Stormbringer
- For the 1974 album by Deep Purple, see Stormbringer (album).
Stormbringer is the name of a sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by Michael Moorcock.
The sword has an edge capable of cutting through anything but its most distinctive feature is that it is semi-alive, with a mind of its own, and feeds on souls. The blade's nominal "owner", the albino prince Elric of Melniboné, loathes the sword, but is dependent on it for the strength and vitality it gives him. The sword's hunger for souls is such that it frequently betrays him, turning in his hands and killing friends and lovers, adding to Elric's self-loathing as he feels their stolen strength and souls flooding into himself.
Stormbringer has a 'brother' sword, role-playing games published by Chaosium; a previous edition of the Elric role-playing game was titled Stormbringer.
The band Hawkwind, who have had a long association with Moorcock, released an entire album about the story of Elric and Stormbringer, The Chronicle of the Black Sword (1985). The song Black Blade by Blue Öyster Cult is also about Stormbringer.
Stormbringer appears in the computer game Nethack, with much the same attributes (tendency to attack by itself, including friends; sucks the force of the living beings that it hits...).
