Maelstrom

ˈmeɪlˌstrɒm

noun

a powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river

The word 'maelstrom' originates from Dutch and Norwegian words meaning 'grinding current.' It is often used metaphorically to describe a situation or event that is chaotic and violent, like being caught in a whirlpool.

The sound of the angry torrent slowed to a hungry maelstrom to a racy gurgle.

Haruki Murakami

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

“Not much sand this high.” But she could feel them sinking deeper into the maelstrom.

Herbert, Frank

Dune

28 July.—Four days in hell, knocking about in a sort of maelstrom, and the wind a tempest.

Bram Stoker

Dracula

And I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.

Herman Melville

Moby Dick

Paris is a maelstrom where everything is lost, and everything disappears in this belly of the world, as in the belly of the sea.

Victor Hugo

Les Misérables

With his gaze on the depths, he recognized a maelstrom of boiling rapids there, the mirror of his life—precipitous currents and plunges, all movement gathering up all substance.

Frank Herbert

God Emperor of Dune

The view through the door was blinding in its intensity: a swirling maelstrom of color and light.

Gaiman, Neil

Neverwhere