Having Fun with Epic Fantasy: From “Elves” with Soul-Sucking Swords to Artifacts of Power
Over the past few months I’ve been having some fun with epic fantasy, first “Making the Grand Tour” (aka the quest-journey) and secondly looking at the importance of the “Band of Brothers” when embarking on that quest. Today it’s the turn of that perennial Fantasy favourite, “elves” with soul-sucking swords, and I’ll also morph a little into artifacts of power more generally.
“But,” you may object, “elves with soul-sucking swords aren’t an epic fantasy trope…”
“Sure they are,” I say. “I can even give you specific examples: Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné and Stormbringer; CJ Cherryh’s Morgaine and Changeling; Steven Erikson’s Anomander Rake and Dragnipur. And although neither of Drizzt’s swords, in RA Salvatore’s “Forgotten Realms” novels may be soul-sucking, his arch-enemy Artemis Entreri possesses a distinctive, soul-sucking “jewelled dagger”, which is practically the same thing. Just a little, you know, shorter.
“But,” you (may continue to) protest, “Drizzt and Artemis are the only elves–even if they are Dark–in that lot. And Elric of Melnibone is meant to be the archetypal anti-hero, not a Tolkien-style elf.”
To which I reply: “Of course they’re “elves.” Or—in the spirit of willingness to make concessions–“elf” archetypes. Elric, Morgaine, and Anomander Rake are all wielders or manipulators of great power; they are all distinctively inhuman looking in appearance and “remote” in disposition. And–the cinching argument–bearers of (say it with me) soul-sucking swords!”
In my view, both the “elf” (aka elf analogue) and the “soul-sucking sword” are a distinctive feature of fantastic storytelling. In combination they are readily recognizable, although I am willing (still in the spirit of magnanimity) to agree that I am also using the soul-sucking sword as an example of an even more deeply entrenched element of the genre—the artifact of power.
Like the soul-sucking sword and Tolkien’s “one ring”, artifacts of power are frequently of mysterious if not downright dubious provenance, and ambivalent benefit to the wielder. The demon-imbued Stormbringer, for example, ends by achieving its long-standing goal of subsuming Elric, while even Robin McKinley’s (far) more benign Blue Sword has an ambivalent sense of humor. Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of artifacts of power is that in almost all cases they tend to possess self-will and frequently be pursuing an agenda of their own.
In some cases the artifact may be essentially neutral and turned to good or evil purpose depending upon how it is used, like the “Stone” in Barbara Hambly’s Dragonsbane. In many cases, using artifacts at all can be dangerous. In all cases, it is unwise to depend on them—as with the three elven rings in The Lord of the Rings: although made and used for good, their ultimate subservience to the One Ring meant that when it was destroyed everything brought about through the elven rings’ agency would also pass away.
Objectively, I suspect that the artifact of power in epic reflects a mistrust of both human motivation and technology, a counterpart to the dystopian tradition that exists in science fiction. Like swords, soul-sucking or otherwise, artifacts of power always come with a double edge. But subjectively–spending time with them, from Stormbringer to the Blue Sword, sure can be a lot of fun!
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Previous “Having Fun With” Posts:
Having Fun with Epic Fantasy: The Band of Brothers
Having Fun with Epic Fantasy: Making the Grand Tour
Having Fun With Epic Fantasy: My Love Affair with Long Names, Part 1
Having Fun With Epic Fantasy: My Love Affair with Long Names, Part 2
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The original version of this post first appeared on the former — and sadly missed — SF Signal in 2011. (Where did those 5 years go?)