A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items starting U

Uahto

Titles: Warden, Warden of the Place of the Tombs

Eunuch serving the Temple of the Godking with Duby; one of the ten Wardens of the Place of the Tombs on Atuan

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA

Udrath

Medium-sized, deserted island in the North Reach, near Bereswek, Rogmy and Lef. Has the bones of an unnamed dragon

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Ully

Small inhabited island in the West Reach, west of Paln and east of the Dragons' Run. Has farms and villages

Sources: Palaces, OW

Underhill

Titles: Mr

Human form assumed by the dragon Yevaud on Sattins island in the East Reach, after being driven from the isle of Pendor by the League after around a hundred years of occupation. About fifty, he's described as little and fat, with bowlegs, inturned toes and a husky voice; said to be timid, he lives in a cave under a hill, working as a rather incompetent wizard, though he carries no staff

'…a little fat man of fifty who waddled along with his toes turned in, breathing steam and smiling'

[The Rule of Names, W12Q]

Undertomb

A large natural underground cavern beneath the Tombs of Atuan, adjoining the Labyrinth. Highly sacred to the Nameless Ones, it can be accessed only via the red rock door near the Tomb Wall or by a trapdoor in one of the rooms behind the Hall of the Throne. Light is forbidden there, and only the One Priestess, the two High Priestesses and their eunuch wardens (Manan, Uahto, Duby) may enter. Gives access not only to the Labyrinth itself, but also to a minor labyrinth beneath the Hall of the Throne and the Hill of the Tombs, including the Room of Chains, which houses prisoners. The Undertomb is destroyed by an earthquake when Ged and Tenar escape from the Labyrinth with the Ring of Erreth-Akbe

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA; Light under the Hill, ToA; The Anger of the Dark, ToA

'--Saw what she had never seen, not though she had lived a hundred lives: the great vaulted cavern beneath the Tombstones, not hollowed by man's hand but by the powers of the Earth. It was jewelled with crystals and ornamented with pinnacles and filagrees of white limestone where the waters under earth had worked, eons since: immense, with glittering roof and walls, sparkling, delicate, intricate, a palace of diamonds, a house of amethyst and crystal, from which the ancient darkness had been driven out by glory.'

[Light under the Hill, ToA]

Unmaking

The end of Earthsea. Thorion sees a vision of the Unmaking in the Stone of Shelieth

'"I saw the fountains. I saw them sink down, and the streams run dry, and the lips of the springs of water draw back. And underneath all was black, and dry. You saw the sea before the Making, but I saw the … what comes after … I saw the Unmaking."'

[Orm Embar, FS]

Unnamed Ones

See Nameless Ones

Uny

Small island in the southeast of the Archipelago, near Namien; it lies southeast of O and south of the Bars of Uny in the Closed Sea

Up Norvale

Town or village by an unnamed river in the north of Gont; upriver from Norvale

Sources: Frontispiece map, T

Up Selt

Inland village or town lying on an unnamed river in the northwest of Gont, upriver from Selt

Sources: Frontispiece map, T

Use-name

Also known as: Nickname

Nickname that Archipelagans are called by during their adult life, usually a word in their language/dialect. May be their mother's childhood name or a nickname conferred by their peers. Unlike the true name, use-names are often very common, and a person may bear several during their lifetime (Medra, for example, is called successively Otter and Tern). Common use-names derive from plants or trees (eg Vetch, Alder, Berry), animals or birds (eg Dragonfly, Hawk, Hound), jewels (eg Jasper, Beryl, Diamond) or precious materials (eg Ivory, Onyx). Use-names for women are often flowers, such as Rose, Daisy or Lily

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Finder, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE

'People who have a secret name that holds their power the way a diamond holds light may well like their public name to be ordinary, common, like other people's names.'

[Dragonfly, TfE]

Related entries: Names

Usidero

Small inhabited island in the West Reach, west of Paln and east of the Dragons' Run. Has farms and villages

Sources: Palaces, OW

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