As I’ve mentioned in at least one earlier post, I’m a huge fan of maps, and especially fantasy maps. I hope that some of you enjoy looking at them as well.
Here are some different maps of Michael Moorcock’s Young Kingdoms world, as described in his various Elric and Rakhir stories.
This map is by Phillipe Druillet
This map, by John Collier and Walter Romanski, was included in some of the Daw editions the Elric stories.
The classical William Church map that appeared in Chaosium's RPG Stormrbinger (editions 1-4).
A map by John Collier (an update of the version found in the DAW books).
Finally, this very pretty French colour map by an unknown artist.
All of the maps posted here were found in this part of the 'Moorcock's Miscellany' website.
Thanks for posting. I wish the pre-Chaosium maps were a bit larger - I really Druillet's rendition.
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ReplyDeleteThe Collier maps's interesting. It includes the Unknown East, which was never officially mapped (although the map of the YK I had done for the Elric RPG includes it) and Collier and I largely agree on locations of countries. He does, however, get some other details wildly wrong - like Ryfel, which is now deep, deep inland!
ReplyDeleteFascinating though. Another interesting map is that found in the 'Making of a Sorcerer' comic which shows a very different set of countries...
ze bullette: The bottom two maps will expand if you click on them. For some reason, this does not happen with the others. I have no idea why this is (I uploaded them all in exactly the same way!). However, if you go to the original site (part of Moorcok's Miscellany) you can find larger versions.
ReplyDeleteI also like the Druillet map. I'm a huge fan of Druillet's work and have the large folio 'Return to Melnibone' comic he did in collaboration with Moorcock. Art from that found its way into the Elric influenced Yragael/Urm comics which has been an inspiration for a lot of my Elric work over the years.
ReplyDeleteI may have to track down this 'Return to Melnibone' comic!
ReplyDeleteI noticed the location of Ryfel on Collier's map as well, Lawrence (especially since that's where our adventurers are located now!).
ReplyDeleteDoes Moorcock place Ryfel on the coast in one of his writings?
Very cool stuff. I can't believe that all the Elric books I've ever read have no maps. I'd be lost without them in Tolkien but somehow with Elric I liked the ambiguity of that world.
ReplyDeleteMost of the maps I've seen of the YK have placed Ryfel on the coast, and in 'Sailor on the Seas of Fate', where Ryfel is first mentioned, Elric is on the Pikaraydian coast having made a dramatic escape from Ryfel's governor. So, whilst its not explicitly stated that Ryfel is a coastal city, its not unreasonable to place it on the coast.
ReplyDeleteIts also always been on the coast in the Church map. It may also have been located there in the original maps that accompanied the first Elric story collections, but I haven't been able to trace that map online.
Oh, I'll ry to remember to bring 'Return to Melnibone' with me to our next session.
ReplyDeleteHi! In my intention of starting soon a nostalgic Elric/Stormbringer RPG campaign I have been re-reading the saga of Elric books and taking a look to all de RPGs to the date, including Mournblade and the Mongoose edition. I have a problem for determining if the weather goes warmer to the south (north hemisphere) or the opposite. Moorcock doesn't help at all: in the tales of the Vanishing tower, Lormyr, which is described as cold, is situated in the North, in a way of "the more the north, the colder" but describes as a meridional kingdom, just as the "authorized maps" agree. In this way, Tanelorn is describes as having the desert in the south and Ilmiora in the north Well, the confussion is in all the descriptions that come with every RPG, the Sighing desert is hot, cold as the Govhi, has a cold stepe at the north, etc. The Atlas of the Young Kingdoms, the north continent, describes the world as plain with the east and west being the hottest places, as close to the sun... which is inconsistente with Lormyr and the desert both and the center, one hot, the other cold. How do you see all this stuff?
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