Elric and the Sighing Desert
[Currently reading Volume II of the Elric Saga]
Elric, having spent a month in Tanelorn - the Eternal City of peace, could still find no peace for himself. So he resolved to ride south into the Sighing Desert, saying:
"I go riding. I will go by myself into the Sighing Desert and I will ride until I am exhausted. Perhaps exercise is all I need."
Now given what I know of the story of Elric, it is not surprising that Tanelorn, a residential dream for many, could offer him nothing. Of Tanelorn, it is said:
"She had played a significant role in the struggles of many heroes and many gods and because she existed beyond Time she was hated by the Lords of Chaos who had more than once sought to destroy her. To the north of her lay the rolling plains of Ilmiora, a land where justice was known to prevail, and to the south of her lay desolation which was the Sighing Desert, (an) endless wasteland over which hissed a constant wind. If Ilmiora represented Law, then the Sighing Desert certainly mirrored something of the barrenness of Ultimate Chaos. Those who dwelled in her had loyalty neither to Law nor to Chaos and they had chosen to have no part in the Cosmic Struggle which was waged continuously by the Lords of the Higher Worlds."
So Elric rides out into the Desert, perhaps initially believing his own stated intentions for the trip, but as he observes the endless shifting sands, he comes to a realization. He dismounts and sets off into the desert on foot . . .
"He had not even bothered to bring water with him. He flung back his cowl so that the sun beat directly upon his head. His pace was even, purposeful and he marched as if at the head of an army."
"Perhaps he did have an army behind him -- the army of the dead, of all those friends and enemies whom he had slain in the course of his pointless search for the meaning to his existence." (It must be pointed out here for those not familiar with Stormbringer - Elric's sentient sword - that it possesses such a lust for battle and a thirst for souls that it has often, against Elric's will, taken friend as well as enemy in the heat of battle. Of course an interesting metaphor extends from the contention that this is just Elric's way of avoiding responsibility for his own actions - an admission in the next section)
"And still one enemy remained alive. An enemy even stronger, even more malevolent than Theleb K'aarna--the enemy of his darker self, of that side of his nature which was symbolized by the sentient blade still resting at his hip. And when he died, then that enemy would also die. A force of evil would be removed from the world."
He continues on, and as he had hoped, begins to lose his sense of identity. Eventually he does succumb to exhaustion, and falls somewhere in the desert believing he is at an end . . . but destiny, or fate, or whatever you want to call it . . . is not yet done with him.
Elric, having spent a month in Tanelorn - the Eternal City of peace, could still find no peace for himself. So he resolved to ride south into the Sighing Desert, saying:
"I go riding. I will go by myself into the Sighing Desert and I will ride until I am exhausted. Perhaps exercise is all I need."
Now given what I know of the story of Elric, it is not surprising that Tanelorn, a residential dream for many, could offer him nothing. Of Tanelorn, it is said:
"She had played a significant role in the struggles of many heroes and many gods and because she existed beyond Time she was hated by the Lords of Chaos who had more than once sought to destroy her. To the north of her lay the rolling plains of Ilmiora, a land where justice was known to prevail, and to the south of her lay desolation which was the Sighing Desert, (an) endless wasteland over which hissed a constant wind. If Ilmiora represented Law, then the Sighing Desert certainly mirrored something of the barrenness of Ultimate Chaos. Those who dwelled in her had loyalty neither to Law nor to Chaos and they had chosen to have no part in the Cosmic Struggle which was waged continuously by the Lords of the Higher Worlds."
So Elric rides out into the Desert, perhaps initially believing his own stated intentions for the trip, but as he observes the endless shifting sands, he comes to a realization. He dismounts and sets off into the desert on foot . . .
"He had not even bothered to bring water with him. He flung back his cowl so that the sun beat directly upon his head. His pace was even, purposeful and he marched as if at the head of an army."
"Perhaps he did have an army behind him -- the army of the dead, of all those friends and enemies whom he had slain in the course of his pointless search for the meaning to his existence." (It must be pointed out here for those not familiar with Stormbringer - Elric's sentient sword - that it possesses such a lust for battle and a thirst for souls that it has often, against Elric's will, taken friend as well as enemy in the heat of battle. Of course an interesting metaphor extends from the contention that this is just Elric's way of avoiding responsibility for his own actions - an admission in the next section)
"And still one enemy remained alive. An enemy even stronger, even more malevolent than Theleb K'aarna--the enemy of his darker self, of that side of his nature which was symbolized by the sentient blade still resting at his hip. And when he died, then that enemy would also die. A force of evil would be removed from the world."
He continues on, and as he had hoped, begins to lose his sense of identity. Eventually he does succumb to exhaustion, and falls somewhere in the desert believing he is at an end . . . but destiny, or fate, or whatever you want to call it . . . is not yet done with him.