A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items relating to people

Accursed-sorcerers

See Dark Folk

Aihal

See Ogion

Aimal

See Aiman

Aiman

Also known as: Aimal

Of the House of Morred, he married Queen Heru; their child was Maharion. Gave Heru the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, heirloom of his house, as a marriage gift

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Akambar

Titles: King of Earthsea

Ancient King of All the Isles, from Shelieth on Way. He moved the court from Berila on Enlad to Havnor City in around the year 150, and drove the Kargs into the east

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; The Finder, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Akaren

Eldest of the family of dyers on Lorbanery, mother of Sopli. An old grey-haired woman, with reddened eyes, ragged clothes, a dirty wrinkled face and muscular thin arms stained with dyes, she is driven mad by the loss of her powers so that she shouts her true name aloud; Ged renames her

'"She was a woman of power … no mere witch or potion-maker, but a woman of art and skill, using her craft for the making of the beautiful, a proud woman, and honourable. That was her life. And it is wasted."'

[Lorbanery, FS]

Albatross

Fifteen-year-old girl, one of the Children of the Open Sea (raft people), described as pretty; married to Bluecrab

Sources: The Children of the Open Sea, FS

Alder

Also known as: Hara

Mender from Elini on the island of Taon; son of the witch Blackberry and an unknown father. Thin and slight, dressed in rusty black, with long hair loosely gathered at the nape, he's described as shy. He married Lily when he was around thirty and, after her death in childbirth, is troubled by persistent dreams of the dead. Seeking their meaning, he travels to Roke, Gont and Havnor

'Alder was a mender. He could rejoin. He could make whole. A broken tool, a knife blade or an axle snapped, a pottery bowl shattered: he could bring the fragments back together without joint or seam or weakness.'

[Mending the Green Pitcher, OW]

Alder of Semel

Cattleman in Purewells village near Oraby on the High Marsh of the island of Semel; relatively wealthy but tight-fisted. With his wife Tawny, he has several children

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE

Andaur

A woodcutter in the Gontish tale, the story of Andaur and Avad, who cut down a great oak which cried out in a human voice

Sources: Finding Words, T

Anieb

Also known as: Flag

In the Dark Years, bald emaciated female slave in the roaster tower of the Samory mines on Havnor. Comes from Woodedge village on Mount Onn; her mother is Ayo and her aunt Mead. She has a powerful but untrained gift of magery, linked with the Old Powers of the earth. Escapes with Medra, but soon dies of quicksilver poisoning. Judging from her relatives, before her enslavement, she was probably 'a short, slight, quick woman, with a round face and clear eyes, and a mass of dark hair, not straight like most people's hair, but curly, frizzy'^a

Sources: The Finder, TfE (a)

'…thinking by his height he was a child, and then saw the small breasts. It was a woman. She was bald. Her joints were swollen knobs in her bone-thin limbs. … her thin body greyish and dark like the stones. Her chin and breasts were shiny with the spittle that ran from her mouth.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Anthil

The last female descendant of the House of Hupun, stranded as a baby on a sand bar near Karego-At (later called Springwater Isle) on the orders of the father of the Godking reigning during The Tombs of Atuan. She gave the half Ring of Erreth-Akbe to Ged. Her brother is Ensar

Sources: Hunting, WoE; Voyage, ToA

Apple

Also known as: Hayohe

Young woman married to a merchant in Valmouth in the Middle Valley on Gont; daughter of Tenar and Flint; sister of Spark. As a baby she's plump and healthy, with wispy hair; as an adult, she's buxom with grey eyes; described as kind. At the time of The Other Wind, she has several children, the eldest of which is a daughter, Pippin

Sources: A Bad Thing, T; Bettering, T; Home, T; Dolphin, OW

Archmage

Titles: Warden of Roke

The head of the School of Wizardry on Roke, and the most powerful mage in the Archipelago, as well as exerting considerable political influence. Chosen by the nine Masters of Roke on the death of the former holder. The first archmage was Halkel of Way in 730, some eighty years after the founding of the school; subsequent ones include Nemmerle, Gensher of Way and Ged. No new archmage is chosen after Ged loses his power and the kingship is revived

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'Their master, the warden of Roke, the Archmage, is held to be accountable to no man at all, except the King of All the Isles: and that only by an act of fealty, by heart's gift, for not even a king could constrain so great a mage to serve the common law, if his will were otherwise. Yet even in the kingless centuries the Archmages of Roke kept fealty and served that common law.'

[The Masters of Roke, FS]

Ard

Witch or sorcereress of Gont who taught Heleth; herself taught on Perregal by Ennas of Perregal

'…his old witch-teacher with her bitter mouth and her long, lean arms…'

[The Bones of the Earth, TfE]

Arha

See Tenar

Arren

See Lebannen

Arrendek

See Lebannen

Aspen

Also known as: Erisen

Young Roke-trained wizard employed by the Lord of Re Albi; he came to Re Albi three years before the events of Tehanu. Described as handsome and tall, he lives in the Re Albi mansion house and bears a silvery pinewood staff. A follower of the necromancer Cob, he uses Cob's arts to keep alive the old Lord of Re Albi, and is killed by Kalessin

Sources: Ogion, T; Finding Words, T; The Master, T; Tehanu, T

'She had thought him, on the morning of Ogion's death, to be a young man, a tall, handsome youth with a grey cloak and a silvery staff. He did not look as young as she had thought him, or he was young but somehow dried and withered.'

[Finding Words, T]

Ath

Great mage-scholar of ancient times. Compiled the Book of Names and presumably invented the Pendulum of Ath. Lived at one time at Ath's House on the island of Pody, before going into the west via Pendor to fight the great dragon Orm, in which confrontation he died -- according to the legends of Paln, on the island of Ontuego

Sources: The Finder, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Palaces, OW; Dolphin, OW

'"That---so we say on Paln---is the very question Ath asked Orm a thousand years ago, in the ruins of Ontuego. 'Can a dragon lie?' the mage asked. And Orm replied, 'No,' and then breathed on him, burning him to ashes… But are we to believe the story, since it was only Orm who could have told it?"'

[Dolphin, OW]

Atwah

Titles: Twin God, God-Brother

One of the Twin Gods, Warrior Gods of the Kargad Lands; said to be sons of the Old Powers of the Earth. Brother of Wuluah

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; Rejoining, OW

Avad

Character in the Gontish tale, the story of Andaur and Avad, about a woodcutter, Andaur, who cut down a great oak which cried out in a human voice

Sources: Finding Words, T

Ayeth

Also known as: Sunbright

Petty sorcerer who works as an animal curer on the island of Semel; comes from the south coast

'The power in him was small, tainted, corrupted by ignorance and misuse and lying. But the jealousy was in him like a stinging fire.'

[On the High Marsh, TfE]

Ayo

In the Dark Years, lives in Woodedge village on Havnor isle; one of the women of the Hand; a short woman with dark frizzy hair, she is described as a wise woman; very poor but generous. Mother of Anieb and sister of Mead

'Ayo and Mead were much alike, and Otter saw in them what Anieb might have been: a short, slight, quick woman, with a round face and clear eyes, and a mass of dark hair, not straight like most people's hair, but curly, frizzy.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Azver

Titles: Master Patterner, Azver the Patterner, Lord Patterner, Master of the Grove, Lord Azver

Master Patterner at the School of Wizardry on Roke during The Farthest Shore, 'Dragonfly' & The Other Wind; he comes from Karego-At (the only Karg ever to come to the School). Described as between thirty and forty in 'Dragonfly', tall and slight, with a hard face and 'pale reddish skin, long pale hair, and narrow eyes the colour of ice'^a; he is quiet, smiles rarely, and is said to have a hint of fierceness. Ged describes him: '"He's not a gentle man, but he is to be trusted."'^b His speech is said to be 'strange, stiff and somehow deformed … harsh, quick, dry, peaceable.'^a His Kargish name means 'banner of war'; he learned his true name as an adult from the trees of the Immanent Grove. His wizard's staff is of willow

Sources: The Rowan Tree, FS; Dragonfly, TfE (a); Mending of the Green Pitcher, OW (b)

'…the Master Patterner, who lived within the Grove and seldom or never came forth from it. His hair was yellow as butter; he was no Archipelagan. … Such had been the Master Patterner ten years ago, a sword-begirt, red-plumed young savage from Karego-At… a tall man and fair, with long fair hair, and strange green eyes…'

[The Rowan Tree, FS]

Bagmen

See Weatherworkers

Bailiffs

Also known as: Bailies

Along with sea-sheriffs and officers of the peace, carry out law enforcement on Gont, reporting to the mayor of each district and to the village councils. They receive a wage derived from local taxes

Sources: Home, T; Winter, T; The Master, T

Beards

Beards are said to be rare in the Archipelago. Examples include Seppel of Paln, who has a short, clipped beard; Nemmerle, who has a white beard as an old man; Hare in Hort Town; and fur-cloaked merchants at Gont Port. Blackbeard's beard is rare enough to give him his usename. Ged usually seems to be clean shaven, but acquires a sparse beard travelling on Atuan; prisoners there have tangled beards, though, as other Kargish men are not described as having facial hair, this may well be a sign of neglect

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; The Shadow, WoE; The School for Wizards, WoE; The Prisoners, ToA; Hort Town, FS; Dolphin, OW

Related entries: Hair styles

Beech

Sorcerer of Valmouth on Gont; in his forties, mild-looking and tending to fat. Described as shrewd, modest, kind and sensitive, with a diffident manner. A pupil of a pupil of Ogion's

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Home, T

'…a smooth-skinned, mild-looking man in his forties, tending a little to fat, with dark half-circles under his eyes that belied the blandness of his face…'

[Home, T]

Beltow

Titles: Goody Beltow

Woman of Sattins island in the East Reach; owns a ginger cat

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Benderesk

Titles: Lord of the Terrenon, Lord of the Stone

Lord of the land from Keksemt Moors to the Mountains of Os on Osskil and Keeper of the Stone of Terrenon. Married to Lady Serret

'Thrice her age, bone-white, bone-thin, with clouded eyes…'

[The Hawk's Flight, WoE]

Berry of Havnor

Elderly servant at the court on Havnor; described as intelligent and competent, and apparently sympathetic. She comes from a village in inland Havnor

'Berry was an intelligent, competent woman, born in a village in inland Havnor…'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Berry of Semel

Dairy farmer living on the High Marsh on the island of Semel; brother of Emer; a drunkard. Described as 'a nobbly, dried-up man'^a with dull eyes

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE (a)

'"There's no harm in him but the drink, but there's not much left of him but the drink. It's eaten up most of his mind, and most of what we have."'

[On the High Marsh, TfE]

Beryl

Roke-trained wizard on Ea, serving the Prince of Éa and Lord of Taon

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Birch

Titles: Master of Iria of Westpool

Owner of the central, richest lands of the domain of Iria on the island of Way, comprising farms, orchards and vineyards. Married to niece of the Lord of Wayfirth; they have several daughters, including Rose of Westpool

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Birt

Young fisherman of Sattins island in the East Reach; a large, blue-eyed man, described as brave and inarticulate. Owns the fishing-sloop Queenie in which he leaves Sattins with his love, the schoolmistress Palani

'a large, brave, wordless young man'

[The Rule of Names, W12Q]

Birthmark

Many men and women with prominent birthmarks or other blemishes become witches or sorcerers being said to be 'marked for it'

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Black Mage

Historical mage; enemy of Nereger of Paln, who defeats him by learning his name from overhearing the conversation of dragons

Sources: The Open Sea, WoE

Blackbeard

Titles: Sealord of Pendor

Fairly young wizard and voyager; descendant of the Lords of Pendor. Described as handsome, he has a black beard and black eyes; though his manner is cheerful, he appears arrogant. His staff is oak. Killed by the dragon Yevaud on Sattins island while seeking the emerald Inalkil and other treasures of Pendor in the dragon's hoard

'the voyager was quite young, a handsome black-bearded fellow'

[The Rule of Names, W12Q]

Blackberry

Witch of Elini on the island of Taon, with a large wine-red birthmark; mother of Alder

'She had a birthmark, a red stain from the right eyebrow and ear clear down over her shoulder. Many women and men with such a blemish or difference about them become witches or sorcerers perforce, "marked for it", people say. Blackberry learned spells and could do the most ordinary kind of witchery; she had no real gift for it, but she had a way about her that was almost as good as the gift itself.'

[Mending the Green Pitcher, OW]

Bluecrab

Seventeen-year-old youth of the Children of the Open Sea (raft people), tatooed with a blue crab on his back; married to the fifteen-year-old Albatross

'…he looked not more than twelve in height and build: a grave-faced fellow, with a blue crab tattooed all across his back.'

[The Children of the Open Sea, FS]

Bordger of Way

Historical wizard who took on bear shape so often he turned permanently into a bear and killed his own son, before being hunted and killed

Sources: The Hawk's Flight, WoE

Brand

Titles: Master Summoner, Brand the Summoner, Brand of Venway

The Master Summoner at the School of Wizardry on Roke during The Other Wind. A big, tall, broad, dark-skinned young man, often described as bear-like, with small, fiery eyes. He comes from the island of Venway in the East Reach, and was sent to Roke as a boy by Vetch. His staff is yew

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW; Dolphin, OW; Rejoining, OW

'…a big, deep-chested, dark-skinned man who held a heavy staff that matched his own height.'

[Rejoining, OW]

Bren

Dairy farmer of the High Marsh on the island of Semel, husband of Emer. He died of marsh fever two years before 'On the High Marsh'

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE

Bridgeman

Old man of the Middle Valley on Gont; owes money to Flint and Tenar, but is said to have nothing with which to pay it

Sources: The Master, T

Bronze-smith of Ten Alders

Bronze-smith of the small village of Ten Alders in the north-east of Gont island, said to be hardheaded, and 'a grim unspeaking man'^a. Father of Ged (Duny) and six considerably older sons; he employs Ged as a smith's boy, but doesn't seem to have been an affectionate father. The Witch of Ten Alders is his dead wife's sister

Sources: Warriors of the Mist, WoE (a)

'[The Kargs] went up the Vale wrecking and looting, slaughtering cattle and men. … Duny's father the bronze-smith was one who stayed, for he would not leave his smelting-pit and forge where he had worked for fifty years. All that night he laboured beating up what ready metal he had there into spearpoints…'

[Warriors of the Mist, WoE]

Broom

Village sorcerer of Iria on the island of Way

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Brost

Great mage of historical times, remembered in a story on Gont

Sources: Bettering, T

Related entries: Children's tales

Bucky

Young shepherd boy of Iria on the island of Way, described as grubby

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Burning Bush

Nickname of whore in Oraby on the island of Semel

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE

Changer

See Master Changer

Chanter

See Master Chanter

Cherry

Resident of Middle Valley on Gont; owns an outhouse

Sources: Winter, T

Children of the Open Sea

Also known as: Raft people, Raft-Folk

Dark-skinned people who dwell on great rafts made of logs in the Open Sea of the west. Their existence is only a legend to the Archipelagans, and they share very little of the lore of land-dwelling men. The rafts are made of square-cut logs, and have shelters and masts; the largest raft houses a temple called the House of the Great Ones. At the Roads of Balatran, in spring to midsummer, seventy rafts in a circle a mile across cluster together to form a floating town; at this time of the year, the Long Dance is held and people marry before the rafts separate for the rest of the year, following the grey whales (whom they worship as Great Ones). They only come to shore once a year in autumn, at the beaches of Emah on the Long Dune by Wellology, to cut wood and refit the rafts. They are very slender and only the height of children; some bear tatoos. They speak a heavily accented version of Hardic, are ruled by a chief, eat fish, swim like dolphins, measure time only in days and nights, practise polygamy (the chief has three wives), use whale ivory for tools, and sealskins and a fibre made from the nilgu seaweed for cloth and rope

'… stalk-thin and angular, great-eyed, like strange, dark herons or cranes. Their voices were thin, like birds' voices.'

[The Children of the Open Sea, FS]

Clearbrook

Elderly shepherd employed at Oak Farm in Middle Valley on Gont for over twenty years; he has arthritis. Married to Shandy; they live in a cottage round the hill from the farm

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Kalessin, T; Home, T; Winter, T; The Master, T

Cob

Also known as: Cob the necromancer, the spider mage
Titles: King of the Shadows, Lord of the Dark Place, King of the Dead, the Unmaker, Lord of the Two Lands, the Immortal One

Mage from Havnor who summoned the dead for money using the Lore of Paln. A tall, broad, long-armed man, old and white haired during Ged's lifetime but youthful in later appearance in The Farthest Shore. In an attempt to live for ever, he created a rift between the world of the dead and the living using the Pelnish Lore; he gains power over wizards, chanters and others by offering them a form of eternal life. Defeated and killed by Ged in the dry land

'"He was white-haired when I knew him, though still a quick, long-armed man, like a wrestler." '

'His hair was long and black, falling in a mass of glossy curls; he was broad-shouldered and tall, a strong, comely man.'

[Sea Dreams/Selidor, FS]

Colour

See Skin colour

Coney

Vineyarder of the Master of Iria on the island of Way

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Council of Roke

See Council of the Wise

Council of the Wise

Also known as: Council of Roke

Formal council of the nine Masters of Roke, for example, when they meet in the Immanent Grove to choose the new Archmage; at other times, the Archmage may be included in the number

Sources: The Dolphin, T

Crafty men

Early term for wizards, used during the Dark Years

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Crow

In the Dark Years, a wealthy book-collector of Orrimy on Hosk; apparently a bit of a snob, he 'could bargain for a book very shrewdly, but nattering with common women about buttons and thread was beneath him.'^a Teacher of Medra, he settled in Thwil, becoming the first librarian (and possibly the first Master Namer) of the School of Wizardry on Roke. Described as tall and proud

Sources: The Finder, TfE (a)

'…a wealthy recluse, who had no gift of magic but a great passion for what was written, for books of lore and history. … Crow was a strange man, wilful, arrogant, obstinate, and, in defense of his passion, brave.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Curer

Sorcerer or witch who heals animals. Unlike healing humans, animal healing is considered one of the base crafts of magic, though the mage Ged is happy to earn his lodging by curing goats. Curers are often itinerant, using remedies, spells, salves and balms. Examples are Irioth, who cures cattle of murrain by laying on hands, and Ayeth

Sources: The Western Mountains, ToA; On the High Marsh, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'All those that came to him [Irioth] could cure. He laid his hands on them, on the stiff-haired, hot flanks and neck, and sent the healing into his hands with the words of power spoken over and over. After a while the beast would give a shake, or toss its head a bit, or step on. And he would drop his hands and stand there, drained and blank, for a while. Then there would be another one, big, curious, shyly bold, muddy-coated, with the sickness in it like a prickling, a tingling, a hotness in his hands, a dizziness. "Ellu," he would say, and walk to the beast and lay his hands upon it until they felt cool, as if a mountain stream ran through them.'

[On the High Marsh, TfE]

Related entries: Disease; Healing

Daisy of Gont

Blacksmith's wife, probably of Oak Village in Middle Valley on Gont; friend of Tenar

Sources: Winter, T

Daisy of Iria

Housekeeper of the Master of Iria on the island of Way

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Daisy of Oraby

Whore in Oraby on the island of Semel

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE

Dark Folk

Also known as: Accursed-sorcerers

Kargish pejorative terms for the Hardic people of the Archipelago

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Dark Woman

Powerful sorceress following the Old Powers, said once to live in a cave under Roke Knoll on Roke; her dark magic was said to be defeated when the first Archmage came to Roke. 'The Finder' states that this story was not founded in truth

'They say that Roke used to be ruled by a woman called the Dark Woman, who was in league with the Old Powers of the earth. They say she lived in a cave under Roke Knoll, never coming into the daylight, but weaving vast spells over land and sea that compelled men to her evil will …'

[The Finder, TfE]

Darkrose

Also known as: Rose

Daughter of witch, Tangle, in Glade on Havnor island. A free spirit, described as both outspoken and timid, she brought up herself from a young age. Plays the fife, and becomes a wandering musician in Labby's band. Later marries Diamond, who is a year older than her; their child is called Tuly. Described as dark-skinned, with a vivid, fierce thin face, crinkly hair and a husky, dark-toned voice

'Rose was very dark-skinned, with a cloud of crinkled hair, a thin mouth, an intent, serious face. Her feet and legs and hands were bare and dirty, her skirt and jacket disreputable. Her dirty toes and fingers were delicate and elegant, and a necklace of amethysts gleamed under the torn, buttonless jacket.'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Denggemal

Titles: King of Earthsea

Ancient King of All the Isles of the House of Ilien, ruling at Havnor City; father of Heru and grandfather of Maharion

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Deyala

Titles: Master Herbal, Lord Healer

Master Herbal of the Roke School of Wizardry in Tales from Earthsea, The Other Wind and The Farthest Shore. A dark-skinned, dark-eyed man variously described as stocky, stolid and burly; by The Other Wind his hair is grey. He is said to be kind, and appears to be rather unassertive. His staff is of olive wood

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

'a stocky, dark-skinned man with calm eyes … like a wise and patient ox'

[The Masters of Roke, FS]

Diamond

Also known as: Essiri, Di, Songsparrow, Skylark

Only son of wealthy merchant Golden and Tuly in Glade in the west of Havnor island. His true name, Essiri, means willow. Lover of music from an early age, he sings tenor and plays the fife and harp. Having a gift for magic, particularly illusions and summoning, he studies with the wizard Hemlock in Havnor South Port, leaving to join his father's business. Aged nineteen, runs away with Darkrose to be a wandering harpist and singer; their child is called Tuly. Described as a youth as big, tall, with a ruddy, round face, bright dark eyes, thick shiny hair and a husky speaking voice; he is cheerful, friendly, patient and modest

'…till Diamond was sixteen. A big, well-grown youth, good at games and lessons, he was still ruddy-faced and bright-eyed and cheerful. He had taken it hard when his voice changed, the sweet treble going all untuned and hoarse. Golden had hoped that that was the end of his singing, but the boy went on wandering about with itinerant musicians, ballad singers and such, learning all their trash.'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Dohun

King or queen of Enlad before the reign of Morred. The deeds of the early rulers of Enlad are told in the Deed of Enlad

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Related entries: King of All the Isles

Doorkeeper

One of the Masters of Roke (see Master Doorkeeper). Also a title for Segoy in the Creation of Éa. Used by Ged in Tehanu to refer to Lebannen

Sources: Winter, T; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Dory

One of the women of the Hand, of Telio on Pody, living in Ath's House. Described as 'heavyset though thin, with a sullen, steady gaze'^a. A talented healer, she came to Roke School of Wizardry aged 13 or 14 with Medra, later becoming the first Master Herbal

Sources: The Finder, TfE (a)

'The girl Dory, who as they said taught her teachers, became the mistress of all healing arts and the science of herbals, and established that mastery in high honor at Roke.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Dragon

See Woman of Kemay

Dragonfly

See Irian

Dragon-humans

Humans who are also dragons, or dragons who are also humans. According to Kalessin, one or two are born in each respective generation, as a sign that humans and dragons were once one people (see Vedurnan); when the Archipelagan dead are released from the dry land at the end of The Other Wind, 'a few here and there … rose up flickering into dragons, and mounted on the wind.'^a Examples include Irian, Tehanu, the Woman of Kemay and the girl of the song 'The Lass of Belilo'; it may be significant that all known examples have female human forms

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Dragonfly, TfE; Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW; Rejoining, OW (a)

'They saw the dragon, the huge creature whose scaled belly and thorny tail dragged and stretched half across the breadth of the terrace, and whose red-horned head reared up twice the height of the king---they saw it lower that big head, and tremble so that its wings rattled like cymbals, and not smoke but a mist breathed out of its deep nostrils, clouding its shape, so that it became cloudy like thin fog or worn glass; and then it was gone. The midday sun beat down on the scored, scarred, white pavement. There was no dragon. There was a woman. … She stood where the heart of the dragon might have been.'

'"Then Kalessin said: 'Once we were one people. And in sign of that, in every generation of men, one or two are born who are dragons also. And in every generation of our people, longer than the quick lives of men, one of us is born who is also human. Of these one is now living in the Inner Isles. And there is one of them living there now who is a dragon. These two are the messengers, the bringers of choice. There will be no more such born to us or them. For the balance changes.'"'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Dragonlord

One to whom dragons will speak. At the start of The Farthest Shore, Ged is said to be 'the only living Dragonlord'^a; later Lebannen and Tenar also speak with dragons. Historical dragonlords include Morred and Erreth-Akbe

Sources: The Great Treasure, ToA; The Rowan Tree, FS (a)

'"One whom the dragons will speak with … that is a dragonlord, or at least that is the centre of the matter. It's not a trick of mastering the dragons, as most people think. Dragons have no masters. The question is always the same, with a dragon: will he talk with you or will he eat you? If you can count on his doing the former, and not doing the latter, why then you're a dragonlord."'

[The Great Treasure, ToA]

Duby

Titles: Warden, Warden of the Place of the Tombs

Eunuch serving the Temple of the Godking with Uahto; one of the ten Wardens of the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Plays the game sticks and counters with Manan, the eunuch serving the Nameless Ones; the two may be friends. Described as strong

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA; Dreams and Tales, ToA; The Man Trap, ToA

Dulse

See Heleth

Dune

One of the founders of the School of Wizardry on Roke in around 650; a white-haired man described as eager

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Duny

See Ged

Dyers of Lorbanery

Family of sorcerers that superintend the making of dyes on Lorbanery, consisting of Akaren and her son, Sopli

Sources: Lorbanery, FS

Eagle Queen

See Heru

Early

Also known as: Teriel

During the Dark Years, powerful wizard in the service of Losen; formerly a prentice of Gelluk. Skilled in controlling others and at shape-changing, taking the shapes of gull, eagle and dragon. Later rules Havnor through Losen as his puppet. Described as wearing a 'white silk robe, holding a tall white staff, the horn of a sea beast from the farthest North'^a. He sends a fleet of eighty ships against the School of Wizardry on Roke, soon after its foundation, but is defeated by Elehal

Sources: The Finder, TfE (a)

'The desire for power feeds off itself, growing as it devours. Early suffered from hunger. He starved. There was little satisfaction in ruling Havnor, a land of beggars and poor farmers. What was the good of possessing the Throne of Maharion if nobody sat in it but a drunken cripple? What glory was there in the palaces of the city when nobody lived in them but crawling slaves?'

[The Finder, TfE]

Ebéa, Lady of

See Lady of Ebéa

Egre

Titles: Captain Egre

A famous pirate and slavetrader. He wears a broad gold-studded leather band round his neck to hide a scar where his throat was cut, and has a strange whistling voice. Ged takes away his voice in The Farthest Shore after he takes Lebannen as a slave; some years later, at the Siege of Sorra, which Lebannen fights against the Wathort slavers, he's a mute. Hare was his weatherworker

Sources: Magelight, FS; Dolphin, OW

Related entries: Piracy; Slavery

Elassen

Sorcerer of Valmouth on Gont some thirty or forty years before A Wizard of Earthsea; he taught Ogion farmwork, carpentry and possibly magic. Described as respectable, he's also generous enough to pay Ogion's passage to Roke

Sources: The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Elehal

Also known as: Ember

One of the founders of the School of Wizardry on Roke in around 650; younger sister of Yahan and lover of Medra. Her parents and brothers were killed by raiders from Wathort when she was a young child. Described as short, strong, black-browed, with dark eyes, a keen, hard, round face, soft brown skin, sleek black hair, later greying. Initially fierce and stern, in middle age she is said to be quiet and even-tempered. She first lived in the Immanent Grove, then in Thwil town with Medra, and later in a little house by the Thwilburn, near the Grove, later called the Otter's House. She is the first Master Patterner

'…under her sternness, quick and tender as the first flame of a catching fire.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Elfarran

Titles: Elfarran the Fair, Elfarran of Soléa, Queen Elfarran

Wife of Morred, mother of Serriadh, she died around two thousand years ago, drowning in the Sea of Éa when the Isle of Soléa was lost beneath the sea by spell of the Enemy of Morred. She bore the Ring of Erreth-Akbe centuries before the time of Erreth-Akbe. Ged was trying to summon her spirit when he released the shadow-beast

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'In the oval of light for a moment there moved a form, a human shape: a tall woman looking back over her shoulder. Her face was beautiful, and sorrowful, and full of fear.'

[The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE]

Elt

Wizard who drove Yevaud (later the Dragon of Pendor) from Osskil in the time of Morred

'…a wizard, Elt, wise in names.'

[The Dragon of Pendor, WoE]

Ember

See Elehal

Emer

Also known as: Gift

Widow and cattle-farmer living on the High Marsh, half a mile from Purewells village, ten or twelve miles north of Oraby on the island of Semel; fifty years old in 'On the High Marsh' [TfE], but still strong and healthy. She keeps a dairy, making cheese. Sister of Berry of Semel; her husband, Bren, died of marsh fever two years earlier. She takes in the former mage Irioth. Ged describes her as brave

'…her round, strong arms, her hard, red hands…'

[On the High Marsh, TfE]

Enashen

King or queen of Enlad before the reign of Morred. The deeds of the early rulers of Enlad are told in the Deed of Enlad

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Related entries: King of All the Isles

Enemy of Morred

Also known as: Wandlord

An evil mage of great power who made whole cities and armies in thrall to him; he was defeated by Morred. Even after his death, the spell he wove against Morred was so powerful that the island of Soléa was overwhelmed by the sea

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Enlad, House of

See House of Enlad

Ennas of Perregal

Great mage. Former owner of Ogion's lore-books, via his pupil the sorceress Ard and her pupil Heleth; these include the Glosses of Danemer, Arcana of the Enlades and a Book of Runes

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; Mice, T; The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Ennio

Person at the School of Wizardry at Roke soon after its foundation

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Ensar

The last male descendant of the House of Hupun, stranded as a child on a sand bar near Karego-At (later called Springwater Isle) on the orders of the father of the Godking reigning during The Tombs of Atuan. His sister is Anthil

Sources: Hunting, WoE; Voyage, ToA

Enwit

Lord of the Domain of Eolg on Havnor Isle. Father of Jasper

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE

Erisen

See Aspen

Erreth-Akbe

Ancient mage and dragonlord, counsellor to King Maharion and said to be his heart's brother. A fatherless witch's son from inland Havnor. Defeated the Firelord, and decisively defeated the Kargish fleet at Waymarsh. In 440, he carried Morred's ring (later called the Ring of Erreth-Akbe) to King Thoreg as a sign of peace between the Archipelago and the Kargad Lands, but found himself in the midst of a coup; he was defeated by High Priest Intathin of the House of Tarb, who broke the Ring and, according to Kargish accounts, his staff. Killed by the dragon Orm on Selidor a few years before Maharion's death in 452. His sword is set atop the Tower of the Kings of the Havnor New Palace; his deeds are told in the Deed of Erreth-Akbe

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; Dreams and Tales, ToA; Selidor, FS; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'He wore an armour of gilt bronze, in an ancient fashion; it was rent as if by hatchet blows, and the jewelled scabbard of his sword was empty. His face was stern, with arched black brows and narrow nose; his eyes were dark, keen, and sorrowful.'

[Selidor, FS]

Essiri

See Diamond

Estarriol

See Vetch

Etaudis

See Rose of Old Iria

Eunuch

Eunuchs serve in the temples at Atuan, but do not exist within the Archipelago. On Gont, the practice of castrating men appears to be unheard of; Ivory (from Havnor), however, disparagingly refers to the wizards' practice of celibacy as turning them into eunuchs, castrating themselves with spells to be holy

Sources: Bettering, T; Dragonfly, TfE

Falcon

Soldier, presumably in Lebannen's employ, killed by the slaver Egre at the Siege of Sorra

Sources: Dolphin, OW

Felkway, Lord of

See Lord of Felkway

Ferny

Old woman of the town of Glade on Havnor island

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Finder

See Master Finder

Firelord

A great mage who sought to undo the darkness and stop the sun at noon. Defeated by Erreth-Akbe. The yellow-flowered sparkweed is said to grow where the wind dropped the ashes of burning Ilien, when Erreth-Akbe defended the Inward Isles from him

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

First Priestess

See One Priestess

Flag

See Anieb

Flint

Titles: Farmer Flint

Farmer & shepherd of Oak Farm in the Middle Valley of Gont; husband of Tenar, father of Apple & Spark; described as tall, with a long, narrow face. Married to Tenar for around 20 years, he dies of a stroke in around 1049

Sources: A Bad Thing, T; Kalessin, T; Bettering, T; The Master, T

Fogeno

Titles: Seacaptain Fogeno

White-browed old man of Sattins island in the East Reach. A former sea captain, he is blind from a detached retina

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Gadge Brewer

Brewer of Glade in the west of Havnor

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Gamble

Titles: Gamble the Windkey

A sorcerer student of the School of Wizardry on Roke in The Farthest Shore; described as stocky. He comes from Ark where he is the seventh child and first son of his parents, hence his name. A monarchist. In The Other Wind, he is the young Master Windkey

Sources: The Masters of Roke, WoE; Rejoining, OW

'A short stocky man… He lifted his staff of silvery wood.'

[Rejoining, OW]

Gammer

Owner of an ox team in Re Albi; presumably a farmer

Sources: The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Gan

Carpenter of Sattins island in the East Reach; wall-eyed and incompetent

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Gannet

Sorcerer on Taon who taught Alder; he died five years before the events of The Other Wind

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW; Dolphin, OW

Gebbeth

Human being possessed by a dark force to become a puppet, whose body is only a shell. An example is Skiorh, who was possessed by the shadow-beast on Osskil

'The body of a gebbeth has been drained of true substance and is something like a shell or a vapour in the form of a man, an unreal flesh clothing the shadow which is real.'

[Hunted, WoE]

Ged

Also known as: Sparrowhawk, Duny, Kelub (the red one), Hawk, the Hawk Mage
Titles: Archmage of Roke, Dragonlord, Healer of the Rune of Peace

Very powerful mage, dragonlord and explorer. Born in Ten Alders, Gont, seventh son of the bronze-smith of Ten Alders. Initially a goatherd and smith's boy, he was taught magic by his maternal aunt, the Witch of Ten Alders, Ogion the Silent and then at the School of Wizardry on Roke. His use-name, Sparrowhawk, derives from his habit of calling hawks to him. He uses the rune of the Talon. Bears lifelong scars on left cheek and shoulder from encounter with shadow-beast he released as a young man. After many heroic exploits, including defeating Yevaud, the Dragon of Pendor, sailing the Dragons' Run, building the seawall of Nepp, capping the Black Well of Fundaur, destroying the Tombs of Atuan and rejoining the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, he became Archmage after the death of Gensher of Way. With the young Lebannen, he defeated the necromancer Cob, in the process spending his power. After revealing Lebannen to be King of All the Isles, he retired to the Old Mage's House on Gont using the name Hawk, there he later marries Tenar and adopts Tehanu. Songs celebrating his deeds include the Song of the Sparrowhawk & Deed of Ged

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Dragon of Pendor, WoE; The Rowan Tree, FS; The Dry Land, FS; Winter, T

'…a short, straight, vigorous figure in a hooded cloak of white wool. …his face was reddish-dark, hawk-nosed, seamed on one cheek with old scars. The eyes were bright and fierce.'

[The Rowan Tree, FS]

Further information on Ged

Gehis of the Havens

Lord of the Havens, he rebelled against the rule of King Maharion; Maharion was mortally wounded in battle with him in 452. May have been one of several who unsuccessfully contested the throne after Maharion's death

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Gelluk

Also known as: Tinaral, Whiteface, Old Whiteface

Powerful wizard from the north, chief mage in the service of Losen during the Dark Years; described as tall, pale, with bluish eyes and long hair, wearing rich scarlet robes and a peaked hat. Particularly skilled at controlling others. Obsessed with quicksilver (mercury), which (based on a lore-book from Way) he calls the King or the Allking, he seems to have been driven mad, perhaps by mercury poisoning. Killed by Medra and Anieb who trick him into speaking his true name, Tinaral

'Gelluk wore fantastic clothes, as many of his kind did in those days. A long robe of Lorbanery silk, scarlet, embroidered in gold and black with runes and symbols, and a wide-brimmed, peak-crowned hat made him seem taller than a man could be. … His face was large and long, whiter than any face Otter had seen, with bluish eyes. Grey and black hairs curled here and there on his chin and cheeks. His calm, open smile showed small teeth, several of them missing.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Gemal Sea-born

Also known as: Gemal Sea-born of Ilien
Titles: King of All the Isles, King of Earthsea

Ancient King of All the Isles, he ruled at Havnor City and was the first king from the House of Ilien. His hall forms the throne room of the New Palace. Father of Denggemal, grandfather of Heru and great-grandfather of Maharion

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Gensher of Way

Titles: Archmage Gensher

Archmage after Nemmerle's death. From Way in the east of the Archipelago. Brings Stone of Shelieth to Roke. Dies of illness five years before the start of The Farthest Shore

'Like the old Archmage the new one was cloaked in white; but like most men of Way and the East Reach Gensher was black-skinned, and his look was black, under thick brows.'

[The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE]

Gift

See Emer

Gobar

Titles: Captain of the Guards

Captain of the guards of the Place of the Tombs of Atuan. The temple guards appear to be distinct from the Godking's soldiers

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA

God-Brothers

See Twin Gods

Godking

Titles: Divine Emperor of Kargad, Emperor of the Kargad Lands, Lord Who Has Arisen, the Man Immortal

Ruler of the Kargad Lands. His court is at Awabath on Karego-At. The first Godking reigned around 150 years before The Tombs of Atuan (in the year 840); before that the Kargad Lands were ruled by Priest-Kings. At the time of ToA, the Godking is around 50 and bald. The Godking is deposed by High King Thol from Hur-at-Hur in a civil war in around 1061 (ten years after the restoration of the Archipelagan monarchy), and flees to the Place of the Tombs on Atuan, to be murdered by a priest-eunuch

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA; Palaces, OW

'"…Am I supposed to feel so much awe and so on about the Godking? After all he's just a man, even if he does live in Awabath in a palace ten miles around with gold roofs. He's about fifty years old, and he's bald. You can see in all the statues. And I'll bet you he has to cut his toenails, just like any other man. I know perfectly well that he's a god, too. But what I think is, he'll be much godlier after he's dead."'

[Dreams and Tales, ToA]

Godking's soldiers

Also known as: Soldiers of the red helmet

Soldiers in the Godking's service in the Kargad Lands, distinguished by red-plumed helmets. Apparently distinct from the temple guards of the Place of the Tombs, their duties include taking prisoners to the Place of the Tombs, accompanying priestesses of the Tombs when they travel, acting as gate guards for Kargish towns and, presumably, guarding the Godking and his palace in Awabath

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; The Prisoners, ToA; The Western Mountains, ToA

Goha

See Tenar

Golden

Rich merchant of the town of Glade on Havnor island; owns chestnut groves, sawmill and carting business. Lives in a fine, comfortable two-storey house in the high end of town. Husband of Tuly and father of Diamond. Described as a big, tall man, careful, practical and rather contemptuous of music and similar arts. He is around twenty-eight when Diamond is born

'He was a consciously close-mouthed man, distrustful of visions until they could be made acts'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Goldie

Whore in Oraby on the island of Semel

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE

Gont, Lord of

See Lord of Gont

Gore

Old slave trader of Wathort

Sources: Dolphin, OW

Grey Mage of Paln

Mage from Paln who made great spells (the Lore of Paln) to summon the spirits of the dead for counsel to the Lords of Paln a thousand years ago. He killed the great mage Nereger of Paln. Cob bears his staff, a long steel rod, engraved with runes

Sources: Sea Dreams, FS; Orm Embar, FS

'"…it is seldom done, and I doubt that it is ever wisely done. In this the Master Summoner agrees with me; he does not use or teach the Lore of Paln, in which such spells are contained. The greatest of them were made by one called the Grey Mage of Paln, a thousand years ago. He summoned up the spirits of the heroes and mages, even Erreth-Akbe, to give counsel to the Lords of Paln in their wars and government. But the counsel of the dead is not profitable to the living. Paln came on evil times, and the Grey Mage was driven forth; he died nameless."'

[Sea Dreams, FS]

Grey wizard

Another name for wizards trained at the School of Wizardry on Roke

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Guards

See Soldiers

Guld

Titles: Goody Guld

Old woman of Sattins island in the East Reach; talkative widow of a concertina maker. Her nephew is Birt

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Gully

See Irioth

Hair styles

Dark straight hair is the norm in the Archipelago and Reaches, while people of the Kargad Lands generally have fair or yellow hair; there are, however, exceptions, including dark-haired Tenar and red-haired Sopli. People in the west of Havnor isle generally have curly or frizzy hair. Some men are explicitly described as having long hair; for example, Ged as an old man wears his hair tied back, Alder has long hair loosely gathered at the nape, Sopli has long wiry reddish hair, Cob in his Sending has long black hair, and Ivory is described as having braided hair with the braid clubbed. It's unclear whether others have short hair, but it seems probable. Skiorh and an unnamed sailor on the Dolphin are bald. Women generally seem to have long hair. In the Archipelago, women's hair is often described as unbound; for example, Serret's hair (as a child on Gont) is described: 'Her hair fell long and straight like a fall of black water'^a; the witch of Ten Alders has uncombed, tangled black hair. Braided hair is, however, mentioned for Rush, a common woman on Pody in the Dark Years, and the Gontish witch Moss has her hair tied in charm-knots. Hairpins are mentioned on Gont.

Kargish warriors wear their fair hair long, as does Azver, the Kargish Master Patterner; in court dress, their hair is braided, though the warriors who attacked Ten Alders seem to have worn their hair loose. Manan is described as hairless. Plaited or braided hair is mentioned for women at the Place of the Tombs of Atuan; Arha's (Tenar's) hair is cut short during her dedication to the Nameless Ones, but is later described as braided

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Shadow, WoE (a); Hunted, WoE; Lorbanery, FS; Ogion, T; Finding Words, T; The Finder, TfE; Palaces, OW

Related entries: Headgear; Beards

Hake

Male tramp of Middle Valley on Gont; thin with a hairy chest. Probably father of Tehanu. Part of group including Handy, Shag and Senini, he's injured by a pitchfork when the group attack Oak Farm. Sentenced to slave labour in the galleys for his involvement in the murder of Senini

Sources: Home, T; Winter, T; The Master, T

Halkel

Also known as: Halkel of Way
Titles: Archmage

First archmage of the School of Wizardry on Roke in 730, some eighty years after the establishment of the school. He established a rigid hierarchy of wizards, sorcerers and witches, and set up a distinction between the high arts and base crafts of magic. He banned the teaching of the high arts such as knowledge of the Old Speech to women (though this proscription was widely ignored), and excluded them from Roke School. He also abolished the original office of the Master Finder, now considered a base craft, replacing it with the Master Chanter

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Hama Gondun

Also known as: Woman on Gont, a

'Hama Gondun!' ('a woman on Gont') is a prophecy spoken in Kargish by Azver the Patterner during the council of the Masters of Roke in around 1051 to choose an Archmage to succeed Ged. At the time the prophecy is made, it is thought that the woman would guide them to the new Archmage. Azver later identifies Tehanu as the woman of the prophecy, which proves instead to refer to the Vedurnan

Sources: The Dolphin, T; Dragonfly, TfE; Rejoining, OW

Hand

See Master Hand

Hand, the

See Women of the Hand

Handy

Young male tramp of Middle Valley on Gont, described as 'well enough looking'^a. He wears a leather cap, jerkin and vest with a torn shoulder seam. Part of group including Hake, Shag and Senini. Sentenced to slave labour in the galleys for his involvement in the murder of Senini

Sources: A Bad Thing, T; Going to the Falcon's Nest; Hawks, T (a); Winter, T; The Master, T

Hara

See Alder

Hare

Weatherworker for the pirate Egre; Egre cut his right hand off after he lost his powers

'…the dark, bearded face had been very handsome once. The wrinkled wrist stump lay on the pavement stones in the hot, bright sunlight, shameful.'

[Hort Town, FS]

Hatha

See Moss

Hawk

False identity as a trader from Temere on Enlad, used by Ged when visiting Hort Town in The Farthest Shore. He later uses the name when living as a farmer on Gont

Sources: Hort Town, FS; Home, T; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Hayohe

See Apple

Heather

Simple woman who lives with the witch Moss and works as a goatherd in Re Albi on Gont. Aged around twenty during Tehanu, she's big and bony; described as gentle

Sources: Kalessin, T; Mice, T; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

'…a bawling-voiced, gentle lackwit of twenty…'

[Kalessin, T]

Hega of O

First Master Hand of the Roke School of Wizardry, he teaches tricks of illusion

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Heleth

Also known as: Dulse, Heleth Farseer

Mage of Re Albi, master of Ogion the Silent. Born in Re Albi to a sorcerer-prospector, he was taught by the sorceress Ard and by Nemmerle at the School of Wizardry on Roke. His staff is of yew tipped with copper; his lorebooks come from the mage Ennas of Perregal via Ard. Lives at the Old Mage's House on Gont. Considering himself an impatient, quick-tempered man, and said to be talkative for a wizard, he's also described as peaceful. With Ogion, aged nearly eighty, he stilled the earthquake threatening Gont Port ten years before 'The Shadow' [WoE], giving his life in the process

'Dulse considered himself a wordy, impatient man with a short temper. The necessity of not swearing had been a burden to him in his youth, and for thirty years the imbecility of prentices, clients, cows, and chickens had tried him sorely. Prentices and clients were afraid of his tongue, though cows and chickens paid no attention to his outbursts.'

[The Bones of the Earth, TfE]

Hemlock

Scholar and wizard of Havnor South Port; trained at the Roke School of Wizardry. Lives an austere life, in a narrow house on a back street of the city. Described as serious, unyielding and quiet, with a dry flat voice, he's said to be loath to practise the lesser arts of magic. Briefly teacher of Diamond

'Hemlock was an honest, upright, humorless, scholarly wizard, with little interest in feelings or ideas. His gift was for names.'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Heno

Titles: Lord Heno

Lord of Valmouth in the south of Gont; his stone manor house stands in the hills behind Valmouth. Said to be corrupt and to support piracy. After the restoration of the Archipelagan monarchy, he sends three ships commanded by Tally against Lebannen's fleet, but is arrested by the king's soldiers and tried for piracy and murder

Sources: Home, T; Winter, T

Herbal

See Master Herbal

Heru

Also known as: Eagle Queen, the Eagle
Titles: Queen of Earthsea

Queen of Earthsea, of the House of Ilien; she ruled from Havnor in 400-430. Granddaughter of Gemal Sea-born and daughter of Denggemal, she married Aiman of the House of Morred; their son was Maharion. She undertook a building programme in Havnor City, including the River House palace (called the Queen's House) and, with Maharion, the three towers of the New Palace. During her reign, dragons started to raid the western isles and forays by the Kargs increased. Given the Ring of Erreth-Akbe by Aiman as a marriage gift, she gave it to Erreth-Akbe to take to the Kargad Lands as a sign of peace in 440

Sources: The Finder, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; The Dragon Council, OW

High King

Also known as: High King of the Four Kargad Lands

Ruler of the Kargad Lands after the Godking is defeated in a civil war in around 1061

Sources: Palaces, OW

Highdrake

An old mage on the Isle of Pendor; he taught Medra in around 650

'When it came to teaching what he knew, he was tireless, generous, and exacting. … Highdrake's mastery of spells and sorcery was not much greater than his pupil's, but he had clear in his mind the idea of something much greater, the wholeness of knowledge. And that made him a mage.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Hoary Men

See Kargs

Hode

Historical Archipelagan figure, whose unspecified deeds are recounted in the Deed of Hode

Sources: Hunted, WoE

Hound

During the Dark Years, a wizard and finder in the service of Losen skilled in sniffing out magic and its practitioners; later unwillingly serves Early. He's described: 'with age Hound had come to look his name, wrinkled, with a long nose and sad eyes.'^a Believing that '"Crafty men need to stick together"'^a, he eventually deserts Losen to stay in Endlane, living with Rose of Endlane

Sources: The Finder, TfE (a)

'In Losen's service was a man who called himself Hound, because, as he said, he had a nose for witchery. His employment was to sniff Losen's food and drink and garments and women, anything that might be used by enemy wizards against him; and also to inspect his warships.'

[The Finder, TfE]

House of Enlad

Also known as: Enlad, House of

The descendants of Morred, the Princes of Enlad and the Enlades; the latest is Lebannen. Its crest is a flying heron with a twig of rowan in its beak

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; The Dragon Council, OW

'[Lebannen] was proud of his lineage, but thought of himself only as an heir of princes, one of the House of Enlad. Morred, from whom that house descended, had been dead two thousand years. His deeds were matter of legends, not of this present world. It was as if the Archmage had named him son of myth, inheritor of dreams.'

[The Masters of Roke, FS]

House of Hupun

Also known as: Hupun, House of, House of Thoreg

House of the secular kings of Karego-At, ruling from Hupun; includes Thoreg and his descendants

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

House of Tarb

Also known as: Tarb, House of

The descendants of the High Priest Intathin; the lineage of the Priest-Kings and later the Godking of the Kargad Lands

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA

House of Thoreg

See House of Hupun

Hupun, House of

See House of Hupun

Iddi

Marketer of Re Albi on Gont

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Intathin

Titles: High Priest Intathin

Kargish High Priest of the House of Tarb, who defeated Erreth-Akbe in Karego-At; he is said to have broken the Ring of Erreth-Akbe and his staff. He gave the half of the Ring he retained to the Tombs of Atuan. The Priest-Kings are descended from him

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA

Ioeth

Young son of Pechvarry of Low Torning. Died of redfever, despite Ged's efforts to save him

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Iria, Master of

See Master of Iria

Irian

Also known as: Dragonfly, Orm Irian
Titles: Lady Irian, Daughter of Kalessin

Young woman of Iria on the island of Way, daughter of the Master of Iria and an unnamed woman from a western island. Described as fiercely beautiful: tall, strong, large featured with a sharp face, long arms and legs, mannish long dirty hands, dark hair, strange smoky amber eyes and a deep husky voice; she is ignorant, curious, strong-willed, brave, blunt of speech and quick to anger. Good with animals, she runs the farm on her father's estate; aged around twenty-three, she naively accompanies the sorcerer Ivory to Roke disguised as a man, but is prevented from joining the School of Wizardry by Thorion, the Master Summoner. She stays at the Otter's House by the Immanent Grove, being taught by Azver, the Master Patterner; when Thorion comes to drive her from Roke, she defeats him by leading him onto Roke Knoll, where her other form, the dragon Orm Irian, manifests, and flies off westwards to seek her kin. She returns eight years later to negotiate peace between dragons and humans

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE; The Dragon Council, OW

'She was very tall, very sweaty, with big hands and feet and mouth and nose and eyes, and a head of wild dusty hair. … Her eyes were clear orange-brown, like dark topaz or amber. They were strange eyes, right on a level with his own.'

'A big, strong, awkward, ignorant, innocent, angry woman, yes. But ever since Irian was a child Rose had seen something more in her, something beyond what she was.'

[Dragonfly, TfE]

Related entries: Dragon-humans

Irioth

Also known as: Gully, Otak

Former mage from the School of Wizardry on Roke where he had lived since a child; over forty during 'On the High Marsh'. Ged describes him as 'my dear companion, teacher, rival, friend'^a. Born on the Isle of Ark, son of an understeward in the household of the Lord of Ark. Given his true name by Nemmerle, he studied with Thorion, the Master Summoner, having great power in changing and especially in summoning. In jealousy and fear, perceiving himself passed over, he does the forbidden, using his powers to summon the living. Broken by fighting with Ged and Thorion, he flees to the island of Semel. There, described as 'mad in patches'^a, he becomes a skilled cattle healer or curer, finding shelter with the widow Emer, who perceptively describes him '…like an animal himself, a silent, damaged creature that needed protection but couldn't ask for it.'^a Thin and moderately tall, with a fine face and dark eyes; his voice is said to be beautiful, like a chanter. In character he's said to be kind and gentle

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE (a)

'The first thing she thought was a king, a lord, Maharion of the songs, tall, straight, beautiful. The next thing she thought was a beggar, a lost man, in dirty clothes, hugging himself with shivering arms. … His dark eyes were large, deep, opaque like a horse's eyes, unreadable.'

[On the High Marsh, TfE]

Islandmen

See Isle-Men

Isle-Men

Also known as: Islandmen, Isle-Women, Islandwomen, Islemen, Islewomen

Rulers of some islands in the Reaches and the Ninety Isles, as well as other small islands

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE; The Open Sea, WoE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; The Dragon Council, OW

Related entries: Government

Isle-Women

See Isle-Men

Ivory

Sorcerer from the School of Wizardry on Roke; born in Havnor Great Port. Clever and skilled with illusions, but neither modest nor wise, he studied with Master Hand for two years before being expelled from Roke without gaining his staff, after being caught with a town girl in his room. Later employed by Birch at Westpool on the island of Way. He is a handsome, slim young man, said to be charming and arrogant; his hair is braided, with the braid clubbed

'Ivory never noticed that the girl was ailing, nor the pear trees, nor the vines. He kept himself to himself, as a man of craft and learning should. He spent his days riding about the countryside on the pretty black mare that his employer had given him for his use when he made it clear that he had not come from Roke to trudge about on foot in the mud and dust of country byways.'

'He told Dragonfly very little of his plans, largely because he made few, trusting to chance and his own wits, which seldom let him down if he was given a fair chance to use them.'

[Dragonfly, TfE]

Ivy

Village witch probably of Oak Village in the Middle Valley on Gont; her cottage is at the end of Mill Lane. Keeps a fat black cat with one white moustache. Skilled in healing, she's described as dour but honest

Sources: A Bad Thing, T; Home, T

'…a great deal cleaner and more reliable than Moss…'

[Home, T]

Iyesa

Titles: Lady Iyesa

Old noblewoman at the court in Havnor City; appears to be blunt in speech

Sources: Palaces, OW

Jasper

Son of Enwit, Lord of the Domain of Eolg on Havnor Isle. Described as very tall, handsome and graceful. Studied at Roke, but never gained his wizard's staff. Became sorcerer in the Lord of O's household at O-Tokne on the Island of O

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; Iffish, WoE

'He was two or three years older than Ged, very tall, and he moved and carried himself with stiff grace, posing (Ged thought) like a dancer.'

[The School for Wizards, WoE]

Jugglers

Itinerant entertainers on many islands of the Archipelago. Juggling and sleight of hand are among the arts taught by Master Hand at the Roke School of Wizardry. Kossil and Thar of Atuan mention 'jugglery', so the art is at least known in the Kargad Lands

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA; Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Kargs

Also known as: Hoary Men, Eastern peoples

Inhabitants of Kargad Lands, generally white-skinned and fair or yellow-haired. Considered war-like barbarians by the Archipelagans, who sometimes call them 'Hoary Men' for their frost-like colouring

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

'…they are a savage people, white-skinned, yellow-haired, and fierce, liking the sight of blood and the smell of burning towns.'

'…the tall, rawboned men with their pale, braided hair, their plumed headdresses, their court armor of silver mesh interwoven with feathers.'

[Warriors in the Mist, WoE/Palaces, OW]

Keor

Titles: Prince of Enlad

Prince of Enlad three hundred years before The Farthest Shore, he killed the dragon Bar Oth

Sources: Hort Town, FS

Kest

See Yarrow

King's guards

Part of the guards of Havnor City during the reign of Lebannen; their organisation is unclear, but a gate captain and lieutenants (including Yenay) are mentioned. Their uniform includes a fine harness, and they are armed with swords and bows

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Related entries: Soldiers

Kossil

Titles: High Priestess of the Godking

High Priestess of the Godking at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. She looks after some of the duties of the One Priestess while Arha (Tenar) is a child. Unlike Arha and Thar (High Priestess of the Twin Gods), her motivations appear to relate more to power than any belief in the gods. In appearance she is tall, stout and heavy, with grey eyes; in character, cruel

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA; Light under the Hill, ToA; Names, ToA

'Kossil had no true worship in her heart of the Nameless Ones or of the gods. She held nothing sacred but power. The Emperor of the Kargad Lands now held the power, and therefore he was indeed a godking in her eyes, and she would serve him well. But to her the temples were mere show, the Tombstones were rocks, the Tombs of Atuan were dark holes in the ground, terrible but empty. She would do away with the worship of the Empty Throne, if she could. She would do away with the first Priestess, if she dared.'

[Light under the Hill, ToA]

Kurremkarmerruk

See Master Namer

Labby

Itinerant musician in the west of Havnor; leader of a band, he plays the double-reed woodhorn

'…a light-skinned, flashy-looking fellow…'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Lady of Ebéa

Also known as: Ebéa, Lady of

At the time of The Other Wind, an elderly lady, one of the King's Council

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Lady of O-tokne

Also known as: O-tokne, Lady of

During The Other Wind, an imperious lady on the King's Council. Presumably related to the Lord of O; possibly the same as the young Lady of O who visits Roke around fifty years earlier during A Wizard of Earthsea

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Lar Ashal

King or queen of Enlad before the reign of Morred. The deeds of the early rulers of Enlad are told in the Deed of Enlad

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Related entries: King of All the Isles

Lark

Middle-aged woman of the Middle Valley on Gont (probably of Oak Village); described as grey-haired, overweight, with a handsome face. She and her husband (described as quiet) have seven children, the youngest a girl of five years during Tehanu, the eldest & second youngest boys. Long-standing friend of Tenar

Sources: A Bad Thing, T; Hawks, T; Home, T; Winter, T

'She was a heavy, plain, middle-aged woman, whose name did not fit her body anymore. But once she had been a slight and pretty girl, and she had befriended Goha, paying no attention to the villagers who gossiped about that white-faced Kargish witch Flint had brought home; and friends they had been ever since.'

[A Bad Thing, T]

Lebannen

Also known as: Arren, Arrendek
Titles: King of All the Isles, King of Earthsea, King of the Western Lands, Son of Morred, Prince Arren, hero of Sorra, wielder of the Sword of Serriadh, the Rowan Tree, the Tall Ash of Enlad, Doorkeeper

Only son of the Prince of Enlad and the Enlades, descended from Morred and Elfarran, via their son Serriadh; mother is Rose of Enlad. Bearer of the Sword of Serriadh. Lebannen means rowan; his use-name Arren means sword in the dialect of Enlad, derived from the Sword of Serriadh. As a youth, he signs his name with the sword-rune. As a seventeen-year-old youth, described as tall, thin & handsome, he travelled with Ged and passed with him across the dry land (lands of the dead), fulfilling the prophecy of Maharion about his successor as king. After his return in around 1051, crowned King of All the Isles at Havnor City on Havnor. A highly popular & much-loved king, he institutes government via an appointed parliament, the King's Council, rebuilds the New Palace & River House, abolishes slavery after winning the Siege of Sorra against slave traders of Wathort, and initiates contact with Thol, High King of the Kargad Lands. In around 1066, becomes betrothed to Seserakh, daughter of Thol & High Princess of the Kargad Lands

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; The Dolphin, T; Palaces, OW; Rejoining, OW

'The boy's sleeping face was lit redgold by the long sunset, the rough hair was wind-stirred. The soft, easy, princely look of the boy who had sat by the fountain of the Great House a few months since was gone; this was a thinner face, and harder, and much stronger. But it was not less beautiful.'

[The Dragons' Run, FS]

Licky

Foreman of the mines at Samory under the warlord Losen during the Dark Years; described as brutal not cruel

'…a broad, strong man with a furrowed face…'

[The Finder, TfE]

Lily

Also known as: Mevre

Wife of Alder, she lived with him at Elini on Taon. A highly gifted mender, she was beautiful with dark hair with a hint of red gold. Her parents were respectable; Lily ran away when they tried to arrange her marriage, and they disowned her when she became a mender. She died in childbirth after eighteen months of marriage

'And indeed she had a greater gift than his. Though she knew not a word of the Old Speech, she could put a smashed jug back together or mend a frayed-out rope just with the movements of her hands and a wordless song she sang under her breath, and she had healed broken limbs of animals and people, which Alder had never tried to do.'

[Mending the Green Pitcher, OW]

Littleash

In the Dark Years, man from Endlane village in the interior of Havnor island; brother of Rose of Endlane

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Lord of Felkway

Also known as: Felkway, Lord of

In The Other Wind, an old man and member of the King's Council

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Lord of Gont

Also known as: Gont, Lord of, Prince of Gont, Lord of the Isle

Ruler of the island of Gont, his seat is at Gont Port. The Lords of Gont are associated with piracy. The old Lord of Gont held Ogion the Silent in great respect because of his taming of the earthquake which saved Gont Port from destruction. The new Lord of Gont visited Ogion in Re Albi for advice about a piratical venture in the Andrades, but Ogion would not speak to him

Lord of Metama on Ark

Also known as: Metama, Lord of

Lord of Metama, presumably a city or region of the island of Ark. Spends a year at court at Havnor City with his son, Rody during the time of The Other Wind

Sources: Palaces, OW

Lord of O

Also known as: O, Lord of

Renowned sorcerer, former pupil of Archmage Nemmerle; lives at O-Tokne, on the Island of O. His wife, the Lady of O, is described as '…slender and young, bright as new copper, her black hair crowned with opals.'^a

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE (a)

Lord of Re Albi

Also known as: Re Albi, Lord of

The Lord of Re Albi on the island of Gont during A Wizard of Earthsea is married to a sorceress from Osskil; his daughter is Lady Serret of the Court of the Terrenon on Osskil. In Tehanu, the Lord is said to be a hundred years old; he lives with a young bedridden grandson, described as shy and sullen. According to Re Albi gossip, later confirmed by Aspen, the old Lord hired the wizard Aspen to make him live forever, feeding him with the life of his grandson; the old Lord presumably dies shortly after Aspen's death in 1052. One of the women of the Lord's family is said to have attempted dark magic on another child in utero; the child was born boneless and didn't survive. The Re Albi mansion house is built on a rocky outcrop above the Overfell, up the hill from the village

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; Ogion, T; Bettering, T; Finding Words, T; The Master, T

Lord of the Western Land

Also known as: Western Land, Lord of the

Lord of the Western domain of Havnor island, his seat is near Glade

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Lords of Way

Also known as: Way, Lords of

Rulers of the island of Way; their courts are at the capital Shelieth. Includes the Lord of Wayfirth. In The Masters of Roke [FS], Way is said to be one of the principalities, but the Ruling Prince is not mentioned

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; Dragonfly, TfE

Losen

Titles: King of the Inmost Sea

During the Dark Years, a sea-pirate turned warlord; living in the Tower of the Kings, he rules Havnor City and the east & south of Havnor with the aid of the wizards Gelluk, Hound and, later, Early. His rule eventually spreads to the whole of Havnor Island and the north of the Inmost Sea. In later life, becomes a paralysed puppet of Early; he is killed and his kingdom broken up when Early is defeated on Roke

'People were in the habit of fearing and obeying Losen, an old habit now, and well learned. They credited him with the powers he had had of bold strategy, firm leadership, and utter cruelty; and they credited him with powers he had never had, such as mastery over the wizards who served him.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Lowbough

Merchant of Easthill in the west of Havnor; competitor of Golden in the chestnut business

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Mage-King

See Morred

Mages

Undefined term referring to particularly powerful or wise wizards. Some examples include Morred, Ath, Erreth-Akbe, Ogion, the Archmage and the Masters of Roke

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'Highdrake's mastery of spells and sorcery was not much greater than his pupil's, but he had clear in his mind the idea of something much greater, the wholeness of knowledge. And that made him a mage.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Maharion

Titles: King of Earthsea, the Last King, Maharion the Brave

Last King of All the Isles at Havnor, he ruled from 430-452 (ie around 600 years ago; in other sources, 800 years ago). Son of Queen Heru and Aiman. His mage and counsellor was Erreth-Akbe, described as his heart's brother; they spent ten years together fighting the Kargs before defeating them decisively at Waymarsh. Maharion also fought in four campaigns against dragons in the west. With Heru, undertook a building programme in Havnor City, including the three towers of the New Palace. Died in battle with the rebellious lord Gehis of the Havens. He seems to have left no children; after his death, no clear claimant to the throne emerged and the kingdom fell into the Dark Years. Maharion predicted that the next king would have 'crossed the dark land living and come to the far shores of the day'^a, which was widely interpreted to mean he would be a wizard or mage

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS (a); A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Manan

Titles: Warden, Warden of the Place of the Tombs

Old eunuch in the service of the Nameless Ones, one of ten Wardens of the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Born in the hill country north of Gar on Atuan. Guardian of Arha (Tenar) as a child, and bears a dog-like fidelity towards her. Plays the game sticks and counters with Duby, a eunuch serving the Godking; the two may be friends. Described as large, bald, with a strange ugly face, big hands and a husky voice; he appears to be very strong. He is killed by Ged in the Labyrinth

Sources: The Eaten One, ToA; Dreams and Tales, ToA; The Anger of the Dark, ToA

'…a strange head, hairless as a peeled potato, and of the same yellowish colour. The eyes were like potato-eyes, brown and tiny. The nose was dwarfed by great, flat slabs of cheek, and the mouth was a lipless slit.'

[The Eaten One, ToA]

Master Changer

Also known as: Changer

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he teaches spells of Shaping and Change.

In The Farthest Shore & 'Dragonfly', he is grey-haired, stocky, fairly short, gentle, kindly man from eastern Enlad; by The Other Wind he's very frail, using his wizard's staff as a walking stick

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; The Masters of Roke, FS; Dragonfly, TfE; Rejoining, OW

Master Chanter

Also known as: Chanter

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he teaches the Deeds of heroes and the Lays of wisdom.

In The Farthest Shore, he's a Havnorian and a monarchist, described as 'deep-chested, solid as an oaken cask, he sat by the fire, and the voice came from him soft and true as the note of a great bell.'^a

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; The Masters of Roke, FS (a)

Master Doorkeeper

Also known as: Doorkeeper

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he guards the doors of the Great House, allowing entry as student only to those with skill or power in magic who will give their true name; he is therefore one of the few who know Ged's true name. To leave the Great House, one must speak his name.

The inventor of the office and its first incumbent was Medra. The same man may hold the office in the period of over 50 years from A Wizard of Earthsea to The Other Wind, without apparent ageing. He has a smooth ivory or yellow-brown face, almond-shaped eyes, a quiet, pleasant voice, and is described: 'A little man of no age… Young he was not, so that one had to call him old but the word did not suit him. His face was dry, and coloured like ivory, and he had a pleasant smile that made long curves in his cheeks.'^a He bears a light staff of greyish wood.

It may or may not be coincidental that 'Doorkeeper' is a name for Segoy in the Creation of Éa

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; The Rowan Tree, FS (a); The Finder, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'"I'll keep the door," Medra said. "Being lame, I won't go far from it. Being old, I'll know what to say to those who come. Being a finder, I'll find out if they belong here." … "I'll ask them their name," Medra said. He smiled. "If they tell me, they can come in. And when they think they've learned everything, they can go out again. If they can tell me my name."'

[The Finder, TfE]

Master Finder

Also known as: Finder

One of the nine Masters of Roke when the School of Wizardry was first founded, teacher of spells of finding, binding and returning. The first holder of the office was Medra. In 730, the office of Finder was abolished by the first Archmage, Halkel of Way, to be replaced by the Master Chanter

Sources: The Finder, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Master Hand

Also known as: Hand

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he teaches sleight of hand, juggling and the lesser arts of Changing, including spells of illusion.

The first Master Hand was the sorcerer Hega of O. In A Wizard of Earthsea, he's described as 'a gentle and light-hearted old man'^a. In The Farthest Shore, he's 'a slight, quick man, modest of bearing but with clear and seeing eyes'^b; 'Dragonfly' describes him as wearing a red tunic

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE (a); The Masters of Roke, FS (b); The Finder, TfE

Master Herbal

Also known as: Herbal
Titles: Lord Healer

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he teaches the ways and properties of things that grow, and also healing.

The first Master Herbal was the young woman Dory of Pody. In Tales from Earthsea & The Other Wind, he's named Deyala

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE

Master Namer

Also known as: Kurremkarmerruk, Namer

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he lives in the Isolate Tower and teaches the names of things in the Old Speech. One of the few who knows Ged's true name. The Namer is always called Kurremkarmerruk, a name with no meaning in any language.

The first Namer may have been the book collector, Crow. In The Farthest Shore he is described as 'a big, thin, old man, white-haired under his dark hood'^a; 'Dragonfly' adds that he's 'rawboned, and crag-faced'^b. In The Other Wind, he's around forty, with a calm, closed face and a level, toneless voice

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; The Rowan Tree; FS (a); Dragonfly, TfE (b); Rejoining, OW

Master of Iria

Also known as: Master of Old Iria, Iria, Master of

Descendent of the Masters of all of the domain of Iria of the island of Way; at the time of 'Dragonfly' [TfE], the domain has been divided and impoverished by law suits. A bad-tempered drunkard, described as intransigent, he inhabits the ruined mansion of Old Iria. A widower, whose deceased wife came from a western island; father of Irian

'Once the Masterof Iria said he would or would not allow a thing, he never changed his mind, priding himself on his intransigence, since in his view only weak men said a thing and then unsaid it.'

[Dragonfly, TfE]

Master of Old Iria

See Master of Iria

Master Patterner

Also known as: Patterner
Titles: Lord Patterner, Master of the Grove

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he lives in the Immanent Grove; what is taught there is not spoken about outside the Grove.

The first Patterner was Elehal. Nemmerle was the Patterner before he was chosen as Archmage. In The Farthest Shore, 'Dragonfly' & The Other Wind he is named Azver, and he hails from Karego-At

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE

Master Summoner

Also known as: Summoner

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he teaches the summoning of spirits, energies and forces.

The first Summoner was 'a grey-haired mage from Ilien'^a. In A Wizard of Earthsea, he's described as 'a stern man, aged and hardened by the deep and sombre wizardry he taught.'^b In The Farthest Shore & 'Dragonfly', he is a tall young man named Thorion. In The Other Wind, he is a big, deep-chested man named Brand

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE (b); The Finder, TfE (a)

Master Windkey

Also known as: Windkey

One of the nine Masters of Roke, he teaches weatherworking, the arts of wind and weather, and governs the weather on Roke.

In Tehanu, he is described as 'an elderly, lean, narrow-eyed man'^a. In The Other Wind he's a young man named Gamble

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; The Dolphin, T (a); Rejoining, OW

Masters of Roke

Also known as: Roke, Masters of
Titles: The Nine

Nine mages who, with the Archmage, govern the School of Wizardry on Roke and teach those who come there: Master Changer, Master Patterner, Master Summoner, Master Namer, Master Chanter, Master Hand, Master Windkey, Master Herbal and Master Doorkeeper. They are considered equivalent in status to the princes of the Archipelago. The formal meeting of the nine Masters is sometimes called the Council of the Wise; among their responsibilities is the selection of the new Archmage. At the founding of the school (in 650), the Chanter did not form part of the nine, being replaced by the Master Finder. In 730, the office of Finder was abolished by the first Archmage, Halkel of Way, who established the office of Chanter to replace it. At the time of founding and for the first eighty years, the masters included women, but Archmage Halkel excluded women both from becoming masters and also from the school

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; The Dolphin, T; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Further information on Masters of Roke

Mayor

Various towns and districts are governed by a mayor, including Sosara on Lorbanery and Valmouth on Gont

Sources: Lorbanery, FS; Home, T

Related entries: Government

Mayor of Sosara

Also known as: Sosara, Mayor of

Mayor of the village of Sosara on the island of Lorbanery; described as short with a hard, brown face

'… a short man with a face as hard and brown as the soles of his bare feet.'

[Lorbanery, FS]

Mead

In the Dark Years, lives in Woodedge village on Havnor isle; one of the women of the Hand; a short woman with dark frizzy hair, she is described as a wise woman; very poor but generous. Aunt of Anieb and sister of Ayo

'Ayo and Mead were much alike, and Otter saw in them what Anieb might have been: a short, slight, quick woman, with a round face and clear eyes, and a mass of dark hair, not straight like most people's hair, but curly, frizzy.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Mebbeth

Titles: Priestess

Priestess in the Temple of the Godking; a young dark woman whose passion in life is fishing

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA

Medra

Also known as: Otter, Tern
Titles: the Child Taker, Master Finder, Master Doorkeeper

A finder and a seeker. Born at Havnor City in the Dark Years, son of a boatwright and a farm woman Rose of Endlane; one elder sister. He lived at Boatwright Street and first worked as a shipbuilder. Taken as a slave as a young man by the warlord Losen, and used to find underground ore at the mines of Samory by Mount Onn, he escapes with Anieb, after killing the mage Gelluk, and encounters the women of the Hand at Woodedge on Havnor. Travels for ten years in search of Morred's Isle, studying for three years with the mage Highdrake on the Isle of Pendor. One of the founders of the School of Wizardry on Roke (around 650), he first lives in a small house by the harbour and Net House in Thwil and also works as a boat-builder; later he lives in a small house near Thwilburn and the Immanent Grove (later called the Otter's House) with Elehal, his lover. He brings the lost Book of Names to Roke, and is the first Master Finder and later also the first Master Doorkeeper. Described as short, slight, brown and pretty, he is lame in his right leg in later life after confronting the mage Early

'The first sign of Otter's gift, when he was two or three years old, was his ability to go straight to anything lost, a dropped nail, a mislaid tool, as soon as he understood the word for it. And as a boy one of his dearest pleasures had been to go alone out into the countryside and wander along the lanes or over the hills, feeling through the soles of his bare feet and throughout his body the veins of water underground, the lodes and knots of ore, the lay and interfolding of the kinds of rock and earth. It was as if he walked in a great building, seeing its passages and rooms, the descents into airy caverns, the glimmer of branched silver in the walls; and as he want on, it was as if his body became the body of the earth, and he knew its arteries and organs and muscles as his own.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Metama, Lord of

See Lord of Metama on Ark

Mevre

See Lily

Mildi

Titles: the Orcharder

Former sorcerer or weatherworker on Lorbanery, he died five years before the events of The Farthest Shore

Sources: Lorbanery, FS

Morred

Also known as: Mage-King, White Enchanter, the Young King, Morred the White
Titles: King of Earthsea

Ancient mage and King of All the Isles; his court was at Berila on Enlad. The year of his ascension was counted as year 1 in the Hardic calendar. Husband of Elfarran the Fair, to whom he gave the arm ring later known as the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, and father of Serriadh. Said to have seen his enemy's name written by falling raindrops in the dust of the Enlad battlefield. Died over a thousand years ago, fighting the Enemy of Morred, as told in the Deed of the Young King (or the Deed of Morred), with the ruin of Enlad and the engulfment of Soléa. His line, the House of Enlad, continues in the princes of Enlad

Sources: The Open Sea, WoE; The Masters of Roke, FS; Hort Town, FS; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Moss

Also known as: Hatha
Titles: Aunty Moss

Witch of Re Albi on Gont; she lives in a large hut in a dell some way from the village with the simpleton Heather and an assortment of animals. In Tehanu, she has greying black hair, no teeth, thin lips and a large wart on her cheek; she's unwashed and odiferous. By the time of The Other Wind, she's very elderly, has only one good hand, and seems to communicate in gestures. Described as very kind, but also sly and unpredictable

Sources: Ogion, T; Kalessin, T; Tehanu, T; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

'Aunty Moss was a dour creature, unmarried, like most witches, and unwashed, with greying hair tied in curious charm-knots, and eyes red-rimmed from herb smoke.'

'An old woman sat in a cushioned chair near the doorway where she could look out into the sunlight. Feathers stuck out of her wispy white hair. A speckled hen was settled in her lap. She smiled at Sparrowhawk with enchanting sweetness and nodded politely to the visitor.'

[Ogion, T/Mending the Green Pitcher, OW]

Mote

In the Dark Years, weatherworker from the Roke School of Wizardry who travels as a boy of fifteen with Medra

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Munith

Woman in service at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan; it isn't clear whether she's a servant or a novice

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA

Murre

Cheerful, comely younger brother of Vetch of Iffish; a woodworker by trade. He is the same age as Ged

'He seemed not much more than a boy, for there was no gift or scourge of mage-power in him, and he had never been anywhere but Iffish, Tok, and Holp, and his life was easy and untroubled.'

[Iffish, WoE]

Namer

See Master Namer

Nathabba

Cook at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan; Penthe describes her as 'that old skinflint'^a

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA (a)

Nemmerle

Titles: Archmage of Roke

Archmage of the School of Wizardry on Roke; formerly the Master Patterner there. Taught Heleth and Ogion. Kept a raven of Osskil as a pet for thirty years. Spent his power closing the rift made by Ged when he released the shadow-beast, and died the following day. Described as 'the kindest of all [Heleth's] teachers at the school.'^a

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; The Bones of the Earth, TfE (a)

'…an old man, older it was said than any man then living. His voice quavered like the bird's voice … His hair and beard and robe were white, and he seemed as if all darkness and heaviness had been leached out of him by the slow usage of the years, leaving him white and worn as driftwood that has been a century adrift.'

[The School for Wizards, WoE]

Nereger of Paln

An ancient mage from Paln who found the name of the Black Mage by listening to the conversation of dragons. Killed by the Grey Mage of Paln

Sources: The Open Sea, WoE; Orm Embar, FS

Nesty

In the Dark Years, a charcoal burner's wife of Firn village on Havnor isle; one of the women of the Hand

Sources: The Finder, TfE

O, Lord of

See Lord of O

Oak

Personal servant of Lebannen with valet-like duties; an old man who presumably comes from Enlad, and who has known Lebannen all his life

Sources: Palaces. OW

Officers of the peace

Along with sea-sheriffs and bailiffs, carry out law enforcement on Gont. It's unclear whether they receive any wage

Sources: Home, T; The Master, T

Ogion

Also known as: Aihal, Silence, Ogion the Silent, Aihal the Silent
Titles: Mage of Re Albi, Mage of Gont

Mage of Re Albi, Gont. He was born in Gont Port to a cook at a waterfront inn and a longshoreman who died in an earthquake when he was a child. Taught by Elassen, a sorcerer in Valmouth, Heleth and also studied at Roke with Nemmerle. With Heleth, he stilled the earthquake which threatened Gont Port, ten years before 'The Shadow'^a. He served first as wizard of Gont Port, becoming mage of Re Albi on the death of Heleth. Said to have refused the position of Archmage. Wanders Gont during summer and autumn, living at the Old Mage's House in winter. Teacher of Ged. Teacher and adoptive father of Tenar; he dies in her company in his late 80s. Ogion means fir cone; he uses the rune of the Closed Mouth and bears an oak staff. He's described as tall and lean, with rough hair, clear eyes and a quiet voice

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Shadow, WoE (a); Ogion, T; The Dolphin, T; The Bones of the Earth, TfE

'He was a dark man, like most Gontishmen, dark copper-brown; grey-haired, lean and tough as a hound, tireless. He spoke seldom, ate little, slept less. His eyes and ears were very keen, and often there was a listening look on his face.'

[The Shadow, WoE]

One Priestess

Also known as: First Priestess, Priestess of the Tombs, Arha
Titles: The Eaten One, Priestess Ever Reborn, the Reborn

Priestess of the Nameless Ones at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan; associated with the Tombs of Atuan, Hall of the Throne, Undertomb and Labyrinth. Nominally the senior priestess of the Kargad Lands, though her influence diminished after the rise of the Godking. Believed always to be reincarnated as herself; her name, Arha, means 'the eaten one' or 'the one who was devoured'. Her traditional accoutrements include a horsehair belt, a ring of keys and a ceremonial dagger

Sources: The Eaten One, ToA; Dreams and Tales, ToA

'"O let the Nameless Ones behold the girl given to them, who is verily the one born ever nameless. Let them accept her life and the years of her life until her death, which is also theirs. Let them find her acceptable. Let her be eaten!"'

'It still made her feel strange when Thar and Kossil spoke to her of things she had seen or said before she died. She knew that indeed she had died, and had been reborn in a new body at the hour of her old body's death: not only once, fifteen years ago, but fifty years ago, and before that, and before that, back down the years and hundreds of years, generation after generation, to the very beginning of years when the Labyrinth was dug, and the Stones were raised, and the First Priestess of the Nameless Ones lived in this Place and danced before the Empty Throne. They were all one, all those lives and hers. She was the First Priestess. All human beings were forever reborn, but only she, Arha, was reborn forever as herself.'

[The Eaten One, ToA/Dreams and Tales, ToA]

Related entries: Reincarnation; Tenar

Onyx

Titles: Master Onyx

Wizard at Lebannen's court at Havnor City on Havnor; trained at Roke School of Wizardry by Thorion the Summoner. He's around forty, with a rather worn-looking, sallow face, and said to be deeply reserved

Sources: Palaces, OW; Rejoining, OW

'There was a man of forty or so who carried a wooden staff of his own height, by which Alder knew him as a wizard of the School on Roke. He had a rather worn face, fine hands, an aloof but courteous manner.'

[Palaces, OW]

Opal

Titles: Lady Opal of the Old Demesne of Ilien, Lady Opal of Ilien

Lady of the Old Demesne of Ilien; a suave lady at the imperial court on Havnor who's in charge of Seserakh's ladies-of-waiting at the River House during The Other Wind

Sources: Dolphin, OW

Osskilians

The inhabitants of the northern island of Osskil; they are white-skinned and speak Osskili, distinct from Hardic. The freemen habitually carry a long knife at the hip

'…they were dour men, pale-skinned with black drooping moustaches and lank hair.'

[Hunted, WoE]

O-tokne, Lady of

See Lady of O-tokne

Otter

See Medra

Palani

Schoolmistress of Sattins island in the East Reach; aged twenty; described as plump and pretty. Leaves Sattins with the fisherman Birt

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Patterner

See Master Patterner

Pechvarry

Boatmaker of Low Torning, friend of Ged, whom he teaches to sail by conventional methods. His son is Ioeth

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Penthe

Friend of Arha (Tenar), in the service of the Godking at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. A tall, plump girl with pink cheeks, she's described as 'soft and comfortable-looking'^a and 'round and full of life and juice as one of her golden apples, beautiful to see'^b; her voice is soft and dreamy. The same age as Arha, she came from a village by the sea; the sixth girl in her family, her parents dedicated her to the Godking's service in Ossawa aged seven because they could not afford to bring her up. She seems to have an irreverent attitude, being more interested in food than religious duties, though she's also described as 'submissive and easily bullied'^b; she's afraid of the dark

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA (a); Dreams and Tales, ToA (b)

'"I'd rather marry a pig-herd and live in a ditch. I'd rather anything than stay buried alive here all my born days with a mess of women in a perishing old desert where nobody ever comes! But there's no good wishing about it, because I've been consecrated now and I'm stuck with it. But I do hope that in my next life I'm a dancing-girl in Awabath! Because I will have earned it."'

[Dreams and Tales, ToA]

Pippin

Daughter of Apple, granddaughter of Tenar; lives in Middle Valley on the island of Gont. During The Other Wind, she's nearly twelve

Sources: Dolphin, OW

Pondi

Cowherd of Sattins island in the East Reach

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Popi

Young girl of Sattins island in the East Reach; described as little

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Poppe

Woman in service at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan; it isn't clear whether she's a servant or a novice

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA

Priestess of the Tombs

See One Priestess

Priest-eunuchs

See Wardens of the Place of the Tombs

Priest-Kings

Before the first Godking, 150 years ago, the Kargad Lands were ruled by Priest-Kings descended from Intathin of the House of Tarb. The Priest-Kings seized power from the secular kings of the House of Hupun in around 440

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA; Voyage, ToA; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Punti

Titles: Warden, Warden of the Place of the Tombs

Eunuch; one of the ten Wardens of the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. At the time of The Tombs of Atuan, rather deaf

Sources: Dreams and Tales, ToA

Puppeteers

Itinerant entertainers on Havnor, and probably other islands of the Archipelago

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Queens

The ancient western monarchy traced descent through both male and female lines. Eight queens ruled from Havnor and an unknown number from Enlad; the best known is Queen Heru

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Raft people

See Children of the Open Sea

Rambles

Sheep farmer of Re Albi on Gont

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Re Albi, Lord of

See Lord of Re Albi

Red Mage of Ark

Historical mage who, it is said, kept a wild boar on a gold chain

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE

Reddy

See Seserakh

Relli

Elderly chanter and harpist of Valmouth on Gont

Sources: Home, T

Restive

Mage of Havnor City on Havnor island

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Rissi

Inhabitant of Re Albi during the time Heleth was alive; owner of a well

Sources: The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Rody

Son of the Lord of Metama on Ark, staying at the imperial court at the Havnor New Palace; aged nine during The Other Wind. Befriends Alder, who gives him the young cat Tug

'…a small, thin boy in a tunic that was too long for him.'

[Palaces, OW]

Roke, Masters of

See Masters of Roke

Root

Wizard at Berila on Enlad

Sources: The Rowan Tree, FS

Rose

See Darkrose

Rose of Endlane

In the Dark Years, a farm woman from Endlane village, on Havnor; she moved to Havnor City to find work and there married a boatwright. Mother of Medra and an unnamed daughter, she has a brother, Littleash; her mother's name is Rowan. After her husband's death she returns to live in Endlane, and takes in the wizard Hound

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Rose of Enlad

Titles: Princess of the House of Enlad

Wife of the Prince of Enlad, mother of Lebannen. Dark-eyed; described as 'a blithe patient woman'^a. Dies of fever at Berila two years before The Other Wind

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS (a); Palaces, OW

'…her dark eyes under dark arched brows, her delicate hands.'

[Palaces, OW]

Rose of Old Iria

Also known as: Etaudis

Witch of an unnamed village in the domain of Old Iria on the island of Way; squint-eyed with iron grey hair

'Sometimes Dragonfly thought the cast was in Rose's left eye, sometimes it seemed to be in her right, but always one eye looked straight and the other watched something just out of sight, round the corner, elsewhere.'

[Dragonfly, TfE]

Rose of Westpool

Youngest daughter of the wealthy landowner Birch of Westpool on the island of Way; her mother is the niece of the Lord of Wayfirth. Dying of a wasting cough aged fourteen

'…the youngest daughter, Rose, who was busy crowding a lifetime of keen observation into the fourteen years that were all she was going to have for it.'

[Dragonfly, TfE]

Rowan

In the Dark Years, woman from Endlane village in the interior of Havnor island; mother of Rose of Endlane

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Royal sheriffs

See Sheriffs

Rune Makers

Also known as: Rune Masters

The earliest mages, from Ea and Soléa, a thousand years before the first kings of Enlad (around 2250 years before the Earthsea cycle). The earliest records of the Isolate Tower on Roke suggest that they invented writing, True Runes and the art of naming. Other accounts, however, suggest that True Runes date back to the creation of Earthsea, Segoy having written them in fire on the wind. Seeking immortality, the Rune Makers used the arts of naming to lay 'a great net of spells upon all the western lands, so that when the people of the islands die, they would come to the west beyond the west and live there in spirit forever'^a and so created the Archipelagan afterlife, the dry land

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Rejoining, OW (a)

'"A thousand years before the first kings of Enlad, there were men in Éa and Soléa, the first and greatest of mages, the Rune Makers. It was they who learned to write the Language of the Making. They made the runes, which the dragons never learned. They taught us to give each soul its true name: which is its truth, its self. And with their power they granted to those who bear their true name life beyond the body's death."'

[Rejoining, OW]

Related entries: Religion and the afterlife; Immortality

Rune Masters

See Rune Makers

Rush

Poor linen spinner and one of the women of the Hand in Telio on the island of Pody in the Dark Years. Neighbour of Dory. She has black braided hair

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Ruuna

Titles: Mrs

Married woman of West Shore on Sattins island, in the East Reach

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

San

Cattleman in Purewells village near Oraby on the High Marsh of the island of Semel; lives opposite the village tavern and offers lodgings. His wife is pregnant at the time of 'On the High Marsh'

'…a hard-bitten man in his thirties…'

[On the High Marsh, TfE]

Sava

In the Dark Years, one of the women of the Hand on the isle of Ark where she has a sister and two sons; she joins the Roke School of Wizardry soon after its foundation aged around 53

'Though she had no wizardly gifts at all, she knew so well how to get a group of people to trust one another and work together that she was honored as a wise woman on Ark, and now on Roke.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Seamasters

Also known as: sea-master

The Seamasters appear to act as one of the trade guilds, teaching members skills relating to ships, such as making a compass needle point at will rather than to north, and protecting such trade secrets from non-members. The word is also used more generally for wizards skilled in such magic, apparently as a distinct branch of magic from weatherworking; some of the skills of a Seamaster, in at least the latter sense, are taught at the Roke School of Wizardry. Also used still more generally for a sailor, for example a peddler in Hort Town calls Lebannen a seamaster

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; The School for Wizards, WoE; Hort Town, FS

Sea-sheriffs

See Sheriffs

Sege

Titles: Prince Sege

Prince of the House of Havnor; a middle-aged man who appears to function as Lebannen's deputy in the court at Havnor City, officiating over the King's Council and co-ordinating affairs of state in Lebannen's absence

'There was a middle-aged man, simply dressed, with a steady look that made Alder feel he could trust him:'

[Palaces, OW]

Segoy

Titles: Eldest Lord, Doorkeeper, Maker

The creator of Earthsea, whose First Word balanced dark and light, and established the lands amidst the seas: the Making, as recounted in the Creation of Éa. All peoples of Earthsea appear to share this belief, including those of the Kargad Lands & the Children of the Open Sea. Tehanu calls the dragon Kalessin Segoy

Sources: Orm Embar, FS; Tehanu, T; Rejoining, OW

'Among all beings ever returning, the eldest, the Doorkeeper, Segoy'

[A Description of Earthsea, TfE]

Semere

Cattle farmer of Re Albi when Heleth was alive

Sources: The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Senini

Also known as: Senny

Female tramp of Middle Valley on Gont; mother of Tehanu. Murdered by fellow tramps Handy, Shag and Hake while pregnant

Sources: Winter, T

Senny

See Senini

Seppel

Titles: Seppel of Paln

Wizard from Ferao on Paln; one of the King's Council, he lives in Havnor City, off Boatwright Street near the shipyards, where there is a small Pelnish colony. A short bearded man of around fifty, he's soft-voiced and mild-seeming, with a swarthy, soft but sharp-eyed face; described as wise. Though called a mage, he carries no wizard's staff

Sources: Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW; Dolphin, OW; Rejoining, OW

'He was a short man of about fifty, round-bodied, with small hands and feet, hair that was a little curly and unruly, and what was rare among men of the Archipelago, a beard, clipped short, on his dark cheeks and jaw. His manners were pleasant. He spoke in a clipped, singing accent, softly.'

[Dolphin, OW]

Serrathen

Titles: Master Serrathen

Ship's master of Lebannen's ship, the Dolphin during Tehanu; described as grey-haired and calm

Sources: The Dolphin, T

Serret

Titles: Lady of the Keep

Daughter of the Lord of Re Albi, on the island of Gont; her mother was a sorceress from Osskil. Married Lord Benderesk, and lived at the Court of the Terrenon on Osskil. Name means silver in Osskili. Tall, with long black hair and unusually pale skin. She tried to betray Ged to the Stone of Terrenon, and was killed in gull form by Servants of the Stone

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE

'She was young and tall, dressed in white and silver, with a net of silver crowning her hair that fell straight down like a fall of black water. … this woman was like the white new moon.'

[The Hawk's Flight, WoE]

Serriadh

Titles: King of Earthsea, Serriadh the Peacemaker

Ancient king of Earthsea; son of Morred and Elfarran. Called 'the peacemaker' and 'the gentle king'

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; Sea Dreams, FS; The Finder, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Serry

Wealthy sheep and goat farmer of Kahedanan in the Middle Valley on Gont

Sources: Home, T; Winter, T

Servants

Wealthy castles and palaces, such as the imperial court on Havnor and the Court of the Terrenon on Osskil, are run by servants. The Kargish High Princess Seserakh is accompanied by numerous veiled female attendants. The School of Wizardry on Roke employs cooks in the kitchens, and there is a cook at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Lesser households in the Archipelago might also have servants; for example, Vetch (Wizard of Iffish, whose father was 'a sea-trader of some means'^a) employs a couple of old servants on Iffish, the wealthy merchant Golden's house has servants on Havnor, and the Master of Iria employs a housekeeper on Way

Sources: Iffish, WoE (a); The Hawk's Flight, WoE; Darkrose and Diamond, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE

Seserakh

Also known as: Reddy
Titles: High Princess, (High) Princess of the Kargad Lands, Daughter of Thol, Lady of Hur-at-Hur, Princess of Hur-at-Hur

Kargish princess from Mesreth on Hur-at-Hur in the Kargad Lands, daughter of High King Thol. She briefly lives at Awabath on Karego-At before Thol sent her to Havnor with a request that she should 'wear the Ring of Peace upon her arm, as Queen Elfarran of Soléa wore it, and this will be the sign of everlasting peace between the Western and the Eastern Isles'^a -- interpreted by Lebannen and others as a demand for marriage between the kingdoms. A tall, vigorous young woman, with tawny hair, cream-coloured skin and blue eyes with gold flecks, she wears the heavy red & gold feyag (veil) in public, initially speaks no Hardic and conceals her name for fear the Archipelagans will steal her soul. Under her veils, she wears a long shirt, trousers and gold rings. She's described both as 'intelligent, practical, and courageous'^b and 'like a brick chimney'^a. Betrothed to Lebannen, King of All the Isles, in around 1066

Sources: Palaces, OW (a); The Dragon Council, OW, Dolphin, OW (b); Rejoining, OW

'…she was magnificent: tawny-haired, tawny-eyed, with round arms and full breasts and slender waist, a woman in her first full beauty and strength.'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Shadow-beast

Also known as: Shadow, gebbeth

The dark creature released by Ged has various manifestations, a beast shape [The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE], a dark shapeless shadow [The Dragon of Pendor], the Skiorh gebbeth [Hunted], a shadow with some human likeness [Hunter], Ged's form casting no shadow [Iffish], various humans, a winged monster [The Open Sea]. Gensher of Way believed it had no name, while Ogion counselled that '"All things have a name"'^a, and Yevaud, the Dragon of Pendor & the Stone of Terrenon both offered to give Ged its name. Ged eventually defeats it in the furthest east by naming it with his own name, and joining with it

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; The Dragon of Pendor, WoE; Hunted; WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE (a); Hunter, WoE; Iffish, WoE; The Open Sea, WoE

'Light and darkness met, and joined, and were one. … "The wound is healed," he said, "I am whole, I am free." … Ged had neither lost nor won but, naming the shadow of his death with his own name, had made himself whole: a man: who, knowing his whole true self, cannot be used or possessed by any power other than himself, and whose life therefore is lived for life's sake and never in the service of ruin, or pain, or hatred, or the dark.'

[The Open Sea, WoE]

Shag

Male tramp of Middle Valley on Gont; possibly the one described as large, big chested, with a hairy lip. Part of group including Hake, Handy and Senini. Sentenced to slave labour in the galleys for his involvement in the murder of Senini

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Winter, T; The Master, T

'… a big-chested fellow with coarse black hairs on his upper lip drooping over his mouth…'

[Going to the Falcon's Nest, T]

Shandy

Woman employed at Oak Farm in the Middle Valley on Gont for over twenty years; tends the orchard and does the dairying. Married to the shepherd Clearbrook; they live in a cottage round the hill from the farm

Sources: Kalessin, T; Home, T

Sheriffs

Also known as: Royal sheriffs, Sea-sheriffs

Royal sheriffs are officers of the King of All the Isles after the restoration of the Archipelagan monarchy; they superintend local law enforcement and hear grievances from common people. Sea-sheriffs are involved in law enforcement on Gont; presumably their major role is to patrol shipping to prevent piracy

Sources: Home, T; The Master, T

Shinny

Woman of Valmouth on Gont; friend of Apple

Sources: Home, T

Silence

See Ogion

Sis

Woman employed at Oak Farm in the Middle Valley on Gont; looks after the field crops. Married to Tiff; they live in the lower house near Oak Farm

Sources: Kalessin, T; Home, T

Sixth

Sawmill owner in Re Albi on Gont

Sources: The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Skin colour

Also known as: Colour

Most of the inhabitants of the Archipelago & Reaches have fairly dark skin of a colour variously described as red-brown, bronze or copper. Those from the East Reach (eg Vetch, Gensher of Way) have much darker skin, described as black-brown or black; Vetch, for example, is described as 'very dark of skin, not red-brown like Ged and Jasper and most folk of the Archipelago, but black-brown.'^a Kargs are fair skinned, as are inhabitants of the northernmost isles, including Bereswek, N&S Enwas and Osskil. Azver from Karego-At is described as having 'pale reddish skin'^b, Seserakh from Hur-at-Hur has skin of 'heavy cream'^c, while Benderesk of Osskil is said to be bone white

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The School for Wizards, WoE (a); Hunted, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE; Dragonfly, TfE (b); Mending the Green Pitcher, OW; The Dragon Council, OW ( c)

Skiorh

A trader's agent from Osskil; bald and aged looking, with an ugly cruel face. He directs Ged to the Court of the Terrenon on Osskil, and is taken over by the shadow-beast to become a gebbeth on the Keksemt Moors. Serret calls him a servant of the Terrenon, and says he was a wizard once

'He had a strange, seamed, bald head, a lined face. Though age had not sounded in his voice, he looked to be an old man.'

[Hunted, WoE]

Soldiers

Also known as: Guards

A masculine occupation in the Archipelago and probably in the Kargad Lands. Cities of the Archipelago are guarded by soldiers, who may be employed by the regional lord or prince (as in Gont Port) or by the king (the king's guards of Havnor City). In the Kargad Lands at the time of the Godking, temple guards defend the Place of the Tombs, and even a relatively small town on Atuan has watchtowers and gate guards drawn from the Godking's soldiers. Little about military organisation is detailed; the Atuan temple guards are led by a captain, and a gate captain & lieutenant are mentioned among the king's guards

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; The Western Mountains, ToA; Bettering, T; Finding Words, T; Palaces, OW

Related entries: War; Weapons; Armour

Soldiers of the red helmet

See Godking's soldiers

Sopli

Titles: Dyer of Lorbanery, the Dyer

The Dyer of Lorbanery, son of Akaren, a tall, broad-shouldered man with a bush of wiry brownish-red hair, in his late twenties or early thirties. A former wizard, driven mad in his search for the key to eternal life, he acts as guide to Ged and Lebannen on the Lookfar, despite his terror of water. Unable to swim, he drowns near Obehol when he jumps out of the boat

'The man was a full head taller than Sparrowhawk, and broad-shouldered, and a panting, raving, wild-eyed madman.'

[Lorbanery, FS]

Sorcerers

Also known as: Witch-men

Male practitioners of magic, both the base crafts and some of the high arts, including some knowledge of Old Speech. Their main skills are stated as windbringing/weatherworking, finding and binding. Distinguished from wizards in that sorcerers are not trained in the art magic, do not carry a wizard's staff and often do not practise celibacy. Usually train each other, with no formal succession as for wizards

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Sorceresses

See Witches

Sosara, Mayor of

See Mayor of Sosara

Spark

Son of Tenar and Flint; brother of Apple; probably twenty or more during the events of Tehanu. Born premature and sickly as a child, as an adult he's tall and thin, white-skinned, with a narrow face and lank hair; said to be restless. His use-name is a joke as he was struck off Flint, his father. Became a sailor aboard a merchant ship aged fourteen; by around 1049, he's the third mate aboard the Gull of Eskel; later second mate. After 1052, a farmer and vintner at Oak Farm in the Middle Valley on Gont; no wife or children are mentioned

Sources: Bettering, T; The Dolphin, T; The Master, T; Dolphin, OW

'…growing, he became a wiry boy, endlessly active, driven; no use on the farm; no patience with animals, plants, people; using words for his needs only, never for pleasure and the give and take of love and knowledge.'

'He was as thin as ever, but looked older, tanned dark, lank-haired, with a long, narrow face like Flint's but still narrower, harder.'

[Bettering, T/The Master, T]

Sparrowhawk

See Ged

Star

One of the Children of the Open Sea or raft people; owns a raft on which Lebannen stays

Sources: Children of the Open Sea, FS

Stony

Young boy of Re Albi on Gont

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Suba

Young boy of Sattins island in the East Reach; described as fat and quick

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Sul

Man of Easthill in west Havnor, probably a mule breeder or trader

Sources: Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Summoner

See Master Summoner

Sunbright

See Ayeth

Tadpole

One of Lark's children, probably of Oak Village in Middle Valley on Gont

Sources: Winter, T

Tagtar

King or queen of Enlad before the reign of Morred. The deeds of the early rulers of Enlad are told in the Deed of Enlad

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Related entries: King of All the Isles

Tally

Sorcerer and pirate, follower of Heno, the Lord of Valmouth on Gont. After the restoration of the Archipelagan monarchy, captains three ships sent by Heno against Lebannen's fleet, resulting in his arrest

'…the sorcerer-seawolf Tally, who was feared by every merchantman from Soléa to the Andrades;'

[The Master, T]

Tangle

Witch in the town of Glade on Havnor island; mother of Darkrose. She wears many bracelets, likes cats, toads and jewels; despite making a good living from healing, midwifery, curing animals and selling potions and spells, she lives in squalor, not being interested in clothes, housekeeping or motherhood. Her house has two rooms and a yard

'She was never ill-natured. She seldom thought to do anything for her daughter, but never hurt her, never scolded her, and gave her whatever she asked for…'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Tarb, House of

See House of Tarb

Tarry

Harpist in the town of Glade on Havnor island, he leads a band of musicians; teacher of Diamond

'…a lean, long-jawed, walleyed fellow of forty.'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Tatoos

Some of the Children of the Open Sea (raft people) adorn their bodies with tatoos; these are not mentioned elsewhere in Earthsea

'…with a blue crab tattooed all across his back.'

[The Children of the Open Sea, FS]

Tawny

Cattleman's wife in Purewells village near Oraby on the High Marsh of the island of Semel. With her husband Alder of Semel, she has several children. Friend of Emer

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE

Tehanu

Also known as: Therru
Titles: Tehanu of Gont, a woman on Gont, the Woman of Gont, Hama Gondun, Daughter of the Eldest, Daughter of Kalessin, Mistress Tehanu, Lady Tehanu

Child of tramps Senini & Hake, adopted by Tenar and later Ged, she lives at Oak Farm and then at the Old Mage's House on Gont. Severely disfigured by burning as a girl of six or seven, the right side of her face is ruined, she lacks a right eye, her right arm is clawlike and can't be raised above her shoulder, her voice weak and very hoarse, her breathing is laboured and she cannot cry. Small and slender, her single eye is dark and her thick black hair is often worn to hide her face. As a child she is very shy and has difficulty in trusting men in particular. Her birth name is unknown; her use-name Therru means 'burning, the flaming of fire' in Kargish^a. Her true name Tehanu is the star the Heart of the Swan, and is given to her by the dragon Kalessin, who calls her his child. She is titled Hama Gondun, 'a woman on Gont', by Azver the Patterner. Revealed as one of the dragon-humans, as a young adult she takes the form of a gold dragon (in which form she is whole and unburned), and leaves to fly on the other wind with Kalessin

Sources: A Bad Thing, T; Ogion, T (a); Tehanu, T; Palaces, OW; Rejoining, OW

'There was a woman whom Alder took for a servant because she was very plainly dressed and stayed outside the group, turned half away as if looking out of the windows. He saw the beautiful fall of her black hair, heavy and glossy as falling water… She was young; the left side of her face was smooth copper-rose, a dark bright eye under an arched eyebrow. The right side had been destroyed and was ridged, slabby scar, eyeless. Her right hand was like a raven's curled claw.'

'The third had bright mail, gold, with wings of gold. That one flew highest and did not stoop down to them. Orm Irian played about her in the air and they flew together, one chasing the other higher and higher, till all at once the highest rays of the rising sun struck Tehanu and she burned like her name, a great bright star.'

[Palaces, OW/Rejoining, OW]

Teller

Person who tells (rather than sings) the tales of the history of the Archipelago. The examples mentioned appear to be itinerant, but it is possible that tellers, like chanters, might also be attached to courts

Sources: On the High Marsh, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE

Ten Alders, Witch of

See Witch of Ten Alders

Tenar

Also known as: Arha, Goha
Titles: The Eaten One, One Priestess, First Priestess, Priestess Ever Reborn, One Ever Reborn, Priestess of the Tombs, White Lady of Gont, Tenar of the Ring, Peace Bringer, Lady Tenar

Born in a tiny hamlet west of Entat, in the north of Atuan, fifth child of an apple orchard worker, on the night of the former One Priestess's death. Supposed to be the reincarnation of the Priestess. As Arha ('the one who was devoured'), was First Priestess of the Nameless Ones at the Tombs of Atuan in the Kargad Lands; as part of her duties, she sacrificed three prisoners by starvation. Left with Ged aged sixteen, after the destruction of the Tombs, bringing with her the restored Ring of Erreth-Akbe, and travelled with him to Havnor before settling on Gont. There she studied briefly with Ogion, before marrying a farmer, Flint, and living at Oak Farm in Middle Valley; their two children are Apple and Spark. After Flint died, she adopted Tehanu and later lived at the Old Mage's House at Re Albi, married to Ged. Little description of her is given in The Tombs of Atuan, but she is known to be small, with white skin, large grey eyes and black hair, worn braided; Ged calls her beautiful. In middle-age, her hair is long and dark, with hardly any grey; she's near sighted. By The Other Wind, she's in her fifties and her hair is greying

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; The Ring of Erreth-Akbe, ToA; Kalessin, T; Winter, T; The Master, T

'"You are like a lantern swathed and covered, hidden away in a dark place. Yet the light shines; they could not put out the light. They could not hide you."'

…'a foreigner to be sure, white-skinned and talking a bit strange, but a notable housekeeper, an excellent spinner, with well-behaved, well-grown children and a prospering farm: respectable.'

'"There's no mercy in me, only justice. I wasn't trained to mercy. Love is the only grace I have."'

[The Ring of Erreth-Akbe, ToA/Kalessin, T/Winter, T]

Teriel

See Early

Tern

See Medra

Thar

Titles: High Priestess of the God-Brothers, High Priestess of the Twin Gods

High Priestess of the God-Brothers/Twin Gods, Atwah and Wuluah at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. A tall, thin, dry-voiced woman, stern but fair. Teaches Arha (Tenar) the mysteries of the Nameless Ones including the instructions to negotiating the Labyrinth. She died of a wasting disease when Arha was around sixteen

'…tall and dry and thin as the legbone of a deer.'

[The Wall around the Place, ToA]

Therru

See Tehanu

Thol

Titles: High King of the Four Kargad Lands

High King of the Kargad Lands after a civil war deposing the Godking some ten years into the reign of King Lebannen; claims descent from the god Wuluah (one of the Twin Gods) and King Thoreg of Hupun. Restores worship of the Twin Gods and the Nameless Ones. His daughter is Seserakh

'Thol was a violent man on a threatened throne.'

[Palaces, OW]

Tholy

Inhabitant of Middle Valley on Gont; bought High Creek farm from Flint and Tenar

Sources: The Master, T

Thoreg

Also known as: Thoreg of Hupun
Titles: King of the Kargad Lands

King of the Kargad Lands in the time of Maharion and Erreth-Akbe (around 440), his capital was at Hupun on Karego-At. Fought against the rise of the High Priests (later Priest-Kings) at Awabath. Erreth-Akbe gave half the broken Ring of Erreth-Akbe to his daughter, Tiarath; Ensar and Anthil were the last descendants of his house, the House of Hupun

Sources: Voyage, ToA; A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Thorion

Titles: Master Summoner

Master Summoner at the School of Wizardry on Roke during The Farthest Shore and 'Dragonfly'. Described as dark, tall and slender, noble looking, with a face seemingly 'carved out of dark stone'^a, he is the youngest of the Masters of Roke at that time. His staff is bone-white wood. After Ged's departure, he summons himself back from death to lead the School, scheming to be elected Archmage; he is defeated by Irian, who makes him step onto Roke Knoll and thus reveal his true form: 'a huddle of clothes and dry bones and a broken staff'^a

Sources: The Masters at Roke, FS; Dragonfly, TfE (a)

'…deep-voiced and tall, young, with a dark and noble face…'

'"Thorion was the best of us all---a brave heart, a noble mind."'

[The Masters at Roke, FS/Dragonfly, TfE]

Thoroughgood

Lebannen's majordomo at the court on Havnor. His duties include organising royal visits and audiences, and possibly making travel arrangements and organising ceremonial processions

'…a slow and steady man…'

[Dolphin, OW]

Tiarath

Daughter of King Thoreg of the House of Hupun on Karego-At. Erreth-Akbe gave half of the broken Ring of Erreth-Akbe to her, and it became a treasured heirloom of their house

Sources: Voyage, ToA

Tiff

Old man employed at Oak Farm in the Middle Valley on Gont; looks after the field crops. Married to Sis; they live in the lower house near Oak Farm

Sources: Kalessin, T; Home, T; The Master, T

Timan

King or queen of Enlad before the reign of Morred. The deeds of the early rulers of Enlad are told in the Deed of Enlad

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Related entries: King of All the Isles

Tinaral

See Gelluk

Tosla

Shipmaster and voyager; dark-skinned, with a keen, hard face. In his early thirties, he's brave, keen, coolheaded, often outspoken and somewhat coarse in expression; friend of Lebannen, with whom he has sailed and fought in the Siege of Sorra. His ship is the Tern, and he also captains Lebannen's ship, the Dolphin

Sources: Palaces, OW; Dolphin, OW

'There was a man of about the king's age, dressed in velvet and airy linens, with jewels on his belt and at his throat and a great ruby stud in his earlobe: Shipmaster Tosla, said the king. Tosla's face, dark as old oak wood, was keen and hard.'

[Palaces, OW]

Townsend

Young sheep-dealer of Re Albi on Gont; he often acts as a messenger. Said to look sly and shifty, Tenar calls him a carrion crow for being the frequent bearer of bad news

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Mice, T; The Master, T

'…a sharp-faced, quick-eyed man'

[Going to the Falcon's Nest, T]

Tuly

Wife of wealthy merchant Golden in Glade on Havnor island; mother of Diamond. Her uncle was a mage in the Court of the Lords Regent of Havnor City. A dutiful and loving wife and mother, she's prone, at least in her husband's opinion, to gossip and worrying. She has a soft, dark-toned voice

'Mothers were born to worry about their children, and women were born never to be content. There was no reason why [Golden] should listen to the litany of anxieties by which Tuly hauled herself through life. Of course she thought a merchant's life wasn't good enough for the boy. She'd have thought being King in Havnor wasn't good enough for him.'

[Darkrose and Diamond, TfE]

Turby

Inhabitant of Re Albi on Gont; owner of a winter-pasture for goats, for sale at the time of Tehanu

Sources: Tehanu, T

Twin Gods

Also known as: God-Brothers, Warrior Gods, White God-Brothers

Warrior Gods of the Kargad Lands, Wuluah and Atwah; said to be sons of the Old Powers of the Earth. Their worship is centuries older than the worship of the Godking. Their original centre of worship was Awabath; there is a Temple of the God-Brothers at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Symbol is the double arrow

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Hunting, WoE; The Wall around the Place, ToA; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Rejoining, OW

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

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]

Veil

See Yahan

Vetch

Also known as: Estarriol
Titles: Wizard of Iffish

Wizard; old friend of Ged, and one of the few to know his true name. Very dark-skinned and with a Reach accent. Father was a well-off sea-trader. Gained his staff at the School of Wizardry on Roke, and becomes wizard of Iffish in the East Reach, living in 'a spacious and strong-beamed house'^a in his home town Ismay; he later sends Brand of Venway to Roke. Younger brother Murre and younger sister Yarrow. Of his character it is said, 'there was always such village innocence in Vetch. Yet also he was keen, shrewd, direct to the centre of a thing'^a

Sources: The School for Wizards, WoE; Iffish, WoE (a); Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

'…a heavyset fellow called Vetch … He had the accent of the East Reach, and was very dark of skin, not red-brown like Ged and Jasper and most folk of the Archipelago, but black-brown. He was plain, and his manners were not polished.'

[The School for Wizards, WoE]

Wandlord

See Enemy of Morred

Wardens of the Place of the Tombs

Also known as: Priest-eunuchs

Ten eunuchs at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan, the only men serving in religious roles there. Dedicated to specific gods/temples, they include Manan, Duby, Uahto and Punti. In addition to caretaker roles, they appear to function as minor priests (though they are never referred to as such in The Tombs of Atuan); for example, Manan plays an active role in Arha's dedication ceremony; their functions are subsidiary to the High Priestesses and the One Priestess. The Other Wind mentions 'priest-eunuchs' in the service of the Godking at the Place of the Tombs

Sources: The Eaten One, ToA; The Wall around the Place, ToA; Palaces, OW

Waris

Man at the School of Wizardry at Roke soon after its foundation; an early advocate of celibacy, the mascularisation of wizardry and the demonisation of the Old Powers

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Warrior Gods

See Twin Gods

Way, Lords of

See Lords of Way

Weatherworkers

Also known as: Bagmen, Windbringers

Sorcerers or wizards with power over the weather, commonly employed to work wind on ships, or by farmers to protect crops. Sometimes called bagmen; originally carried a leather sack in which they supposedly trapped the winds

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; Lorbanery, FS; The Finder, TfE

'Weatherworkers used to carry a leather sack in which they said they kept the winds, untying it to let a fair wind loose or to capture a contrary one. Maybe it was only for show, but every weatherworker had a bag, a great long sack or a little pouch.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Related entries: Magewind; Seamasters; Weatherworking

Weaver Fan

Weaver of Re Albi on Gont; in Tehanu, an old, nearly blind man, said to be reclusive. Employs a young woman as an apprentice. His house contains an old carved chair and a large painted silk fan from which his use-name derives. He owns a cottage next door to his house which he rented to Tenar when she was a pupil of Ogion

Sources: Hawks, T

Western Land, Lord of the

See Lord of the Western Land

White Enchanter

See Morred

Whiteface

See Gelluk

Windbringers

See Weatherworkers

Windkey

See Master Windkey

Witch of Ten Alders

Also known as: Ten Alders, Witch of

Ged's (Duny's) maternal aunt. She has tangled black hair and lives alone at Ten Alders, plying her trade as a village witch. She keeps a dog, Gobefore, which never barks. She taught Ged his first spells, beginning aged seven

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

'Now the witch of Ten Alders was no black sorceress, nor did she ever meddle with the high arts of traffic with Old Powers; but being an ignorant woman among ignorant folk, she often used her crafts to foolish and dubious ends. She knew nothing of the Balance and the Pattern which the true wizard knows and serves, and which keep him from using his spells unless real need demands. She had a spell for every circumstance, and was forever weaving charms. Much of her lore was mere rubbish and humbug, nor did she know the true spells from the false. She knew many curses, and was better at causing sickness, perhaps, that at curing it. Like any other village witch she could brew up a love-potion, but there were other, uglier brews she made to serve men's jealousy and hate. Such practices, however, she kept from her young prentice, and as far as she was able she taught him an honest craft.'

[Warriors in the Mist, WoE]

Witches

Also known as: Sorceresses

After the time of Halkel (730), all female practitioners of magic were denoted witches, and all their practices were denoted base crafts, even when they included things that would be considered high arts in the hands of a man. The arts of witches include 'The care of pregnant beasts and women, birthing, teaching the songs and rites, the fertility and order of field and garden, the building and care of the house and its furniture, the mining of ores and metals---these great things had always been in the charge of women. A rich lore of spells and charms to ensure the good outcome of such undertakings was shared among the witches'^a; finding, mending, healing of humans & animals, bonesetting and herblore are elsewhere mentioned. Witches also prepare bodies for burial. Taught informally by other witches and sorcerers, they often know nothing of the Equilibrium, and rarely practise celibacy. Some witches/sorceresses, for example Serret, call on magic relating to the Old Powers, though many do not. Witches usually live on the margins of society, rarely respected and often feared; children's tales on Gont often include a wicked witch archetype as the villain

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Ogion, T; Kalessin, T; The Finder, TfE (a); A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'Now the witch of Ten Alders was no black sorceress, nor did she ever meddle with the high arts of traffic with Old Powers; but being an ignorant woman among ignorant folk, she often used her crafts to foolish and dubious ends. She knew nothing of the Balance and the Pattern which the true wizard knows and serves, and which keep him from using his spells unless real need demands. She had a spell for every circumstance, and was forever weaving charms. Much of her lore was mere rubbish and humbug, nor did she know the true spells from the false. She knew many curses, and was better at causing sickness, perhaps, that at curing it. Like any other village witch she could brew up a love-potion, but there were other, uglier brews she made to serve men's jealousy and hate. Such practices, however, she kept from her young prentice, and as far as she was able she taught him an honest craft.'

[Warriors in the Mist, WoE]

Related entries: Midwifery; Curer; Mining; Death-related customs

Witch-men

See Sorcerers

Wizard of Gont Port

Ogion was the wizard of Gont Port before the death of Heleth. At the time of Tehanu, 'a stout middle-aged man with a short yew staff'^a

Sources: Ogion, T (a); The Bones of the Earth, TfE

Wizards

Also known as: Crafty men

Practitioners of magic, especially the high arts and the art magic: changing, naming, summoning and patterning. After the time of Halkel (730), the term was restricted to men. In modern times, wizards are denoted by a wizard's staff, conferred by their teacher; in the case of those trained at the Roke School of Wizardry, this would usually be the Archmage. Wizards usually practise celibacy. Particularly powerful or wise wizards are termed mages

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Woman of Kemay

Also known as: Dragon

An old fisherwoman living in a little house by the seawall in the fishing village of Kemay in north-west Gont; one of the dragon-humans. Ogion gives her true name as Dragon. Tall, with big hands, she's said not to be learned; she composes songs, including the song of the Woman of Kemay which tells of the Vedurnan

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Palaces, OW

'"In that first moment, he told me, it was no woman he saw at all in the doorway, but a blaze and glory of fire, and a glitter of gold scales and talons, and the great eyes of a dragon. … Then that was gone, and he saw no dragon, but an old woman standing there in the doorway, a bit stooped, a tall old fisherwoman with big hands."'

[Going to the Falcon's Nest, T]

Woman on Gont, a

See Hama Gondun

Women of the Hand

Also known as: Hand, the

Community of women and men concerned with the ethical use and teaching of magic, established during the Dark Years around 150 years after the death of Maharion. Centred on Roke, but with an extensive network of secret cells on other islands around the Inmost Sea, including Havnor and Hosk; members identified each other by a secret hand gesture involving raising the first finger and then the other fingers, clenching the hand into a fist and finally opening it palm outwards. In around 650, members of the group, including Elehal, Yahan and Medra, founded the School of Wizardry on Roke

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Wuluah

Titles: Twin God, God-Brother

One of the Twin Gods, Warrior Gods of the Kargad Lands; said to be sons of the Old Powers of the Earth. Brother of Atwah. Thol claims descent from Wuluah

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; Rejoining, OW

Yahan

Also known as: Veil

One of the founders of the School of Wizardry on Roke in around 650; by three years the older sister of Elehal. Described as very tall, with a mild gentle voice, yet implacable. Her parents and brothers were killed by raiders from Wathort when she was a child

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Yarrow

Also known as: Kest

Youngest sister of Vetch of Iffish; like him dark-skinned. Her true name, Kest, means minnow. Said to be 'ignorant of all sorcery but wise in other things.'^a Married a house-carpenter in Iffish with whom she has three daughters

Sources: Iffish, WoE; The Rowan Tree, FS (a)

'…her eyes when not hidden were clear, shy, and curious. She was perhaps fourteen years old, dark like her brother, but very slight and slender. On her sleeve there clung, winged and taloned, a dragon no longer than her hand.'

[Iffish, WoE]

Yenay

The king's lieutenant and one of Lebannen's most trusted officers; based at the imperial court in Havnor City

Sources: Palaces, OW

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