Tuesday, March 10, 2015

'Antihero' from IannickM - 'Elric of Melnibone'


"It is the colour of a bleached skull, his flesh; and the long hair which flows below his shoulders is milk-white. From the tapering, beautiful head stare two slanting eyes, crimson and moody, and from the sleeves of his gown emerge two slender hands, also the colour of bones."


My choice for antihero was an easy one; I would pick *the* antihero of fantasy literature, the White Wolf himself, Elric of Melniboné. For many gamers, the fantasy bug came courtesy of J.R.R. Tolkien's Bilbot or Lord of the Ring. But for me, the love of the genre started after reading Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga. To this day the six first original books are probably the novels I have read the most often in my life, and I still pick them up once in a blue moon.


The story of Elric, last emperor of Melniboné, is one of life and death, fate versus free will, evil vs good and of course Law versus Chaos. Bound to Stormbringer, a weapon he loathes but needs, Elric tries to bring morality to a life which should be devoid of the mere notion. Plagued by his destiny, the things he tries to control have quite often been decided by higher powers. A tragic figure, but a fascinating character. A true antihero.


The figure I chose, Elric the White Wolf, is a very old figure from Citadel, released in the mid-eighties to be used with the "Stormbringer" roleplaying game. It is a very rare figure and often fetches 20$ or more on Ebay. Of all the figures I gave to Curt for this challenge, it is the one I'm most attached to, but I know it will have a good home and Curt definitely deserves it! Take good care of it Curt, it is a bit like saying goodbye to a very old friend!

I shall end this post and this year bonus round themes with my favourite last line of any novel, the last line of "Stormbringer" :

"Farewell, my friend. I was a thousand times more evil than thou!".

12 comments:

  1. Fantastic! That is quite an entry figure. Well done. I've never read Stormbringer. Looks like that needs to change.

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    1. Thanks for the comment! I almost gave the ending away, and then realized some people might not have read the saga yet (you get to experience it for the first time, lucky you). Go read it now. imho the last 3 original books are the best.

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  2. As we had discussed via email, Elric is one of the iconic antiheroes of fantasy fiction. Just chatting about him makes me want to put on Blue Oyster Cult's 'Black Blade' and rock out. ;) Also, thank you so much for the figure Iannick - Elrick will take his place of honour amongst the other cherished antiheroes in my display case.

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  3. As we had discussed via email, Elric is one of the iconic antiheroes of fantasy fiction. Just chatting about him makes me want to put on Blue Oyster Cult's 'Black Blade' and rock out. ;) Also, thank you so much for the figure Iannick - Elrick will take his place of honour amongst the other cherished antiheroes in my display case.

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  4. Iannick, great looking figure! Elric is one of my favourite fantasy characters and would have been my choice for this round but alas I couldn't find a suitable miniature. Your painting does this icon of fantasy proud. Cheers, Ross

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    1. Thanks! I'm lucky I still had that old figure. It had a horrible paint job so had to be stripped. Otherwise it is indeed difficult to find a proper Elric nowadays.

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  5. What an awesome rare figure for the Curtgeld. I have not read the books but now I want to. Nice work. cheers

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    1. Thanks! My work is done if I've managed to convince a few to read the books ;-)

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  6. Very cool mini, Iannick, and a superb brushwork! I haven't read the saga in a long time! Elric and Drizit are the only two elves I'll admit to liking! ;)

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  7. Nice work - it inspired me to get out Moorcock again (although I always preferred Jerry Cornelius). Like Curt, after seeing your figure, I also went back to the Moorcock-written songs of Blue Oyster Cult for the Elric inspired Veteran of Psychic Wars.

    Pip pip

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