Part 1: The History of the Runestaff

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by S. C. Bryce

Michael Moorcock’s four-part series “The History of the Runestaff” introduced his hero Dorian Hawkmoon. Hawkmoon is the Duke of Koln and an avatar of Moorcock’s reoccurring idea, ‘The Eternal Champion’ (the most famous of whom is Elric of Melniboné). He is a rebel against the over-reaching, insane, and brutal empire of Granbretan.

The Dorian Hawkmoon novels take place in a post-apocalyptic Earth in which civilization was, for the most part, destroyed during the Tragic Millennium. Granbretan is reminiscent of Elric’s Melniboné. It is another derivative of Great Britain that manages to be both baroque and gothic. Like Melniboné, it is a long-lived empire (two thousand years) that has started to collapse under its own weight. Yet Granbretan maintains its goal to capture all of Europe and then the entire world. Its people and leaders are cruel and prone to a ‘congenital insanity.’ Their culture is strange and rigid, the most visible manifestation being the innumerable clan-like or caste-like Orders. Each Order is named after a beast and all members of the Order must (at nearly every waking moment) wear a mask patterned after that beast. Mask-lessness is the worst fate in Granbretan.

Under Granbretan’s Dark Empire, elements of technology are preserved and mixed with feudal culture. The result is that Hawkmoon’s world replaces sorcerers with scientists. Yet given the fantastic nature of the ‘scientific’ devices, the effect is sometimes much the same as sorcery. More often, the emphasis on science rather than magic produces an intriguing sword-and-science-sorcery world. There are bird-like ornithopters, laser-like fire lances, and CT scan-like mind-reading machines. On the other hand, there is no spellcasting. Little that is purely supernatural appears in Hawkmoon’s world, and there are no gods or magical beings. It is only with the introduction of the Runestaff and its allies that purely ‘magical’ or ‘supernatural’ elements come into the story. When they finally do appear, the heroes rebel against them. Gods in particular fare poorly in “The History of the Runestaff”: nonexistent in Hawkmoon’s world, they are weak and childish in others, struggling to stay alive and relevant.

In Hawkmoon’s alternate-Europe, names of places are often corruptions of their current names, lending a sense of familiarity. Yet some of the settings and mechanics of Hawkmoon’s world appear so different from standard sword-and-sorcery pseudo-medieval fare that, at times, the series reads like science-fantasy.

Dorian Hawkmoon himself is very different from Moorcock’s most famous incarnation of the Eternal Champion, Elric of Melniboné. Hawkmoon is a soldier with no magical abilities and no allegiance to gods or divinities. He is optimistic, decisive, and practical. He spends less time debating the philosophies of a problem and more time engaged in solutions. But where Elric searches for his doom-filled destiny, Hawkmoon actively avoids all talk of such matters. He wants no part of the Runestaff, its servants, and its manipulations, no matter how many times he is told that it is his destiny. He has his focus on defeating the Dark Empire and protecting his loved ones at Castle Brass. When he follows the Runestaff’s directions, he does so out of self-interest; more than once the Runestaff extorts Hawkmoon into doing its bidding.

Despite all this, Hawkmoon does not emerge as one of Moorcock’s strongest characters. His more likeable, witty, and clever companions frequently upstage him. Unlike many fantasy heroes, Hawkmoon does not grow significantly in power or personality; his power gains fall into the category of “easy come, easy go.”

However, familiar elements of the Eternal Champion mythology appear here. There is the ‘Companion to Champions,’ which here takes several forms. There is the ‘Tie to Destiny’ and the ‘Search for the Beloved.’ However, the Eternal Champion mythos does not take center stage until the second Hawkmoon series, “The Chronicles of Castle Brass.” The lack of emphasis in the first series results in a faster-paced story. After allowing the reader to settle in a bit into this bizarre world, Moorcock quickly throws Hawkmoon from one impossible situation to another. Hawkmoon overcomes daunting odds and engineers daring escapes with the help of luck, skill, allies, and science-sorcery.

The structure of each volume follows Moorcock’s formula of division into books and then chapters which read as a series of novellas within a larger plot. Small inconsistencies in the books add to this impression, but they are easy to overlook because of Moorcock’s pulp-style of writing and creative use of ‘scientific’ devices and cultures.

Reading “The History of the Runestaff” feels like traveling in a time warp to the decades when pulp ruled. This is both good and bad. While the thrill-a-minute, condensed writing is a plus, don’t look to these works for feminism or tight, logical cohesion. Fun though they may be, if another author had written them, most likely these books would not have seen repeated reprints or adapted into graphic novels.

(Editor's Note: The book cover at the top of this review is from an omnibus edition, titled Hawkmooon, that contains all the "books" reviewed below. The book covers at the beginning of each "book" reviewed below are from the actual separate books of each of these stories, which appeared years before this omnibus. And finally, the cover at the end of this review is from another omnibus, titled The History Of The Runestaff, composed of these same "books".)

Dorian Hawkmoon is introduced as a rebel captive of the Dark Empire. Baron Meliadus of Kroiden, who has become determined to destroy Count Brass and the Kamarg, urges the lead scientist of the Empire, Baron Kalan of Vitall, to implant a Black Jewel in Hawkmoon’s forehead. They then send Hawkmoon to destroy Count Brass. Should he fail, the Black Jewel will eat his brain.

The heroes of Castle Brass, however, manage to save Hawkmoon from the Black Jewel by blocking its powers. Restored to health, Hawkmoon aids the Kamarg against the invasion force sent from Granbretan.

With the ambitions of Granbretan deterred for the moment, Hawkmoon must permanently relieve himself of the threat of the Black Jewel. To do this, he must travel to the east to find the mystic Malagigi. Along the way he encounters Oladahn, a redheaded, dwarfish half-breed Mountain Giant—whom faithful readers of Moorcock will immediately recognize as an incarnation of the Companion to Champions. Together, Hawkmoon and Oladahn seek Malagigi, quickly getting embroiled in the civil war of a far-flung empire as well as stalked by the vengeful Baron Meliadus. They are aided by their wits and the mysterious Warrior in Jet and Gold, a servant of the Runestaff who insists that Hawkmoon is also such as servant.

This first volume introduces most of the main characters of the series and “The Chronicles of Castle Brass.” Here we meet Bowgentle (a poet, philosopher, and warrior of Castle Brass), Yisselda (Count Brass’s daughter and Hawkmoon’s love), as well as many of the Dark Empire’s personalities such as the immortal King-Emperor Huon (a grotesque fetus-like creature living inside a fluid-filled orb).

With the aid of the wraith-folk of Soryandum, Hawkmoon and Oladahn make a dramatic escape. Determined to avoid further meetings with the armies of the Dark Empire, they board a ship. Floating on a raft is none other than D’Averc. Explaining that he has no desire to be punished for his failure to bring Hawkmoon back to face Meliadus and King Huon, D’Averc throws in his lot with Hawkmoon. When pirates set upon the ship not once but twice, D’Averc’s swordsmanship and cleverness prove useful.

Shockingly, they learn that Yisselda has been captured by the same band of pirates, those ruled by the Mad God. In an attempt to rescue her, the trio tracks down the pirates’ lair. They follow the lead of the Warrior in Jet and Gold, who has appeared because it suits the Runestaff’s purposes that Hawkmoon destroy the Mad God. The Warrior in Jet and Gold assured Hawkmoon that he will be unable to rescue Yisselda until the Mad God is destroyed. The Mad God, it seems, has taken the Red Amulet, which the Runestaff has decided rightfully belongs to Hawkmoon.

When they finally return to Castle Brass, they find the Kamarg again under siege by Meliadus and the forces of Granbretan. The only thing that might save Castle Brass this time is a precious gift from the Soryandum.

A playwright of Granbretan, Elvereza Tozer, mysteriously appears in the countryside. He explains that he followed them into the alternate Kamarg using a crystal obtained by a hermit in the mountains of Yel. Fearful that Meliadus and the others will do likewise, Hawkmoon and the heroes of Castle Brass decide that the safest course is for them to find the hermit and his crystals before the Granbretanians do.

Meanwhile, King-Emperor Huon disagrees with Meliadus’s obsession with taking vengeance on Hawkmoon and Castle Brass. Meliadus thus begins building alliances within the power structure of the Dark Empire that he hopes will allow him to circumvent Huon. Baron Kalan and Taragrom, Master of the Palace of Time, are of particular interest to Meliadus since he believes their experiments will lead to the discovery of how to reach Castle Brass.

In disguise, Hawkmoon and D’Averc return to the capital of Granbretan, Londra, to learn whether the Granbretanians have yet discovered the cave of Mygan, the hermit of Yel. Finding they have not, the pair leave Londra in the hopes of reaching Mygan first. Pursued again by the determined Meliadus, their only means of escape is to use Mygan’s crystals to transport themselves out of the mountains.

Landing in the unfamiliar land of Amarekh, Mygan reveals that he is aware of the Runestaff’s connection with Hawkmoon. He advises them to, in order, seek the city of Narleen, the Sword of the Dawn, and the city of Dnark. Thus, before they can hope to return home, Hawkmoon and D’Averc must master the strange contraptions of the Charki, contend with slavers, and fight an entire city of Creole pirates.

This third volume of The History of the Runestaff is the most-pulsing pounding as Hawkmoon and D’Averc are whirled from one battle to the next as they desperately try to save Castle Brass from the plotting of the Dark Empire. It is frankly hard to believe that Moorcock could coherently pack so much action into so few pages.

Not even in Amarekh can they escape the armies of the Dark Empire, for the infamous Shenegar Trott has also appeared in Dnark, determined to seize the Runestaff for the Empire. The heroic pair must fight the Dark Empire for possession of the Runestaff. With the aid of Jehamia Cohnahlias (the self-styled spirit of the Runestaff) and miscellaneous servants of the Runestaff, the heroes not only prevail but are returned to their familiar Europe.

Unlike previous volumes, Yisselda and Flana (King Huon’s only relative, D’Averc’s love, and Baron Meliadus’s would-be usurper) rather suddenly turn into important characters. Yisselda in particular suddenly gains skills and a personality, all to the benefit of the series.

The storylines all come together for a titanic climax. Meliadus’s plotting against King-Emperor Huon and against Castle Brass bring dramatic successes. Hawkmoon must lead the rebels against the Dark Empire in a final battle with the help of the Runestaff and the Red Amulet—a final battle that will determine the future of the world. In true Moorcock fashion, the author does not spare his heroes.

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