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| Mayflower 1970, Bob Haberfield |
In 1967 he published the first of many Elric “prequels”, a novelette named “The Singing Citadel”. This tale initially surfaced in The Fantastic Swordsmen, an anthology edited by L. Sprague de Camp (responsible for the Lancer/Ace Conan collections and pastiches). In fact, de Camp had been in touch with Moorcock as far back as 1960, when he had tried to solicit a Moorcock Conan story for the failed “Fantastic Universe” magazine.
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| Pyramid 1967, Jack Gaughan |
In any case, “The Singing Citadel” describes Elric’s first meeting with Queen Yishana of Jharkor, as well as the origins of his feud with the Pan Tang sorcerer Theleb K’aarna. A story published in 1962 entitled “The Stealer of Souls” had begun in media res, with Elric seeking vengeance on Theleb K’aarna after some undisclosed affair. “The Singing Citadel” neatly fills in this missing episode.
In short, Elric is hired by Queen Yishana to help investigate a “singing citadel” which has been luring her people away to oblivion. Elric learns that Balo the Jester (a relatively minor Lord of the Higher Planes) is responsible, as Balo wishes to establish his own territory on the Earthly Plane. Arioch appears and promptly makes short work of the upstart Jester. On the way back to Jharkor, Elric and Yishana are attacked by supernatural agents conjured by Theleb K’aarna, Yishana's jealous suitor.
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| Berkley Medallion 1970, Gail Burwen |
The Singing Citadel (1967)
- After departing the company of Shaarilla, the wingless woman of Myyrrhn (While the Gods Laugh), Elric and Moonglum are attacked by Pan Tang warship while onboard a Tarkeshite galley bound for Jharkor. In the battle, Elric defeats the Pan Tang crew and takes their own ship. They arrive at the Jharkor port of Dhakos and sell the ship for a profit.
- In a tavern, Elric receives a loutish messenger from Jharkor’s Queen Yishana, asking for his presence. Elric resists the invitation. At Yishana’s palace, her pettish suitor the Pan Tang sorcerer Theleb K’aarna resents her interest in Elric.
- Yishana visits Elric in his room and tells him of a mysterious “singing citadel” which has suddenly appeared and begun to swallow up her subjects. Yishana and Theleb K’aarna have been unable to solve the problem due to the strangely hypnotic singing coming from the citadel. Yishana asks Elric for his help. Elric becomes infatuated with Yishana, as a spying Theleb K’aarna becomes jealous.
- Heading out towards the mysterious citadel, Elric, Yishana and Theleb K’aarna find that nearby Thokora has been turned into a smoldering pit by forces of Chaos. They reach the strange citadel and Elric realizes it is the home of Balo the Jester, a minor Lord of Chaos and Law. When the entrancing music starts, Yishana is entranced and drawn towards the citadel. Theleb K’aarna flees, but Elric proceeds to the citadel and is soon attacked by a giant golden dog-beast. After killing the beast, he takes a strange ramp stretching over an abyss, and apparently penetrating through a region of the Higher Worlds. Eventually he finds the diminutive Balo, who tries to tempt Elric in joining his cause (to create a Realm of Paradox on Earth). Instead, Elric calls Arioch, who compresses Balo into a small ball and puts him into his mouth for transport back to the Higher Realms. The citadel disappears, and Yishana helps Elric to a nearby village.
- A giant man-butterfly sent by Theleb K’aarna attacks Elric near Thokora. Moonglum suddenly arrives and helps defend Elric from the jealous sorceror’s agent. Weakened, Elric has Yishana help him cast a spell to summon the giant lizard god Haaashaastaak, who eats the butterfly mutation and then disappears. Later, after having rested, he rejects Yishana’s offer of a kingdom to rule, and seeks vengeance on Theleb K’aarna instead. With Theleb K’aarna apparently having fled back to Pan Tang, Elric and Moonglum ride off in pursuit.
Arioch, I Presume
Although the general direction of this tale is predestined by the circumstances of “The Stealer of Souls”, nonetheless it's a charming return to the world of Elric and the Higher Planes of Law and Order. Moorcock here also begins to imbue Arioch with a greater sense of sardonic humor. In fact, Arioch’s personality becomes so developed in later Elric installments that one forgets how little presence Arioch actually had in Stormbringer and the earlier stories. During this period Moorcock was delving more and more into comic satire (see Jerry Cornelius, Nick Allard) and it’s possible working on these projects contributed towards making Arioch a bit more “likable”, and less inscrutable.
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| DAW 1977, Michael Whelan |
Although Elric had already met his final destiny in Stormbringer, "The Singing Citadel" established a template by which Moorcock could continually resurrect the character and redeploy him through multitudinous philosophical and stylistic angles which would surface alongside Moorcock's own growth as a writer and thinker.
As a side-note, sometime around this period Moorcock also wrote the Elric story "The Jade Man's Eyes". This was a project designed to help out a planned publication produced by his friend Bill Butler, but did not actually see print (in a small run) until 1973. The story was then rewritten to fit into a "final" chronology as part of 1976's Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Although I personally prefer the initial incarnation of "Jade Man's Eyes" to the version found in Sailor, for the purposes of this project I'll save it for the later book since the resolution is a bit too similar to the one found in "The Singing Citadel".
Next Chapter: Hawkmoon: The History of the Runestaff (1967-69)
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