'The Harvest Begins' - Elves, Stormbringer, & The OSR God Cycles

 Sometimes one has to wait for a Kickstarter to end then wait a month for the supplement to get published to really access the full weight of its impact on the market place. Not so with the classics & in this case Frank Mentzer's Immortals box set has been playing with my mind. And here's the line that's been doing it;"The Player's Guide to Immortals lays out the basic information needed to convert you mortal player characters to Immortal status. It also explains new game mechanics, as are many aspects of the character's new existence" 

Are immortals divine powered up agents of their respective immortal superiors  & spheres?! If the  god Freyr is the actual progenic ruler of  the Ljósálfar ('Light Elves') does this mean that  the gods of the elves of Dungeons & Dragons & even Advanced Dungeons & Dragons are to share his fate again & again? The Archons only know. Like I said before Frank Mentzer doesn't get half the credit he deserves. The light elves power gets watered down generation after generation over tens of thousands of years. Why?! Because Freyer & the like are actually of the rank of Archons & here's the description from the immorals set; "These Lawful champions of goodness are sworn enemies of Chaos. They are native to the Home Plane of the Hierarch of Energy. Their full description is given in the D&D Master Set (MDM page 40). They are entirely mortal. In the opinion of the Hierarch (who has little experience in working with the substance of the other Spheres), his creations are shining examples of the perfect blend of beauty and power. Few other Immortals agree, but those of his Sphere dare not voice their opinions. Archons have very narrow views of what is acceptable behavior. They are so outraged by any neutral, chaotic, or evil behavior that they are avoided by all other creatures. Despite their good intentions, they manage to arouse resentment in nearly everyone they meet. And they are multiversally considered to be the most obnoxious creatures in all the Home Planes." 
The Hierarchs are exactly the sort of mortal gods & goddesses that the Stormbringer entity was designed to hunt, kill, & absorb.. That's right its sort of cosmic Jack in the Green.  

Swords like Stormbringer & Mournblade are very dangerous in the extreme & they are a part of an entity that's been stalking the backdrop of popculture for ages;

"Various books refer to this malicious entity as a demon, the anti-balance, and Sword. It is a treacherous being, chaotic evil to the core, that hungers for blood and souls and wishes to defy and destroy humanity and the Cosmic Balance. As a consequence of its influence, Stormbringer caused every Nihrain who handled it to become mass murderers. A court was assembled in the Nihrainian stables to put Stormbringer and its handlers on trial. But Stormbringer caused the judges to go mad and sentence both court and defendants to a terrible death. In the end, only ten Nihrain remained, including Sepiriz." 

What are these entities?! The Stormbringer entity is a part of the antibalance & the sword. This entity isn't Law or Chaos but a part of the entropic end of all things. All it wants is violence, blood, & souls. By proxy the Lords of Chaos & Law get a piece of the occult action. 

Surely this has nothing whatsoever to do with the Elves?! What if the sword has been in the mythology of the German & Norse this whole time? What if Stormbringer is actually the mystic sword Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving; "Tyrfing, Tirfing or Tyrving (The name is of uncertain origin, possibly connected to the Terwingi) was a magic sword in Norse mythology, which features in the Tyrfing Cycle, which includes a poem from the Poetic Edda called Hervararkviða, and the Hervarar saga. The name is also used in the saga to denote the Goths. The form Tervingi was actually recorded by Roman sources in the 4th century.

Svafrlami was the king of Gardariki, and Odin's grandson. He managed to trap the dwarves Dvalinn and Durinn when they had left the rock where they dwelt. Then he forced them to forge a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes.

The dwarves made the sword, and it shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge they cursed it so that it would kill a man every time it was drawn and that it would be the cause of three great evils. They finally cursed it so that it would also kill Svafrlami himself." 

Gleamed like fire or a black fire? Where have we seen this before?! 

You know who else wields a sword like Tyrfing?!  Freyr whose divine connection to the primorial & elemental titans makes him perfect god pray for the Stormbringer entity. And he's doomed to be killed by Surtur at the end of  Ragnarok. Freyr is or was fated to give up his sword. A metaphor for the fate of the Elven people over & over again in the cycle of the planes?! 

Seated on Odin's throne Hliðskjálf,
 the god Freyr sits in contemplation in an illustration
(1908) by Frederic Lawrence

Elves may be better then you at everything but it seems that they are fated to the harvest of cosmos cut down by the cosmic sickle in a never ending cycle. This is also part of lord elves role; "Freyr (Old Norse: Lord), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with sacral kingship, virility, peace and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather, and with good harvest." Hence the lord of the light elves himself is fufilling a cosmic role destined to him in long ages past. 
And this puts me in line with thinking that perhaps the 'old gods', the 'forgotten' gods, are not as gone as they seem. A thought that seems in line with both Freyr & Zzarchov Kowolski's Pale Lady Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg.  adventure. The idea that perhaps the witch in the forrest had another role eons ago. Now she's removed from the games of Law, Chaos, & Fey. The Fey whose role as forgotten angels or worse has been forgotten by long dead worshipers. 

This is why the champions of Law & Chaos are never welcomed into Mystara or even into Greyhawk per say. The immortals on the highest inner levels of the councils of immortals within the inner circles know this relationship. But even Greyhawk has its own strains of the Stormbringer entity. 
Elves basically have been seeded across the multiverse for the purpose of harvesting for the cosmic bounty by their very god & lord who himself is 'doomed'. We'll get into the why coming up. 

'The Consequences Of Gods & A Sword' - Elves, Stormbringer, & The OSR God Myths

 "Ever wonder what happens to powerful heroes after their adventures legendary, and they have passed in to the realms beyond? Now you can find out with the D&D Immortals Set.

The Player's Guide to Immortals lays out the basic information needed to convert you mortal player characters to Immortal status. It also explains new game mechanics, as are many aspects of the character's new existence"

Its been a long while since the spines on the  Immortals set got cracked. But looking into the deep background on Elves something came up in the usual romps across the internet. A thread on the Piazza site last night stopped my morning musings 'Titans: Why Are The D&D Titans Weaker Then The AD&D Types ' & this was the bit that really stopped me ; "
The Immortals Set titan is, it's true, somewhat weaker than the AD&D titan. They're only 15 HD instead of around 20 HD (though listed as 21 to 30 feet tall, so around the same height of the 2nd edition titan). They only have 25% anti-magic instead of the 50% 2nd edition magic resistance or the 60% 1st edition magic resistance. Still, I don't think they're that far off, conceptually. Perhaps your difficulty comes from comparing the standard lesser titans to the greater and elder titans described in Deities & Demigods and Legends & Lore. I think you could call Djaea or other Immortals "titans" in the same way that the divine Cronus and Oceanus are titans in Deities & Demigods - clearly they're a more ancient, greater level of being than the lesser titans who are their descendants, though." 

Titans are the missing mythological link between Elves, the gods, Fey, & even the elements. Let's dive in. You can read a full break down of Frank Mentzer's Immortals set here on the Otherside blog.  Needless to say that Frank Mentzer doesn't get the credit he deserves.  Let's move back to the Elves. Within Norse & Germanic mythology there some links.  The Prose Edda describes the Ljósálfar ('Light Elves') who are 'fairer to look upon than the sun.' Like Tolkien's mythology, there are Dökkálfar ('Dark Elves'), and also Svartálfar ('Black Elves'.) The light Elves in particular. The god Freyr was given Álfheimr ('Elf-home'), and elves can at times be seen in the company of the gods. 


The Rällinge statuette, believed to depict Freyr, Viking Age

 Freyr is the ruler of the Light Elves ; " Freyr (Old Norse: Lord), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with sacral kingship, virility, peace and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather, and with good harvest. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house. According to Adam of Bremen, Freyr was associated with peace and pleasure, and was represented with a phallic statue in the Temple at Uppsala. According to Snorri Sturluson, Freyr was "the most renowned of the æsir", and was venerated for good harvest and peace." And he is also one of the æsir who are present after the creation of the world ; "The interaction between the Æsir and the Vanir has provoked an amount of scholarly theory and speculation. While other cultures have had "elder" and "younger" families of gods, as with the Titans versus the Olympians of ancient Greece, the Æsir and Vanir were portrayed as contemporaries. The two clans of gods fought battles, concluded treaties, and exchanged hostages (Freyr and Freyja are mentioned as hostages)" 

The Elves of Dungeons & Dragons may in point of fact be descended from the light elves of mythology. The light Elves themselves might have been like unto the gods in many ways becoming the gods of contemporary elves in D&D campaign worlds such as Greyhawk. 
 The Æsir and the Vanir may in point of fact be descended from the elemental & primordial titans at the beginning of the planes. And this goes a long way to explaining many deities that have connections with Fallen  angels, devils, &  demons. These Fallen  angels, devils, &  demons are the Lords of Law & Chaos respectively in Michael Moorcock's eternal champion series. And let me direct you to the Warhound & The World's Pan for the connections. 

We've seen interactions between Elric & various incarnations of the eternal champion with the forces of darkness & chaos. But these are often fraught with peril because of the masks that the forces of Law & Chaos wear. The real danger behind the scenes is the entity of the black sword. 

The Elves & their various incarnations were created long ago & the titans have strong connections to them. 

Freyr may in point of fact have far more familiarity with the entity of the black sword because he once may have wielded an aspect of it. The 'Sword of Freyr'  had to be separated from its owner; "The most extensive surviving Freyr myth relates Freyr's falling in love with the female jötunn Gerðr. Eventually, she becomes his wife but first Freyr has to give away his sword which fights on its own "if wise be he who wields it." Although deprived of this weapon, Freyr defeats the jötunn Beli with an antler. However, lacking his sword, Freyr will be killed by the fire jötunn Surtr during the events of Ragnarök."  

Freyr's Sword is very similar to Elric's Stormbringer both in occult qualities,  temperament, & even its apocalyptical curse that surrounds it; 

"In Norse mythology, the sword belonging to Freyr, a Norse god associated with sunshine, summer and fair weather. Freyr's sword is depicted in Norse mythology as one of the few weapons that is capable of fighting on its own. After Freyr gave up the sword to Skírnir for the hand of the giantess Gerðr, he will die at Ragnarök because he didn't have his sword, fighting Surtr with an antler."

All of this ties back into the Black Blade of the Demon King for Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg. And could be use greater adventure framing device. 

So where does this leave the immortals?! Screwed?! Nope the immortals want nothing to do with any of this & actively take down any sign of the games between Law & Chaos. Even the immortals of the entropic sphere want nothing to do with this. Playing with fire to end their reign isn't their style. This is why demon weapons like Stormbringer & Mournblade are so dangerous for Mystara & worlds like it. More to come.