In his non-fiction book Wizardry and Wild Romance, Michael Moorcock criticises fantasy-writer Lord Dunsany for having names that sound like a railway journey. It occurred to me that this could be done to lots of writers, including Moorcock. This was the result:
- A trip along the railway
- With torturer and sleazy fey
- (Past peasants full of resignation
- And no ideas above their station);
- With Jerry, full of gloom and ire,
- Gloriana’s unholy Quire;
- Un-grey Dorian, Corum true,
- Erekose, Elric – Eric too?
- To Tanelorn, where shadows leak
- (For Melnebone, change Mervyn Peake)
- Being but a single person
- They can get a Cheap Excursion!
This is taken from a much longer essay Cock-and-Bull about Epic Fantasy. It is about Moorcock’s criticisms of Tolkien, and the question of fantasy in general.
Gwydion Madawc Williams 