A maelstrom is a powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. The word is a compound of the Dutch words malen (to grind) and stroom (stream).

The original Maelstrom is the Moskstraumen, a powerful tidal current in the Lofoten Islands off the Norwegian coast.

Maelström in Popular Culture

Games

• Maelstrom is a role playing game by Alexander Scott (Maelstrom) published in 1984 by Puffin Books
• Maelstrom is a LARP game organized by Profound Decisions
• Maelstrom is an early nineties computer game by Ambrosia Software
• Sir Maelstrom is a knight from 1996 "Pray for Death" game. In-game story says that he lived in Walachia between 1200 and 1400 AD, he rejected Christianity and converted to the cult of Necronomicon. Was killed by Turks.
• Maelstrom (real-time strategy) is a 2006 Real-Time Strategy computer game by KD Labs and Codemasters
• The name of a spell cast by a Dark Archon in the popular strategy game called StarCraft
• The name of a spell in the RPG series Tales of which Grune (Tales of Legendia) and Anise (Tales of the Abyss) can cast
• The name of a spell cast by sorceress Ultimecia in Final Fantasy VIII
• The Maelstrom a science-fiction tactical-table game
• The name of Lu Bu's level 11 weapon in the game Xtreme Legends
• The "Maelstrom Card" is an item in the computer game World Of Warcraft
• The presumable name of Ganondorf's dark-skinned horse, from Ocarina of Time
• A location in the ocean between The Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor in World Of Warcraft

Fiction

• Maelstrom is a Marvel Comics fictional supervillain
• A Descent into the Maelstrom is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe
• Maelstrom II is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke featured in his book The Wind from the Sun
• In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne concludes his novel at Poe's maelstrom
• An area of Space in Bridge Commander

Music

• A musical project by former synth pop group Alphaville member Frank Mertens
• A 1986 single by blues and rock and roll guitarist and performer Steve Miller
• An album from a Scandinavian rock band named JR Ewing
• An impressionist piece of music by Julian Cochran
• Maelstrom Chaos is an 2001 album by the Swedish black metal band Mörk Gryning
• A hard rock band from Mercer County, New Jersey

Rides

• Maelstrom is a ride at Epcot's Norway Pavilion

Software

• A synthesizer in the digital audio workstation application Reason

Film

• Maelström is a 2000 film by writer and director Denis Villeneuve

Dutch loanwords | Whirlpools