A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items relating to objects

Ale

See Beer

Alembic

See Retort

Amulets

See Talismans

Arcana of the Enlades

One of two lore-books belonging to Heleth and later Ogion; the other is the Glosses of Danemer. Heleth is said to have got his lore-books from Ennas of Perregal. One of these books contains the spell of summoning of the spirits of the dead which Ged later uses with disasterous consequences

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

'These books were very ancient, Ogion having them from his own master Heleth Farseer, and Heleth from his master the Mage of Perregal, and so back into the times of myth. Small and strange was the writing, overwritten and interlined by many hands, and all those hands were dust now.'

[The Shadow, WoE]

Armour

Archipelagan armour of the period of Maharion was of gilt bronze; little is known about later styles. The band of Kargish warriors who attack Ten Alders wear heavy defensive gear including bronze helmets and greaves, breast-plates of heavy leather and shields of wood and bronze. The Godking's soldiers are distinguished by red-plumed helmets. Court dress for Kargish warriors during the time of the High King is silver mesh armour interwoven with feathers, with plumed headdresses

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Selidor, FS; Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW

Arrow, the

See Heart of the Swan

Barley gruel

See Gruel

Bath tub

Mentioned in a farmhouse on Semel; the water is heated using kettles and the tub filled by the fire, then put away when not needed. Oak Farm on Gont has a soaking tub used for laundry

Sources: Winter, T; On the High Marsh, TfE

Beds and bedlinen

Also known as: Pallet, Cot, Bunk, Hammock

Modern-style beds with a frame, such as the sumptuous bed in the Court of the Terrenon with its canopy, silk sheets, satin coverlet and down mattresses, seem to be the preserve of the relatively prosperous. The court of Enlad has beds with soft furs as covers; the prosperous Oak Farm on Gont has a bed with an oak frame with feather coverlets and sheepskins. Most country people, however, sleep on straw pallets: straw-filled mattresses resting directly on the ground, also called pallet-beds. A heavy canvas mattress cover is mentioned on Gont. A cot of rushes is mentioned for a baby in a small village on Atuan, and Duny's bed at Ten Alders is also termed a cot, which in this instance probably just means a child's bed. A whale-gut hammock is used in a fisherman's hut on Gont. Narrow bunks are mentioned in the cabins of the trading vessel, Sea Otter, and the Dolphin has bunks and hammocks.

Felt & goat's wool blankets, sheepskins, furs, feather coverlets and linen sheets are mentioned as bed coverings in the Archipelago. The market at Hort Town sells bedlinens of unspecified nature. Sheepskin rugs and fur blankets, apparently placed directly on the ground, are used at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. The Children of the Open Sea perhaps sleep on sealskin rugs

Sources: The Hawk's Flight, WoE; Hunting, WoE; The Eaten One, ToA; The Wall around the Place, ToA; The Masters of Roke, FS; Hort Town, FS; Kalessin, T; Winter, T; Dolphin, OW

'…he was in a bed, but no such bed as he had ever slept in. It was set upon a frame held by four tall carven legs and the mattresses were great silk sacks of down … and over it all a crimson canopy hung to keep out drafts. On two sides the curtain was tied back … A coverlet of downfilled satin slid aside as Ged sat up…'

[The Hawk's Flight, WoE]

Beer

Also known as: Ale, sour beer, brown ale

Beer is commonly served in inns and taverns in the Archipelago and the Reaches, being served by the pint. Beer is the normal drink served at feasts and parties. Sour beer is served to the Masters of Roke with breakfast

Sources: The Masters of Roke, FS; Darkrose and Diamond, TfE; On the High Marsh, TfE

Related entries: Beverages, alcoholic

Beverages, alcoholic

Beer is commonly served in the Archipelago and the Reaches. Wine is widely drunk both by country folk and by noblemen. No stronger alcoholic beverages are mentioned; perhaps distillation has not been invented in Earthsea

Beverages, non-alcoholic

Water, goat's or cow's milk, warm barley or oatmeal gruel, and rushwash tea and other herbal teas are the only non-alcoholic beverages mentioned

Black Ships

Fleet driven back by Morred, according to the Deed of the Young King; presumably that of the Enemy of Morred

Sources: Home, T; Winter, T

Book of Names

Ancient book compiled by the great mage, Ath; said to be the greatest of all lore-books, it brought together much scattered knowledge. Lost for centuries when Ath went west to fight the dragon Orm, it was recovered by Medra from Pody and taken to Roke in around 650, where it is housed in the Isolate Tower

'the foundation of the knowledge and method of Naming, which is the foundation of the magic of Roke.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Related entries: Books

Book of Runes

Also known as: Runebook

Runebook belonging to Ogion, and presumably earlier Heleth, who is said to have got his lore-books from Ennas of Perregal. Includes the Six Hundred Runes of Hardic. Given the importance of True Runes in the practice of wizardry, presumably similar books were owned by many wizards

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; Mice, T

Related entries: Books

Book of Shaping

Lore-book of the art of changing, containing Spells of Shaping and of Change

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE

Related entries: Books

Book of the Dark

Account of the Dark Years after the death of Maharion, written around 600 years ago in Berila on Enlad

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Related entries: Books

Book of the Undertakings of the Makers

Book held in the Isolate Tower on Roke; presumably a history

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow; WoE

Related entries: Books

Books

Also known as: Lore-books, Runebooks, Scrolls

Books appear rare in the Archipelago and Reaches, largely being associated with magic. Books and scrolls are handwritten in ink on vellum/parchment or paper, using Hardic runes or (for lore-books) True Runes; no form of printing is mentioned. The School of Wizardry on Roke has a library called the Room of Shelves, housing books of lore and runebooks, and the Isolate Tower also has a collection of books of names. The Library of the Kings is a famous ancient library destroyed by the time of the Dark Years. The book-collector Crow amassed a large collection during the Dark Years, which forms the basis of the Roke School's libraries. Books are found in a prince's treasury in Havnor; one contains a description of the Tombs of Atuan. Ogion keeps a shelf of leather-bound books including a runebook and two ancient lorebooks passed down from his master, Heleth and before that from the mage Ennas of Perregal. Ged takes some lore-books from Roke to Low Torning. No Kargish books are mentioned; writing was outlawed in the Kargad Lands under the Godking.

Named books include magic texts, the Book of Names, Book of Shaping, Book of Runes, Glosses of Danemer and Arcana of the Enlades, and histories such as the Book of the Dark, Chronicles of Enlad, History of the Wise Heroes, Book of the Undertakings of the Makers and Matter of the Dragons. Books of information are also mentioned, including a bestiary dating from Akambar's time and a beast healer's manual

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; The Ring of Erreth-Akbe, ToA; The Finder, TfE; The Bones of the Earth, TfE; Palaces, OW

Building materials

Buildings in towns or cities in the central region of the Archipelago are typically constructed of dressed stone, with roofs of slate or red tile. Bricks are also commonly used, for example, in Pendor, Orrimy on Hosk, for the barracks of the Samory mines on Havnor and a mixture of brick and stone for stables on Way. Rural huts are usually constructed from wood, with thatched rooves. Elsewhere in Earthsea, other materials are used: plastered clay in Hort Town, hurbah-twigs for thatch in Lorbanery, wattle in Astowell, yellow clay bricks on Atuan, marble in the Court of the Terrenon on Osskil & Re Albi mansion house on Gont, plastered stone, cedar, red-veined marble & gilt in the Kargish temples on Atuan. The wealthy Havnor City boasts towers of white marble & alabaster, bridges faced in mosaic work, and roofs of tile and bronze; even the quays are marble

Related entries: Houses, town

Caps

See Headgear

Cart, the

Constellation of the Archipelago

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Charcoal stove

A little charcoal stove aboard Lookfar is used for heating wine and, presumably, for cooking food

Sources: Magelight, FS

Related entries: Fuel

Charms

See Talismans

Charts

See Maps

Chips

Small poled boats, commonly used in the canals of Havnor City

Sources: Dolphin, OW

Related entries: Ships

Chronicles of Enlad

Book telling the history of Enlad

Related entries: Books

Clothing, men's

Typical male winter clothing consists of a linen or woollen shirt, leather or sheepskin tunic or jerkin, woollen leggings or trousers, laced sandals and a woollen cloak, sometimes described as belted. A farmhand is described as wearing a smock and leggings. Leather or sheepskin coats are commonly worn; leather jackets, jerkins, breeches and gaiters are mentioned. As footwear, laced shoes, leather boots and moccasins are also mentioned. Wealthier men's clothing includes a tunic, shirt and breeches, sometimes made of fine materials such as silk, cloth of silver or gold, and fur: 'a tunic of silk and cloth-of-silver like a lord. ... boots of glove-leather and a cloak lined with pellawi-fur'^a; more sober garments including leather breeches and a linen shirt embroidered with gold thread are also mentioned. Merchants from the Inner Lands wear dark robes of heavy silk. Lebannen wears a gold-weighted state robe. Students at the School of Wizardry on Roke wear dark-grey woollen cloaks, with hoods, clasped with silver at the neck for those who had gained the sorcerer status, while the Archmage wears a white woollen hooded cloak. Wealthier people might have fur-lined or -trimmed cloaks. Andradean merchants typically wear red cloaks trimmed with pellawi-fur. Children in Ismay wear fur capes in the snow. In the Dark Years, a wizard on Havnor is described as wearing 'a long robe of Lorbanery silk, scarlet, embroidered in gold and black with runes and symbols, and a wide-brimmed, peak-crowned hat'^b, which might have been typical garb for wizards at that time.

Manan, one of the eunuch Wardens of the Place of the Tombs on Atuan generally wears tatty black robes, though he wears a belted gown of white wool when participating in Arha's dedication ceremony. Court dress for Kargish warriors during the time of the High King is silver mesh armour interwoven with feathers, with plumed headdresses.

The chief of the Children of the Open Sea (raft people) wears only a loincloth, and Ged is once described as wearing a loincloth and makeshift turban of sailcloth aboard Lookfar. Slaves in the heat of the roaster tower of the Samory mines wear only a breechclout and moccasins

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE (a); Light under the Hill, ToA; Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Mice, T; Home, T; Winter, T; The Finder, TfE (b); Dragonfly, TfE; Palaces, OW

'His clothes were those of any winter traveller or pilgrim, a short heavy cloak, a leather tunic, leggings of wool, laced sandals; there was a light pack on his back, a water bottle slung from it, a knife sheathed at his hip.'

[Light under the Hill, ToA]

Related entries: Headgear; Footwear

Clothing, women's

Peasant women in the Archipelago & the Kargad Lands commonly wear a skirt or trousers under a jacket or shift, with a shawl for warmth. Much peasant clothing appears to be homespun, coarse and undyed, described as 'plain as mud'^a; however, dyes such as red madder are mentioned for finer wear. As a farmer on Gont, Tenar owns two dresses, worn over a shift. Irian wears a farm-woman's shift over trousers on Way. A full apron or white ruffled overdress of linen sheeting for best as well as an orange-brown apron for everyday use are mentioned for a child's wear on Gont; a shopkeeper in Gont Port wears a broad white apron; dairy farmer Emer also wears an apron on Semel. Typical peasant clothes on Atuan are described as 'a country-woman's brown skirt and jacket, and a large red woollen shawl.'^b A Gontish fleecefell, 'a great cream and brown square, woven of the silky hair of the goats of the north-eastern isles'^c is suggested for a woman's winter shawl. Goods sold in Hort Town include hats, hosiery, purses, shawls and woven belts. The only underwear mentioned is the shift.

Wealthy women wear dresses of embroidered silks; the dresses of ancient princesses in the Kargad Lands are described as 'soft white silks, embroidered with topaz and dark amethyst'^d, and this seems very similar to the dress of princesses in present-day Havnor. Tehanu wears a silken shift and overskirt at the court at Havnor. Lady Serret of the Court of the Terrenon is dressed in white and silver. Trousers are not mentioned for wealthy women's wear in the Archipelago.

The priestesses at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan generally wear long-sleeved robes and hooded cloaks in rough homespun black wool, and sandals or bare feet; the One Priestess's garments also include a horsehair belt, a ring of keys and a small dagger. Arha wears a straight white shift with bare arms and legs during the ceremonies of dedication to the Nameless Ones. Well-born women of Hur-at-Hur in the Kargad Lands wear the feyag, an all-encompassing veil attached to a flat-brimmed hat or headdress; such veils don't seem to be worn elsewhere in the Kargad Empire. Underneath, Seserakh is described as wearing a long shirt and soft trousers

Sources: Light under the Hill, ToA (d); The Western Mountains, ToA (b); Hort Town, FS (c); Hawks, T (a)

'…her dress was of turquoise-coloured silk, bright and soft as the evening sky. It belled out full from her hips, and all the skirt was embroidered with thin silver threads and seed pearls and tiny crumbs of crystal, so that it glittered softly, like rain in April. … "It's like a gown I saw a princess wear once, at the Feast of Sunreturn in the New Palace in Havnor."'

[The Great Treasure, ToA]

Related entries: Headgear; Footwear; Dyeing

Compass

Also known as: Magnet

The Archipelagans appear to understand the force of magnetism, and to harness it to navigational purposes. Compasses are used as a navigational tool on boats and ships; the compass needle can also be made to point at will, using the magic of the Seamasters referred to as craft with iron. 'The force that draws the magnet'^a is one of the forces dealt with by the art of summoning

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

Coracles, reed

See Ships

Cot

See Beds and bedlinen

Crown of Morred

Crown used in the coronation of the King of All the Isles

Sources: Home, T

Dagger

Also known as: Knife

Daggers and knives are commonly carried as weapons throughout Earthsea. As a boy, Ged has a bronze knife given to him by his father. In Atuan, he carries a steel dagger with a jewelled hilt, sheathed at his hip, which he breaks trying to tunnel to water in the Labyrinth. Lebannen always wears a steel dagger in a sheath. Osskilian freemen wear a long knife at their hip. A pearl-hilted knife is mentioned in the Ninety Isles. Knives are also mentioned as weapons in Ten Alders and Re Albi (Gont), Hort Town (Wathort), Sosara (Lorbanery) and Astowell (made of shell).

One of the One Priestess's traditional accoutrements is a little steel dagger, a miniature of a sacrificial knife with a four-inch blade, worn attached to her ring of keys; it is thrown and caught in one of the dances of the Ceremonies of the darkness. Other uses for knives mentioned include chopping food, carving wood (eg Ogion at Re Albi, Murre on Iffish), pruning vines (Coney on Way) gelding animals (on Gont) and extracting maggots from sheep (Rose of Old Iria)

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Iffish, WoE; The Man Trap, ToA; Voyage, ToA; The Finder, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE; Palaces, OW

Dancers, the

Constellation of the Archipelago

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Dolphin

Sailing ship of Lebannen, the fastest ship in his fleet; captained by Serrathen (Tehanu) & Tosla (The Other Wind). At 50 feet long, it's considered relatively small. It has white sails, white wood decks including quarterdeck and afterdeck; accommodations include the large, windowed king's cabin in the sterncastle and ship-master's cabin beneath, a foreward hold and a sleeping closet under the forecastle.

Also (imaginary) boat belonging to the trader Hawk, an alias of Ged

Sources: Hort Town, FS; The Dolphin, T; Palaces, OW; Dolphin, OW

'A tall ship was at the pier, a ship she knew, the Dolphin. … She saw the mooring lines cast off, the docile movement of the ship following the oared tug that towed her clear, the sudden fall and flowering of the white sails in the darkness. The light of the stern lantern trembled on the dark water, shrank slowly to a tiny drop of brightness, and was gone.'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Door

Constellation of the dry land, the stars that do not set

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Dragon Year

A particularly fine vintage of wine from the Andrades; an old soft red described as 'a king's wine'^a

Sources: Mice, T (a); The Dolphin, T

Dragon's fire

Crimson dye from Lorbanery; once worn by the Queens of Havnor

Sources: Lorbanery, FS

Elfarran's ring

See Ring of Erreth-Akbe

Elixirs

See Potions

Emmel-stone

Blue stone used for making talismans against rheums, sprains and stiff necks, and as a dye ore at Lorbanery

Sources: Hort Town, FS; Lorbanery, FS

Empty Throne

Also known as: Throne of the Nameless Ones

Huge throne in the Hall of the Throne at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan, dedicated to the Nameless Ones. Black, encrusted with gold & jewels on its clawed arms & carved back, it is set on a high platform of red-veined marble with seven deep steps leading up to it. It is taboo to set foot on the three highest steps, which are covered in a thick layer of dust

Sources: The Eaten One, ToA; Rejoining, OW

'The throne itself was black, with a dull glimmer of precious stones or gold on the arms and back, and it was huge. A man sitting in it would have been dwarfed; it was not of human dimensions. It was empty. Nothing sat in it but shadows.'

[The Eaten One, ToA]

Ending

Nine-star constellation of a running man or the rune Agnen, the rune of Ending, only seen in the South Reach; includes the yellow star Gobardon and eight others whose names are not known in the lore of Roke

Sources: Sea Dreams, FS; The Madman, FS; Orm Embar, FS; Winter, T

'…well up in the sky above the blank sea, burned the star Gobardon. Beneath it were the two forming a triangle with it, and beneath these, three had risen in a straight line, forming a greater triangle. Then, slipping free of the liquid plains of black and silver, two more followed as the night wore on; they were yellow like Gobardon, though fainter, slanting from right to left from the right base of the triangle. So there were eight of the nine stars which were supposed to make the figure of a man, or the Hardic rune Agnen. To Arren's eyes there was no man in the pattern, unless, as star-figures are, he was strangely distorted; but the rune was plain, with hooked arm and cross-stroke, all but the foot, the last stroke to complete it, the star that had not yet risen.'

[The Madman, FS]

Erreth-Akbe, Ring of

See Ring of Erreth-Akbe

Erreth-Akbe, Sword of

See Sword of Erreth-Akbe

Fabric

Clothing fabrics mentioned include silk, satin, fur, sheepskin, wool, fleecefell, felt, leather, linen, velvet, cloth of gold, cloth of silver, gauze and lace. Feathers are used for decorative purposes, eg on a headdress in Hort Town and on dress armour/helmets in the Kargad Lands. Although fabrics are traded and sold in eg Hort Town market, much clothing throughout Earthsea appears to be made by women on handlooms at home. The Children of the Open Sea make a fabric from nilgu fibre (brown seaweed).

Fabrics for other purposes mentioned include painted silk (fan), felt (blankets), linen (sheets), tapestry (hangings), damask (tableware), leather (animal collars, sword sheaths, packs, sacks, bottles, flasks), net (bags), grass (bags), canvas (awnings, mats, tarpaulins, mattress covers), burlap (a coarse hemp/jute canvas) and sailcloth

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; Hort Town, FS; The Children of the Open Sea, FS; Hawks, T; Finding Words, T; Home, T; Palaces, OW

Falcon, the

Constellation of the Archipelago

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Fan

A painted silk fan is an heirloom of Weaver Fan of Gont, given to his grandfather by a pirate. Very large and fine, it depicts figures in Havnor City on one side and dragons on the other; possibly linked with legends of the Vedurnan

'The delicately painted men and women in their gorgeous robes of rose and jade and azure, the towers and bridges and banners of Havnor Great Port, were all familiar to Tenar as soon as she saw the fan again. Visitors to Re Albi were often brought to see it. It was the finest thing, all agreed, in the village. … Dragons moved as the folds of the fan moved. Painted faint and fine on the yellowed silk, dragons of pale red, blue, green moved and grouped, as the figures on the other side were grouped, among clouds and mountain peaks. … [T]he two sides, the two paintings, made one by the light flowing through the silk, so that the clouds and peaks were the towers of the city, and the men and women were winged, and the dragons looked with human eyes.'

[Hawks, T]

Fanian

Dry red wine produced in the domain of Iria on Way. Ten-year-old Fanian is traded to destinations including Hort Town and is said to be valuable

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Farflyer

Sailing ship which carries Alder to Gont

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Feathers

Kargish warriors wear tall red plumes on their helmets and their lances are decorated with plumes; their court armour (at least at the time of the High King) is silver mesh armour interwoven with feathers. Possibly in imitation of this style, Seserakh's carriage and its horses' headstalls are decorated with tall red plumes in Havnor City. A feathered headdress is worn by a market tradeswoman in Hort Town. The raft of the House of the Great Ones (the temple of the Children of the Open Sea) bears tall poles at its corners, decorated with tufts of sea-bird feathers. Feather or down coverlets and mattresses are mentioned in the cold climes of Gont and Osskil

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE; Hort Town, FS; The Children of the Open Sea, FS; Winter, T; Palaces, OW; Dolphin, OW

Related entries: Headgear; Weapons; Beds and bedlinen

Feyag

Stiff, tent-like, all-enveloping veil worn by well-born women of Hur-at-Hur in the Kargad Lands; the wearer is called feyagat. Shorter veils are worn by serving ladies. The feyag is not worn in the city Awabath on Karego-At, or on Atuan

Sources: Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW

'She was veiled, entirely veiled, as was, it appeared, the custom of well-born women in Hur-at-Hur. The veils, red with lines of gold embroidery, fell straight down from a flat-brimmed hat or headdress, so that the princess appeared to be a red column or pillar, cylindrical, featureless, motionless, silent.'

[Palaces, OW]

Firepit

A central firepit, rather than a hearth and chimney, is a feature of many houses, especially rural huts and cottages

'…they sat on the broad coping of the firepit, their feet almost among the coals.'

[Iffish, WoE]

Fireworks

Fireworks are mentioned on the islands of Havnor, Way & Sattins, often as entertainment at outdoor parties. Though they seem to be usually produced by a sorcerer or wizard, it's unclear whether they work by magic or gunpowder

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; Darkrose and Diamond, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE

Fleecefell

Silky material made from the fine underwool of goats from the north-eastern isles, including Gont and the Andrades; Gontish work is finer, having six or more warp strings to the finger's width, while Andradean work has only four. Also shawls and similar made from the fabric, suggested for female winter wear

Sources: Hort Town, FS; Worsening, T

'…a great cream and brown square, woven of the silky hair of the goats of the north-eastern isles.'

[Hort Town, FS]

Food

Typical main meal fare across Earthsea appears to be bread, cheese, fish and meat/fish/vegetable soups, with the wealthier eating chicken or other meat. A substantial meal on Gont comprises 'bread and cheese, cold beans in oil and herbs, a sliced onion, and dry sausage.'^a A 'splendid repast' on Sattins island in the East Reach consists of 'roast goose, sparkling Andrades '639, and plum pudding with hard sauce.'^b At the Havnor New Palace, a lunch of cold meat, smoked trout, lettuces and cheese is served to the king. Breakfast at the Roke School of Wizardry comprises 'milk, sour beer, bread, new butter, and cheese'^c; curds are eaten for breakfast on Semel, pork pie in a wealthy household on Havnor, fresh fruit, bread and milk at the Havnor New Palace, warm barley gruel, a boiled egg and a peach on Gont, and buckwheat porridge at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Nuts, fruit and sometimes raisins are mentioned as snacks.

A variety of foodstuffs are mentioned. Meat products mentioned include roast or boiled chicken, roast goose, roast or smoked mutton, liver, meat or pork pie, meat soup, cold meat, roast kid, pork sausages, dry sausage and frogs' legs; beef cattle are mentioned, and their meat is presumably also eaten. Fish and shellfish are staples in coastal areas, including herring, sea bass, dried haddock, smoked trout, fish stew, fish soup, fish cakes, mussels, crabs, oysters and clams. Dairy produce mentioned includes cow's or goat's cheese, butter, curds and hard-boiled or fried eggs. Grain produce mentioned includes flour, bread, bannocks, hardbread, wheatcakes, cakes, shortbread, piecrust, buckwheat or corn porridge, barley or oatmeal gruel, lentils, millet mush and barley. While the bread used at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan is unleavened, reference is made to dough rising on Gont and yeast is used across Earthsea to make wine, so leavened bread is probably common. Vegetables and herbs mentioned include potatoes, onions, spring onions, scallions, beans, peas, cabbages, lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled beets, turnips, squash, vegetable soups, rosemary, mint, thyme and parsley. Fruit and nut products mentioned include apples, pears, peaches, plums, plum pudding, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, currants, raisins, cantaloupe melons, walnuts and chestnuts. Flavourings mentioned include honey, oil, vinegar and salt.

No religious or other restrictions relating to food are mentioned, although fasting is a common practice in Atuan, and in the Archipelago, a fast is observed before the winter solstice Festival of Sunreturn

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q (b); The Masters of Roke, FS (c); Hawks, T (a)

Related entries: Food preservation

Food preservation

Food is preserved by drying (apples, onions, fish, meat), smoking (fish, meat), salting (meat), pickling (beets) and preserving in oil (beans). No other methods of food preservation, such as refrigeration or canning, are mentioned. A cool-room is mentioned for food storage on Gont; also a larder or pantry, which might be situated so as to keep food cool. Food appears to be eaten close to the source; trade in foodstuffs (apart from wine) is not mentioned

Sources: Iffish, WoE; Dreams and Tales, ToA; Sea Dreams, FS; Ogion, T; Mice, T; Hawks, T; Home, T

Footwear

Laced sandals are typical footwear for both sexes and all classes, both in the Archipelago and on Atuan, eg Ged wears laced sandals travelling on Atuan; Tehanu wears light sandals at the court on Havnor. Laced shoes are also mentioned, eg Lebannen wears them in Hort Town. Boots of glove-leather are worn by the wealthy, while Ogion wears goatskin boots in the winter snow of Gont. Wooden clogs are mentioned on Way. Moccasins are worn by slaves in the roaster tower of the Samory mines on Havnor. Country people and the Children of the Open Sea (raft people) commonly go barefoot, as frequently do the priestesses at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan; the Hur-at-Hur princess Seserakh also goes barefoot on board ship. Cobblers are mentioned in Thwil on Roke island. Knitted woollen stockings or leggings are common legwear among rural people; the former at least cover the feet

Sources: The Hawk's Flight, WoE; Light under the Hill, ToA; Magelight, FS; The Finder, TfE; On the High Marsh, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE; The Dragon Council, OW

Forge, the

Constellation with four bright stars visible in the central Archipelago

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Fountain

Fountains appear to be a reasonably common ornamental feature of towns. Mentions include the Court of the Fountain in the School of Wizardry on Roke, a fountain in Hort Town on Wathort, at which women gather to gossip, and the famous fountains of Shelieth on Way, commemorated in the Deed of the Young King as 'the silver harp of the waters'^a

Sources: The Rowan Tree, FS; Hort Town, FS (a)

Fuel

Wood appears to be the most common fuel in most places. Coal is also mentioned occasionally. Lookfar has a little charcoal stove, and charcoal is burned in the temples on Atuan. Peat fires are mentioned, eg on the High Marsh on Semel. Oil lamps are sometimes used, for example at Hare's house in Hort Town, and lamps burning attar of roses (an essential oil) are used in the Temple of the Godking on Atuan. The people of Astowell in the East Reach, lacking wood, burn goat-dung and broom-faggots. Other fuels, such as mineral oil or gas, are not mentioned

Related entries: Lights

Furnaces

Mentioned in the magicians' workroom in the south tower of the School of Wizardry on Roke; perhaps used for metal refining

Sources: Orm Embar, FS

Furnishings

Rooms in noble houses, such as the Court of the Terrenon and the New Palace are furnished with tapestry hangings and bed curtains. Carved window screens and an embroidered chair seat are mentioned in the New Palace (though the throne itself is bare, uncushioned wood). The Dolphin has velvet cushions under canvas awnings, and awnings and striped canvas mats adorn the roof gardens of Havnor City. Vetch's spacious and comfortable house in Iffish has 'much homely wealth of pottery and fine weaving and vessels of bronze and brass on carven shelves and chests.'^a Chambers in the Court of the Terrenon and the New Palace are carpeted; the floors of the River House are polished and uncarpeted, while the halls and anterooms of the New Palace have floors of tile, marble or oak. Many of the rooms of the temples/other buildings of the Place of the Tombs on Atuan have tiled floors, sometimes with marble tiles. The Old Mage's House in Re Albi on Gont has a polished oak floor, which is regarded as a luxury. Oak Farm in the Middle Valley on Gont has stone floors; poorer houses and huts have earth floors

Sources: Iffish, WoE (a); The Eaten One, ToA; The Man Trap, ToA; Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW; Dolphin, OW

Galleys

See Ships

Ged's staff

Ged bears a wizard's staff of black yew-wood, originally shod with bronze; in The Farthest Shore, the Bond Rune is set into it in silver. His first staff was given to him by Gensher of Way and lost on Osskil; his second was crafted by Ogion and left on the shore of Selidor

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; Hunted, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE; The Rowan Tree, FS; The Stone of Pain, FS

'the staff of yew that bore near the grip, in silver set in the black wood, the Lost Rune of the Kings.'

[The Rowan Tree, FS]

Glosses of Danemer

One of two lore-books belonging to Heleth and later Ogion; the other is the Arcana of the Enlades. Heleth is said to have got his lore-books from Ennas of Perregal. One of these books contains the spell of summoning of the spirits of the dead which Ged later uses with disasterous consequences

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

'These books were very ancient, Ogion having them from his own master Heleth Farseer, and Heleth from his master the Mage of Perregal, and so back into the times of myth. Small and strange was the writing, overwritten and interlined by many hands, and all those hands were dust now.'

[The Shadow, WoE]

Gobardon

Bright, topaz-yellow star only seen in the South Reach; the name means crown. Part of a nine-star constellation of a running man or the rune Agnen, called Ending

Sources: Sea Dreams, FS; The Madman, FS; Orm Embar, FS; Winter, T

Greenstone

See Inalkil

Grey Mage, Staff of the

See Staff of the Grey Mage

Gruel

Also known as: Barley gruel, Oatmeal gruel

Warm barley gruel is drunk by country people of Gont, and Tenar makes oatmeal gruel there as a breakfast drink

Sources: Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Related entries: Beverages, non-alcoholic

Gull of Eskel

Merchant ship on which Spark serves, presumably based out of the islet of Eskel. Commandeered by Lebannen's officers in around 1052, for running contraband or stolen cargo

Sources: The Dolphin, T; The Master, T

Hats

See Headgear

Headgear

Also known as: Hats, Caps, Headdresses

Hats are among items sold at the market in Hort Town on Wathort; velvet caps and hair ribbons are carried by Medra as a peddler on Pody during the Dark Years. Felt hats are worn by farmhands, knitted watch caps by shepherds, wool caps by sailors; the tramp Handy wears a leather cap. The king's messengers from Havnor wear hats. Ged once wears a makeshift turban of sailcloth aboard Lookfar. Well-born women in the Archipelago are often described in some form of headdress, such as the net of silver crowning Lady Serret's hair, and opals bound in the hair of the Lady of O; a female market trader in Hort Town wears a feathered headdress decked with tiny mirrors. Cloaks for both sexes frequently have hoods. A wizard on Havnor during the Dark Years is described as wearing a wide-brimmed, peak-crowned hat, which might have been typical of wizards at that time.

High-born women of Hur-at-Hur in the Kargad Lands wear the feyag, an all-encompassing veil attached to a flat-brimmed hat or headdress; such veils don't seem to be worn elsewhere in the Kargad Empire. The Godking's soldiers wear red-plumed helmets, probably bronze; warriors of the High King in court dress wear plumed headdresses

Sources: Hort Town, FS; Sea Dreams, FS; Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; Mice, T; Home, T; The Finder, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE; Palaces, OW

Heart of the Swan

Also known as: Tehanu (star), Arrow, the

White summer star seen in the Archipelago & Kargad Lands; called 'the Arrow' in Ten Alders on Gont and 'Tehanu' in Kargish

Sources: Worsening, T; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

History of the Wise Heroes

History book

Related entries: Books

Hopeful

Boat made by Medra, who sailed in her for several years seeking recruits to the newly-founded School of Wizardry on Roke during the Dark Years

'…a slender, sturdy deep-sea boat, built according to the style of Havnor.'

[The Finder, TfE]

Horsehair belt

One of the One Priestess's traditional garments on Atuan. Incidentally, the only mention of horses in the original Earthsea trilogy

Sources: Voyage, ToA

Inalkil

Also known as: Greenstone, Inalkil the Greenstone

Great emerald belonging to the Lords of Pendor; part of the dragon Yevaud's hoard

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Knife

See Dagger

Laundry

Also known as: Washing

On Gont, Tenar washes clothes, bedlinen &c at home on a laundry day, using water heated on the fire, and dries them by spreading them out on the grass, weighted with stones. Oak Farm has a soaking tub used for laundry. Soap making is mentioned on Gont

Sources: Hawks, T; Winter, T

Lights

Candles, rushlights, lanterns, oil lamps, torches and werelight are all used for lighting in various contexts. Candles are the most frequently mentioned light, sometimes being described as tallow (as opposed to beeswax); miners work with candles bound to their foreheads on Havnor during the Dark Years. Rushlights (feeble lights with a rush wick) are mentioned as nightlights on Atuan. Lanterns are carried on ships and used to light buildings in towns, for example in Ismay and at the School of Wizardry on Roke; they're also mentioned as lighting an outdoor party on Havnor; Arha (Tenar) carries a tin lantern with a candle when she explores the Labyrinth on Atuan, and they're carried outdoors at Re Albi on Gont. Oil lamps light wealthier homes, for example the Old Mage's House at Re Albi, Oak Farm in the Middle Valley, Hare's house in Hort Town & Emer's house on Semel; cabins on the Dolphin are illuminated by pendant glass lamps; an alabaster lamp is mentioned at the New Palace on Havnor; the Temple of the Godking on Atuan is lit by oil lamps burning attar of roses. Tiny heating lamps are mentioned in the magicians' workroom at Roke school, presumably also fueled by oil. Roke school, the castle of the Court of the Terrenon on Osskil, the Room of Chains in the Undertomb Labyrinth on Atuan and the rafts of the Children of the Open Sea are lit by (wooden) torches, which give a reddish smoky light. Torches are also carried in procession in the Long Dance on Roke and similarly on Atuan, as well as by the dancers on Low Torning in the Ninety Isles. A flint and steel is used to make sparks on Atuan and Gont. Wizards often make werelight rather than using non-magical sources of light

Log rafts

See Ships; Children of the Open Sea

Longships

See Ships

Lookfar

Also known as: Sanderling

Clinker-built sailboat with a brown or red sail and a single pair of oars; eighteen feet long and meant for two or three hands. Given to Ged by an old fisherman on West Hand in the East Reach, and named for the curing of the fisherman's cataracts. Ged sailed in Lookfar for many years, leaving her on Selidor in The Farthest Shore

'"We called the boat Sanderling, but do you call her Lookfar, and paint eyes aside her prow, and my thanks will look out of that blind wood for you and keep you from rock and reef. For I had forgotten how much light there is in the world, till you gave it back to me."'

[Iffish, WoE]

Lore-books

See Books

Loto-shell

Discs of loto-shell decorate the prow of the Osskilian longship Ged takes from Orrimy

Related entries: Decorative arts

Magnet

See Compass

Maps

Also known as: Charts

Maps and sea or sailing charts are referred to on various islands, including Roke, Enlad, Havnor, Ark and Paln, for navigational and teaching purposes. As compasses are used for navigation, they are probably usually oriented according to compass north. Star charts may also exist, as stars are commonly used in navigation. An eighth-century teaching map of the Inner Lands of the Archipelago from Ark is depicted in Tales; roughly to scale and oriented with north at the top, it bears no scale or compass bearing, nor text of any kind, and mountains and towns are marked only pictorially. The Isolate Tower of Roke houses many maps and charts, mainly of the Archipelago and the inner seas rather than the Reaches. The Hall of Berila on Enlad has maps dating from the time of the old kings, and a mosaic work map decorates two walls of the throne room. Maps are stored in the treasuries of Havnor. The Dolphin carries a chart of the Inmost Sea tacked on a board beside the steersman.

No Kargish maps are mentioned, and none appear to exist for the Labyrinth of the Tombs of Atuan. In passing on the directions, Thar 'would never draw them in the dust or even with the gesture of a hand in the air'^a, suggesting that maps, like writing, might be prohibited in the Kargad Lands

Sources: Hunting, WoE; Dreams and Tales, ToA (a); Selidor, FS; Bettering, T; Frontispiece, TfE; Dolphin, OW

Materials

Steel and iron are commonly used for implements on the wealthy central islands. Metals are scarce in the Kargad Lands; Kargish soldiers use weapons and armour of bronze, wood and leather, though court armour at the time of the High King is silver mesh. Despite the scarcity of metal, many iron objects (including chains, chests, bolts, keys, a key ring and an iron door) are mentioned at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan, as well as a dagger and ceremonial sword of steel. Many islands in the Reaches, such as the Hands and Obehol, use bronze, copper, wood or stone implements. On the island of Astowell, in the far east, there is no wood, and tools of stone and shell are used, while the ocean-dwelling Children of the Open Sea (raft people) make their implements from whalebone, wood and nilgu (seaweed).

Containers are commonly made of pottery (eg jade-green pitcher, handle-less clay cups, clay bottle & pottery teapot on Gont) or rushwork/wicker. Bronze, brass and copper containers are also mentioned, on Atuan and elsewhere (eg bronze trays for burning herbs and a brass basin for sacrificial blood on Atuan; copper cauldrons in the kitchens at the Roke School of Wizardry; brass vases of perfume in Hort Town; bronze & brass vessels in Vetch's house on Iffish). Glass containers are mentioned occasionally (eg Ged drinks wine from squat cups of thick greenish glass on Gont; Lebannen offers wine in heavy glass goblets aboard the Dolphin and in crystal goblets in the New Palace; Mr Underhill entertains with crystal tableware on Sattins island); windows are glazed at least in wealthier houses; there is a glass lamp in the king's cabin on the Dolphin. A stone jug is mentioned on Atuan. The New Palace has an alabaster lamp.

Gold is used as high-value currency, occasionally for jewellery (eg Lebannen wears a light gold chain; the pirate Egre wears a gold-studded leather collar; Seserakh wears gold rings) and decoration (eg Lebannen's sword sheath has gold inlay); other uses mentioned include gold plates & goblets and a gold key at the Court of the Terrenon (Osskil), a gold-weighted state robe worn by Lebannen, gold breastplates in the hoard on Pendor, the gold roof of the Temple of the God-brothers, assorted treasure at the Tombs of Atuan and the gold covering which once sheathed Morred's High Seat. Silver is used as currency, very commonly for jewellery (eg sorcerers at Roke wear silver cloak clasps; Serret wears a silver net in her hair; Ged wears a silver chain bearing the half Ring of Erreth-Akbe on Atuan, and the ring itself is silver, Lebannen buys a silver brooch for his mother in Thwil) and for decoration (eg the New Palace on Havnor has a table inlaid with silver and ivory); other uses include silver keys (Court of the Terrenon and the Tombs of Atuan), silver-mesh Kargish court armour, a silver tray aboard the Dolphin, silver tableware on Sattins, silver trumpets at the Havnor New Palace, and Sege's silver-tipped staff. Various precious and semi-precious stones are mentioned for jewellery and other decorative uses (eg opals in the Lady of O's hair; seed pearls on Anthil's dress; a dress embroidered with amethysts and topaz in the Atuan treasury; emeralds in the hoard on Pendor; Tosla's ruby earring). Ivory is used for currency, ornaments and toys (eg a carved dolphin in ivory or bone given to Tehanu; ivory dice-sticks), decoration (Yarrow's tapestry-loom on Iffish has an ivory inlay), decorative furniture (eg painted ivory tables and an ivory footstool at the Tombs of Atuan); the back door of the Great House of Roke is fashioned of ivory and horn. Bone figures are mentioned as toys on Gont

Related entries: Building materials

Matter of the Dragons

Book held on Roke, containing lore about dragons. It includes the tale of an ancient dragonlord who had come under the sway of one of the Old Powers in the form of a speaking stone in a far northern land; probably a reference to the Stone of Terrenon

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE

Related entries: Books

Midden

Used for rubbish disposal on Gont

Sources: Kalessin, T

Mirrors

A female market trader in Hort Town wears a feathered headress adorned with many tiny mirrors, presumably of glass. A small mirror of polished brass is mentioned as part of a peddlar's wares, and the surface of water is also described as a mirror

Sources: Hort Town, FS; The Finder, TfE

Morred's High Seat

Also known as: Throne of the kingdom

Throne of the King of All the Isles. During Lebannen's reign, a high-backed wooden chair on a dias at one end of the throne room in the New Palace of Havnor City, bearing on its back a carving of a flying heron with a twig of rowan in its beak. Described as gold and crimson before Lebannen restored it

Sources: Bettering, T; The Dragon Council, OW

'…the throne of the kingdom had stood at the end of the long room: a wooden chair, high-backed, on a plain dais. It had once been sheathed in gold. That was long gone; the small golden nails had left rents in the wood where they had been torn out. Its silken cushions and hangings had been stolen or destroyed by moth and mouse and mold. Nothing showed it to be what it was but the place in which it stood and a shallow carving on the back, a heron flying with a twig of rowan in its beak. That was the crest of the House of Enlad. … Lebannen had it cleaned, the decayed wood repaired and replaced, oiled and burnished back to dark satin, but left it unpainted, ungilt, bare.'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Oatmeal gruel

See Gruel

One Who Turns

Constellation of the dry land, the stars that do not set

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Oven

Mentioned for baking on Gont; baking is listed amongst women's skills

Sources: Kalessin, T

Pack

Ged carries a light pack on his back in Atuan, with a water bottle slung from it; he and Lebannen carry light packs in The Farthest Shore containing clothing, packets of bread, water bottles and fishing lines. Tenar and Tehanu carry light leather packs containing a water bottle when travelling on Gont; Alder carries a thin pack walking on Gont. A pack closed at the top by cord running through eyelets is mentioned on Gont. Presumably peddlars and travellers generally carry goods & baggage in packs on their backs, as beasts of burden appear rare on most islands

Sources: Light under the Hill, ToA; Lorbanery, FS; The Stone of Pain, FS; Going to the Falcon's Nest, T; The Master, T; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Related entries: Pouch

Pallet

See Beds and bedlinen

Pendulum of Ath

Method of measuring time used in Havnor City; hung high in the Tower of the Kings, it swings for precisely an hour. Presumably invented by Ath

Sources: Palaces, OW

Related entries: Time

Perfume

Also known as: Scent

Rose perfume is sold in little brass jars in Hort Town market, apparently used for sweetening the breath, while the whole town smells of incense. Burning scented oils forms part of the death-related customs of the Archipelago. Some forms of healing involve burning herbs to produce scented smoke; for example, a herb burning with a smell of dark earth under pine woods is used on Roke to induce sleep. On Atuan, scents of musk and incense characterise the temples; rose oil is stored in brass stoppered jars at the Place of the Tombs and attar of roses is burned in the Temple of the Godking; gifts of incense and an ancient iron chest of musk are stored in the temple treasuries; scented vinegar is used to wash the hair of the One Priestess as part of her dedication ceremony, and sage-scented water is mentioned for washing hair. Seserakh's serving ladies from Hur-at-Hur are described as perfumed

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA; Hort Town, FS; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW; Dolphin, OW

Poison

Poison is an acknowledged method of disposing of enemies in the Kargad Lands. Kossil, High Priestess of the Godking on Atuan, is said to keep boxes and phials of poisons to introduce into food or water, as well as poison dust which can be blown into the air. The father of the Godking reigning during The Tombs of Atuan is alleged to have refrained from poisoning the last descendants of the House of Hupun merely on grounds that they are of royal blood. Poisons aren't limited to Kargad: environmental mercury poisoning was an occupational hazard in the Samory roasting tower on Havnor during the Dark Years, and fatal neurological damage is the consequence of chewing the poisonous psychoactive herb hazia, used in Hort Town. Various witches' potions of evil intent are mentioned, and it seems possible that unscrupulous wizards, sorcerers and witches put their herbal knowledge to use in poisoning

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Great Treasure, ToA; The Finder, TfE

Potions

Also known as: Elixirs

Potions are commonly made by village witches; they include love-potions and 'other, uglier brews ... made to serve men's jealousy and hate.'^a The production of elixirs of unknown purpose is mentioned in 'The Rule of Names' as part of the skills of wizards; their distinction (if any) from potions is unclear, though Ged dismisses potion-making as an inferior discipline. A High Priestess on Atuan is said to keep phials of poison, which could be potions or elixirs

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; Warriors in the Mist, WoE(a); The Great Treasure, ToA; Lorbanery, FS

Pouch

Deyala, the Master Herbal, carries a many-pocketed pouch in which he carries plant specimens. Heleth carries a pouch containing food and a wine bladder

Sources: The Bones of the Earth, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE

Related entries: Pack

Pretty Rose

Small shabby coaster on which Alder travels from Gont to Havnor

Sources: Palaces, OW

Queenie

Fishing-sloop belonging to Birt of Sattins island; it has oars and a single sail

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Retort

Also known as: Alembic

Vessel used for distillation; mentioned in the magician's workroom in the south tower of the School of Wizardry on Roke

Sources: Orm Embar, FS

Ring of Erreth-Akbe

Also known as: Erreth-Akbe, Ring of, Elfarran's ring, Morred's ring, Bond Ring, Ring of the Runes, Ring of the King's Rune, Ring of Peace, Rune Ring

Silver woman's bracelet or arm ring, pierced with nine holes and decorated with a wave-like pattern on the outside and nine True Runes on the inside, including Pirr, Ges and the Bond Rune. Its origins are lost in the mists of time: it was given by Morred to Elfarran and was said to be old at that time. It passed to her son Serriadh and thus down through the house of Morred to Aiman, who gave it to his wife, Queen Heru. Heru, then Queen Mother, gave it to Erreth-Akbe to take to the Kargad Lands as a sign of peace. It was broken in two by High Priest Intathin of the House of Tarb, in Awabath on Karego-At, destroying the Bond Rune, the sign of peace. Half the Ring was given to Tiarath, daughter of Thoreg of Hupun, and found its way into Ged's hands after Ensar and Anthil, the last descendants of the House of Hupun, were stranded on an islet by the father of the Godking ruling in The Tombs of Atuan. The other half was placed in the treasury of the Tombs on Atuan, and stolen by Ged to remake the Ring, restoring the Lost Rune. Used as betrothal ring between Lebannen, King of All the Isles, & Seserakh, High Princess of the Kargad Lands in around 1066

Sources: The Ring of Erreth-Akbe, ToA; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Rejoining, OW

Ring of keys

An iron ring bearing thirteen keys is among the One Priestess's traditional garments on Atuan. The key to the Treasury of the Tombs is small and silver with a dragon-shaped haft; that to the red rock door is 'a long shaft of iron with two ornate wards'^a

Sources: The Prisoners, ToA (a); Voyage, ToA

'Since the rites of her coming of age, Arha had worn on her belt an iron ring on which hung a little dagger and thirteen keys, some long and heavy, some small as fishhooks.'

[The Prisoners, ToA]

Runebook

See Book of Runes

Runebooks

See Books

Rushwash tea

Herbal tea; the main hot beverage mentioned, it is drunk on Gont, the Ninety Isles & Sattins, and presumably elsewhere in the Archipelago & Reaches

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; The Dragon of Pendor, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE

Related entries: Beverages, non-alcoholic

Rushwork

Also known as: Wicker

Wicker baskets, hand made from rushes, are commonly used as containers for carrying food. Alder adapts a covered poultry basket to transport his kitten, Tug. Oak Farm on Gont has a cane-bottomed chair, presumably made from some form of rushwork

Sources: Bettering, T; Winter, T; Palaces, OW

Sailing boats

See Ships

Sand clocks

Method of measuring time used in Havnor City, presumably large sand-filled hourglasses; they are housed in the Tower of the Kings. A two-minute sandglass, used to regulate the King's Council, presumably represents a smaller version

Sources: Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW

Related entries: Time

Sanderling

See Lookfar

Sandglass

Sand-filled hourglass measuring two minutes, used to regulate the length of speeches at the King's Council; presumably the sand clocks of the Tower of the Kings are larger versions of the same device

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Related entries: Time

Scent

See Perfume

Sea Otter

Two-masted, decked and cabined vessel trading between Way and Wathort; carries Ivory and Irian to Roke

Sources: Dragonfly, TfE

Serriadh, Sword of

See Sword of Serriadh

Shadow

Ship of the Andrades that carries Ged to Roke. The Shadow is a thirty-oared galley, with a crew of seventy, carrying pelts and ivory from the northern islands. It's decorated with the Old Serpent of Andrad

Sources: The Shadow, WoE

Sheaf

Constellation of the dry land, the stars that do not set

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Shelieth, Stone of

See Stone of Shelieth

Ships

Also known as: Galleys, Longships

The main method of transport in Earthsea, ships are used for transporting goods for trade, for fishing and crabbing, and for war or raids on other islands. All vessels are powered by sails and/or oars. Oared galleys of twenty to sixty oars plus a big square sail seem to be the main long-distance vessel within the Archipelago; they island hop, mooring at night and rarely going out of sight of land. Coasters are small sailing vessels which traffic small cargoes from port to port. Larger Archipelagan trading vessels may be two-masted and multi-decked (for example, Sea Otter); it's unclear whether such ships also carried oars. In Osskil and the South Reach, the oars are manned by slaves. The Kargish ships are longships, with red sails. Long narrow sailing-ships with high triangular sails are designed to catch the wind in the South Reach, while boats in the Inmost Sea bear a high fore-and-aft sail that can be turned to catch a head wind. More modest craft include sailing dinghies, such as the eighteen-foot clinker built Lookfar, fishing-sloops, catboats and rowing boats. Little poled chips ply the canals of Havnor City, and oared tugs tow ships out of harbour in the Bay of Havnor. Reed coracles are used on Astowell, where there is no wood for building. The Children of the Open Sea travel on large log rafts with sails, but driven by the ocean currents. Paddled boats, such as canoes or kayaks, are not mentioned.

The method of construction of wooden vessels differs according to origin: in the north and the Reaches, vessels are generally clinker built (with overlapping planks), while elsewhere non-overlapping (carvel built) construction is used.

Named boats and ships include Ged's boat, the Lookfar, Lebannen's ship, the Dolphin, and the Farflyer, Gull of Eskel, Hopeful, Pretty Rose, Queenie, Sea Otter, Shadow, Stormcloud and Tern

Related entries: Travel & transport

Staff

See Wizard's staff

Staff of the Grey Mage

Also known as: Grey Mage, Staff of the

Long steel rod or blade, enchanted and engraved with runes; born by Cob, who uses it to impale and kill the dragon Orm Embar

Sources: Selidor, FS

Stone of Shelieth

Also known as: Shelieth, Stone of

Ancient stone from the island of Way, in which a mage could see visions of truth. Brought to Roke School of Wizardry by Gensher of Way, and kept in the magicians' workroom

'…a great stone like a diamond uncarved. It was rock-crystal, coloured faintly deep within with amethyst and rose, but clear as water. Yet as the eye looked into that clarity it found unclarity, and neither reflection nor image of what was real round about, but only planes and depths ever deeper, until it was led quite into dream and found no way out. … in the hands of a mage it held truth.'

[Orm Embar, FS]

Stone of Terrenon

Also known as: Terrenon, the

Stone in a locked underground room in the Court of the Terrenon, the founding stone of the tower, with an ancient evil spirit imprisoned within, said to have been made before Segoy raised the islands. Serret tells Ged that 'It has a voice, if you know how to listen. It will speak of things that were, and are, and will be. … he who can make the Terrenon answer what he asks and do what he wills, has power over his own destiny: strength to crush any enemy, mortal or of the other world: foresight, knowledge, wealth, dominion, and a wizardry at his command that could humble the Archmage himself!'^a, though it is unclear whether this is true or a ruse to trap Ged into touching it. The same stone appears to be described in the Matter of the Dragons

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE (a)

'It was rough and dank as the rest, a heavy unshapen paving-stone: yet he felt the power of it as if it spoke to him aloud. … This was a very ancient thing: an old and terrible spirt was prisoned in that block of stone.'

[The Hawk's Flight, WoE]

Stormcloud

Warship of the warlord Losen; one of the fleet of eighty ships that Early sends against Roke School of Wizardry during the Dark Years

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Sword of Erreth-Akbe

Also known as: Erreth-Akbe, Sword of

The oldest sword in the world; set into Tower of the Kings of Havnor City on Havnor, after Maharion retrieved it from Selidor where Erreth-Akbe was slain. Described as a 'slender steel blade'^a, it is explicitly said to be older than the Sword of Serriadh, suggesting that it must have had many previous owners before being passed down to Erreth-Akbe

Sources: The Great Treasure, ToA; The Masters of Roke, FS; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Palaces, OW (a)

'"On the highest of all the towers, the Sword of Erreth-Akbe is set, like a pinnacle, skyward. When the sun rises on Havnor it flashes first on that blade and makes it bright, and when it sets the Sword is golden still above the evening, for a while."'

[The Great Treasure, ToA]

Sword of Serriadh

Also known as: Serriadh, Sword of

Second oldest sword in the world (after the Sword of Erreth-Akbe), it belonged to Serriadh, the son of Morred and Elfarran. It is handed down among the Princes of Enlad and is held by Lebannen in The Farthest Shore. The sword is plain, with a cross-hilt of silvered bronze

'This had never been laid away or hoarded up, but worn; yet it was unworn by the centuries, unweakened, because it had been forged with a great power of enchantment. Its history said that it never had been drawn, nor ever could be drawn, except in the service of life. For no purpose of bloodlust or revenge or greed, in no war for gain, would it let itself be wielded.'

[The Masters of Roke, FS]

Talismans

Also known as: Charms, Amulets, Fetishes

Talismans or charms (also occasionally referred to as amulets or fetishes) are used to guard against illness, and perhaps other mischance. Specific examples mentioned include emmel-stone charms against rheums, sprains and stiff necks; a sailors' talisman of petrel breastbone twined round with dried seaweed, used to avert seasickness; and a charm-bundle wrapped in goatskin and tied with coloured cord, placed with Ogion's corpse before burial. A small amulet bag affixed to a chain is mentioned for wearing talismans. In the Kargad Lands, amulets/talismans appear to be exclusively associated with wizardry, suggesting they are not used there.

Charm is also commonly used as a synonym for spell, especially a minor one

Sources: Hort Town, FS; Ogion, T; Dolphin, OW; Rejoining, OW

Related entries: Healing; Death-related customs

Tehanu (star)

See Heart of the Swan

Tern

Sailing ship whose master is Tosla

Sources: Palaces, OW

Terrenon, the

See Stone of Terrenon

Throne of the kingdom

See Morred's High Seat

Throne of the Nameless Ones

See Empty Throne

Throne of Thoreg

Throne of the Kargad Lands, in Awabath on Karego-At

Sources: Palaces, OW

Tolbegren

Star visible in the far east of the Archipelago

Sources: The Open Sea, WoE

Tools

Simple farming implements, including hoes, rakes, spades, scythes, pruning hooks, pruning knifes, pitchforks and wheelbarrows, are commonly employed across Earthsea, as are spinning/weaving implements, including the (drop) spindle, distaff, spinning wheel and various types of handloom. Smithying implements mentioned include forge bellows. Woodworking tools, used for ship-building, are mentioned in Havnor City during the Dark Years; they include a bubble level and unspecified fine-work tools; Ogion carves a staff using a knife and rubbing-stone. A flint and steel is used as a lighter on Atuan. Other tools mentioned include a crowbar and hatchet

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; Warriors in the Mist, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE; Prologue, ToA; The Western Mountains, ToA; Hort Town, FS; Hawks, T; Finding Words, T; Home, T; Tehanu, T; The Finder, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE

Tree

Constellation of the dry land, the stars that do not set

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Washing

See Laundry

Water

Water is commonly drunk by people of all classes and regions, being served, for example, at the River House on Havnor and by the Children of the Open Sea. Many towns, villages and some larger houses have wells, and pumps are also occasionally mentioned eg on Semel. Fresh water from springs or rivers is also commonly drunk, usually without boiling or mixing with wine; resultant water-borne disease generally appears uncommon. Water on the High Marsh of the island of Semel, however, isn't safe to drink without boiling for an hour; water-borne marsh fever and murrain are mentioned as causes of death of humans and cattle. Rainwater is also collected, especially perhaps on islands with no freshwater spring. Piped water is not mentioned, and fetching water would be a significant chore where there was no convenient well. Water is carried on boats in waterskins or water casks, though sea water can easily be freshened by magic; water bottles or flasks (sometimes called skin bottles) are commonly carried by travellers

Sources: The Hawk's Flight, WoE; The Wall around the Place, ToA; On the High Marsh, TfE; The Dragon Council, OW

'…to fetch water in summer when the wells ran low. That was a dreary business, to trudge through the searing white heat a half-mile down to the river, fill the two buckets on their carrying pole, and then set off as fast as possible uphill to the Place. The first hundred yards were easy, but then the buckets began to grow heavier, and the pole burned on your shoulders like a bar of hot iron, and the light glared on the dry road, and every step was harder and slower. At last you got to the cool shade of the back courtyard of the Big House by the vegetable patch, and dumped the buckets into the great cistern with a splash. And then you had to turn around to do it all over again, and again, and again.'

[The Wall around the Place, ToA]

Weapons

The king's guards at Havnor City carry swords and bows. The Gontish village of Ten Alders defends itself with hunting bows, bronze knives and makeshift spears. The band of Kargish warriors who attack Ten Alders carry swords and the long Kargish lance. Other weapons mentioned include handaxes on Astowell (made of shell), a bronze-headed throwing spear on Obehol, long whale-ivory harpoons by the Children of the Open Sea and multiple references to bronze or steel daggers or knives (see dagger). No firearms of any description are mentioned

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW

Related entries: War; Soldiers; Armour

Wicker

See Rushwork

Wine

Wine is drunk both by better-off country folk such as Ogion and by noblemen, being served at the courts of Enlad and Havnor City, and also at the Godking's feasts on Karego-At. Fine red and white wines are exported from the Andrades, including vintages known as the Dragon Year, Late Harvest and '639, but vineyards are also found on other islands including Gont, Enlad and Way (producing wine called Fanian). Ged gives Lebannen heated wine on Lookfar as a restorative. Hurbahberry wine (described as thin) is served in the inn on Lorbanery in the South Reach. Wine is carried in bladders, transported in barrels or halftuns, sold by wine merchants and stored in wine cellars; fine wine is described as a valuable commodity

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; Lorbanery, FS; Mice, T; The Dolphin, T; Winter, T; Dragonfly, TfE

Related entries: Beverages, alcoholic

Wizard's staff

Also known as: Staff

A (usually) wooden staff carried by wizards of the Roke tradition, which seems to act as both a badge of office and a focus for their power; the staff is often described as burning with white magelight when powerful magic is performed. Staffs of oak (Ogion, Vetch) or yew (Ged) appear to be the most common, shod with copper, bronze or iron and the height of their owner, but pine (Aspen), willow (Azver), olive (Deyala) and even rosemary (Ivory) are also mentioned. Archmage Nemmerle's staff is white. Ged's in The Farthest Shore is set with the Bond Rune in silver. Other materials than wood are also mentioned: the staff of the Grey Mage of Paln is a long steel rod, engraved with runes; the white staff of the mage Early is made from the horn of a northern sea beast. The Pelnish wizard Seppel carries no staff, and the earliest mages, of the time of Erreth-Akbe and before, are said not have had staffs; it's not clear how the practice originated

Sources: The Rowan Tree, FS; Magelight, FS; Selidor, FS; Ogion, T; The Finder, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW; Dolphin, OW

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