Corum Jhaelen Irsei

Corum is a prince of the Vadhagh, an older long-lived race in Michael Moorcock's fiction whose advanced knowledge lets them perceive and, in limited ways, shift through other dimensional planes. During an age when rising human societies (the Mabden) clash with older races, Corum's people are devastated by human violence. Early in his story Corum is mutilated—losing his left hand and right eye to human barbarians—an event that precipitates his quest. He later receives two magical replacements from the near-immortal sorcerer Shool (the Hand of Kwll and the Eye of Rhynn). Corum functions as one incarnation of the Eternal Champion: a single soul reborn across the multiverse that intervenes to preserve the Cosmic Balance between Law and Chaos and can encounter other incarnations such as Elric, Erekosë, and Dorian Hawkmoon.

Corum is presented as a Vadhagh prince, often called the Prince in the Scarlet Robe. Early in his narrative he loses his left hand and right eye; at one stage he bears the six-fingered Hand of Kwll and the Eye of Rhynn as replacements for his mutilated members. After later losing those artifacts he uses a silver prosthetic hand and a plain eyepatch. Epithets in the sources include 'Corum of the Silver Hand,' reflecting the prosthetic material in later descriptions.

As a Vadhagh, Corum shares his people's capacity to perceive and, in some circumstances, shift into other dimensional planes—abilities described in the fiction as a blend of advanced knowledge and willful power rather than ordinary human sorcery. The Eye of Rhynn is an artifact that lets Corum perceive an undead netherworld where the last beings he killed reside; he often covers or limits use of this eye to avoid sensory overload. The Hand of Kwll is a six-fingered artifact hand that can summon those last beings from that netherworld when used in conjunction with the Eye. Corum is morally reluctant to rely on these artifacts because they involve methods and dark forces that conflict with his ethics. More broadly, Corum's metaphysical role is as an incarnation of the Eternal Champion, a multiversal agent whose purpose is to act to restore or maintain balance between Law and Chaos.