Ulrich Von Bek

Graf Ulrich von Bek is a fictional character created by Michael Moorcock. He and his descendants are a somewhat unusual family in Moorcock's works, as they function both as an aspect of his Eternal Champion and as a companion to him. The family is considered to be the current Keeper of the Holy Grail. In addition, Moorcock has rewritten several of his past novels and short stories so that characters who previously had other names are now von Beks. Thus retroactively, von Bek has become one of the most important Multiverse participants.

The von Bek family motto is Do you the Devil's work, a nod to the relationship that the family developed with Satan in The War Hound and the World's Pain.

A von Bek features in the following novels and short stories:

  • The War Hound and the World's Pain (1981)
  • "Flux" (1979, short story, retroactively rewritten as a von Bek)
  • The Brothel in Rosenstrasse (1982)
  • The City in the Autumn Stars (1986)
  • The Dragon in the Sword (1987, with ErekosĂ«)
  • The Sundered Worlds, aka The Blood-Red Game (1965, retroactively rewritten as a von Bek)
  • "The Pleasure Garden of Felipe Sagittarius" (1965, short story, retroactively rewritten as a Von Bek)
  • "The White Wolf's Song," aka "The Black Blade's Summoning" (1994, short story, with Elric)
  • "The Cairene Purse" (2002, short story)
  • The Dreamthief's Daughter (2001, with Elric)
  • The Skrayling Tree (2003, with Elric)
  • The White Wolf's Son (2005, with Elric)

Famous quotes containing the word von:

    One can’t dull a project better than by discussing it repeatedly.
    —Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)