Vadhagh
The Vadhagh are a fictional race of people, akin to elves, Sidhe, or other eldritch fey races, created by author Michael Moorcock in his Corum Jhaelen Irsei series of books. This race is a variation of his Multiversal Eldren race, which is seen as an older elven foundational or precursor-race of semi-humanoids who predate humanity and are usually exterminated by or otherwise replaced by humanity (known in the Corum tales known as Mabden) in the worlds (dimensions/universes) they inhabit.
In The Revenge of the Rose the Vadhagh are said to be related to the Melniboneans of the Elric series and seem to speak or know the ancient Melnibonean langauge. In other books of the Eternal Champion cycle, the Eldren are said to be "ghosted" or mirrored in each dimension, thus it may be inferred they inhabit each world prior to humanity, much as elves of mythology did humanity on Earth (also as did the elves of Middle Earth, which J. R. R. Tolkien derived from the same mythological sources).
The Corum tales and world draws heavily upon Irish Celtic mythology, so names of places and characters often resemble their Gaelic counterparts.
The Vadhagh (as Eldren) are a more gifted, artistic, advanced, and peaceable people, and all these fey races seem to have more ancient knowledge of the world(s) and magic, awareness of and contact with extradimensional beings, and power over or derived from nature, than human beings. They have much more mystical knowledge and powers than humanity, but this also serves to separate them even further. They often seem to be "wired" very differently than humanity, with different values and emotions, so that they seem distant or incomprehensible to normal humans, act in bizarre, elevated, cruel, or otherwise strange manners, react unexpectedly to events, or fail to fully relate to human experiences. In some books this is described as "cat-like" or "alien" psychology. However, in The Knight of the Swords, Corum's father, Prince Khlonskey says, "Shall our children know nothing [and return] to the state of those aquatic mammals from which our race sprang?" This aquatic ape allusion may indicate a non-feline origin of the species. The Vadhagh eem to be a more advanced and kind variant of Eldren than their related Melniboneans. It is unclear if the Melniboneans in this regard are merely a kindred race or a "fallen" descendent race from the Vadhagh.
In the Corum books the Nhadragh are an advanced enemy race that share their world.
Vadhagh appear in these Corum novels
Corum is the protagonist of the following Moorcock novels:
- The Knight of the Swords (1971)
- The Queen of the Swords (1971)
- The King of the Swords (1971)
- The Bull and the Spear (1973)
- The Oak and the Ram (1973)
- The Sword and the Stallion (1974)
The first three novels have been published in the UK under the omnibus title Corum, and the second three under the omnibus title The Prince with the Silver Hand. In the US, the omnibus titles are The Swords Trilogy and The Chronicles of Corum, respectively.
The second Corum series (The Bull and the Spear, The Oak and the Ram, The Sword and the Stallion) are very much a fictionalized - and coherent - retelling of some stories from Irish mythology. Specifically Corum is a stand-in for Nuada (usually called Nuada of the Silver Hand), his adventures are related to the mythical history of the Tuatha Dé Danann and he fights Balor of the Evil Eye.
Other appearances
Novels
Corum also appears in other books of the Eternal Champion cycle: The Vanishing Tower and The Sailor on the Seas of Fate with Elric, and The Quest for Tanelorn with Hawkmoon.
Three Vadhagh sisters appear in The Revenge of the Rose.
Comics
The character has appeared in comics a number of times. In 1987, First Comics The Chronicles of Corum, which ran for twelve issues (the first six of which were illustrated by Mike Mignola) and written by Mike Baron and Mark Shainblum.[1] First followed this in 1988 with the four issue Corum: The Bull and the Spear written by Mark Shainblum and illustrated by Jill Thompson.[2] These together adapted the first four books in the Corum series.
Games
In 2001 Darcsyde Productions produced a supplement for use with Chaosium's Stormbringer (aka Elric!) role-playing game adapting the Corum settings and characters for role-playing.
External links
- Moorcock's Miscellany (formerly Tanelorn, Multiverse.org & Moorcock's Weekly Miscellany)
- Michael Moorcock's Comics Compendium incl. Corum adaptations
- ^ The Chronicles of Corum at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- ^ Corum: The Bull and the Spear at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)