omnibus collection of four Fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of The Jewel In The Skull Gerard F "Gerry" Conway ( September 10, 1952 -) is an American Writer of Comic books and Television shows Rafael Kayanan (born September 13 1962 Manila) is a Filipino -born naturalised American Comic book artist. The adaptation was published by First Comics in 1986. First Comics was an American Comic-book publisher History First Comics launched in 1983 with a line-up of creators including Frank Brunner [3]
In 1985, Kerie Campbell-Robson created a role playing game based on the Hawkmoon series, published by Chaosium and using its Basic Role-Playing system. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of Role-playing games still in existence Basic Role-Playing ( BRP) is a Role-playing game system which originated in the Fantasy -oriented RuneQuest While never attaining any lasting level of popularity among English-speaking gamers, the game became hugely popular in France, where local publisher Oriflam not only produced several editions of the base manuals but also several unique adventure supplements and geographical gazetteers which detailed lands never mentioned in the Moorcock novels, such as Spain and Ireland.
Trivia
- DAW issued the Hawkmoon series in 1977 with cover art by Richard Clifton-Dey. Richard Clifton-Dey is a British artist He started painting in the 1960s and was one of the most highly respected of British illustrators during the 1970s and into the 1980s
- The armies of the Vulture Legion of Granbretan fly from place to place in Ornithopters -- a technology featured in Frank Herbert's Dune. Early history The idea of constructing wings in order to imitate the flight of birds dates to the ancient Greek legend of Daedalus and Icarus Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr ( October 8 1920 &ndash February 11 1986) was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American Dune is a Science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965.
- Historically, Cologne never had a Duke (Hawkmoon's title), it was governed by the Archbishop until 1806. In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated Bishop. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and others this means that they lead Year 1806 ( MDCCCVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common However a dukedom could have well been instated after the anarchy and turmoil of the "Tragic Millennium" catastrophes, which reshaped the world.
- In the German translations of the novel, Hawkmoon is called "Falkenmond" (Falconmoon), because the translators obviously thought it sounded better than the literal translation of Hawkmoon ("Habichtmond") as well as better charachterizing the hero as a German.
- Several of the Gods of Granbretan were based upon 20th Century British Prime Ministers, e. g. Chirshil (Winston Churchill), the Howling God; Aral Vilsn (Harold Wilson), the Roaring God.
Notes
- ^ The History of the Runestaff
- ^ The History of the Runestaff
- ^ Hawkmoon: Jewel in the Skull at the Comic Book DB
External links
- Moorcock's Miscellany (formerly Tanelorn, Multiverse. The History of the Runestaff is an omnibus collection of four Fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of The Jewel In The Skull The History of the Runestaff is an omnibus collection of four Fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of The Jewel In The Skull org & Moorcock's Weekly Miscellany)
- Michael Moorcock's Comics Compendium, incl. Hawkmoon adaptations