Elric is Turin!

[Kaszul]

This is just an observation I made after reading the Silmarillion, but has anyone ever noticed that Michael Moorcock's Elric is pretty much Turin?

I'm not for shure if discussing other works of fantasy, however related, is taboo in here. So, being new, if it is please overlook my stupidity.

To my point. The parallels:

Turin, as told in Narn Hi Hin Hurin, was given a black sword(Angrist, I think). This is the most obvious connection with Elric, who posesses a simillar black sword.

Both characters end up slaying their closest friends. In the case of Turin, Beleg. With Elric, he just ends up killing most everyone who ever gets close to him.

Its interesting that Turin at one point is also known as the Dragonhelm. This is because of(big surprise) his helm shaped like a dragon. Its intresting to note that Elric's head gear is shaped like that of a dragon taking flight.

Finally, upon the completion of their greatest deeds, both Turin and Elric converse with their swords and ask for death upon them.

The most interesting thing about the parallels between the characters is Moorcock's apparent boredome of Tolkien. Moorcock states somewhere that he loosely based Elric on Zenith the Albino of Sexton Blake fame. The albinism aside, Elric seems almost an exact copy. How could an author who so hates Tolkien churn out a character which is almost an exact copy of the author he is so bored by?

[Ereinion]

Turin's sword is named Gurthang, I think. And his helm was the Dragonhelm of Dor-Lomin. I haven't read the story of Elric, so I can't really comment on that, but I just wanted to straighten out the names to see if that helps you at all.

[Kaszul]

Thanks, now that I think about it Angrist was the knife that cut the Silmaril from Morgoth's crown.

[Sharkû]

"How could an author who so hates Tolkien churn out a character which is almost an exact copy of the author he is so bored by?"

I blame it on Tolkien's obvious greatness, and fine sense for creating a highly tragic and intriguing character like Túrin by using both traditioned elements and new fictitious twists of his own. The tale of Túrin is of course in turn greatly inspired by sources such as the Kalevala and its Tale of Kullerwoinen (Kullervo) the Hapless (from which Túrin's dialogue with his sword is almost verbatim taken).

Some elements appear most tragic, or accursed, or evil to us in general, for example the slaying of near kin, or wantonness therewith. If done unintentionally by the character, it appears tragic. Not having read Moorcock, though, I would still say that getting inspiration from a more or less established system of ideas and psychological archetypes need not constitute copying -- it certainly did not in Tolkien's case.

[Kaszul]

Oh, I was not implying that Moorcock actually copied Tolkien. There are many more facets to Elric that are not relevant to Turin.

My musing is only on the irony of the author's views of Tolkien's works. When I first read the tale of Turin, I immediatly connected him with Elric and assumed that Elric's influences might have been Tolkienesque.

It was only later that I found that Moorcock didn't think much of Tolkien's works. Hence the irony I've come to see.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Perhaps it's a classic case of denial on Moorcocks part. He thinks that he doesn't like Tolkien, but subconsciously he wants to join one of the "Who/what is your favourite..." threads here on the Downs.