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Earthsea is a Fictional Realm created by Ursula K. Le Guin for her short story " The Word Of Unbinding ", published in 1964 , but that became more famous in her novel '' A Wizard Of Earthsea '', first published in 1968 . GEOGRAPHY The world of Earthsea is one of sea and islands: a vast Archipelago of hundreds of islands surrounded by uncharted ocean. It is uncertain whether or not there are other landmasses, though reference is made to lands "beyond the west" where the Dragons have their realm. The word "Archipelago" is used by characters in the books to refer only to the central grouping of islands around Havnor and the ''Inmost Sea''. The outlying islands are loosely grouped into four "Reaches" (West, North, South and East), and the ''Kargad Lands'', four large islands to the north-east inhabited by the war-like nation of Karg s. Some of the islands described in the stories include ''Havnor'' and ''Roke'' in the Inner Sea; ''Gont'' in the northeastern Archipelago, and ''Atuan'', one of the Kargad lands. PEOPLES AND CULTURES The cultures of Earthsea do not directly resemble those of our world, except insofar as there are general resemblances to any literate non-industrial civilization. Technologically, Earthsea appears to be an early Iron Age society, with bronze still much used in places where iron is scarce. ( Ged 's father was a bronze-smith.) Otherwise, individual cultural elements in Earthsea can be compared with Earth cultures, without permitting any complete identification. Like the peoples of the Pacific islands, they have a way of life based on contact with the sea. However, on many of the larger islands like Havnor, Gont, and Way, people can live a totally inland life. No archipelago on Earth has exactly the mix of island-sizes, close grouping, and distance from continental landmasses that Earthsea does; its largest island, Havnor, which measures about 380 miles N-S and E-W is only slightly larger than Mindanao , and the other islands are smaller. However, they are usually larger and much more closely grouped than the atolls of the Pacific. The overall climate of Earthsea is temperate, comparable to the mid-latitudes (over a distance of about 1800 miles) of the Northern hemisphere. There is a yearly transition from warm summers to cold and snowy winters, especially in northern islands like Gont and Osskil. In the southern regions of Earthsea it can be much warmer. The people of Earthsea, are for the most part "red-brown" in coloring, like Native Americans ; in the South and East Reach and on Way they are much darker brown, but with straight black hair, like some South Asians; in Osskil they have a more central or eastern European look, and the Kargs resemble predominantly blond northern Europeans (a possible allusion to the historical Vikings ). In other respects the Kargs seem to resemble the Inca s. Le Guin has stated that this aspect of the world was a deliberate choice intended to counter the blandness of much fantasy fiction. Earthsea, outside of the Kargad lands, is a literate society using a writing system called the "Hardic runes"; the nature of the writing system is uncertain. The name suggests the Germanic Runes , but there are supposed to be at least several thousand runes in use, suggesting a Logographic system similar to Chinese. HISTORY ''The Creation of Éa '' is a 31-stanza poem, the oldest part of Earthsea's oral tradition. It describes how Segoy raised the islands of Earthsea from the Ocean by naming them in the true speech. Little is known of the original inhabitants of Earthsea, but scattered legends suggest that both humans and dragons descend from the same race. The ancient Pelnish lore and Kargad legends suggest that there was an agreement between dragons and humans to separate called the Vedurnan or Verw Nadan. For a time, all of Earthsea was ruled by a dynasty of Great Kings residing on the island-continent of Havnor. This line of rulership was ended by the death of Erreth-Akbe, upon which Earthsea divided into many separate realms and domains. By the time of Ged and the beginning of the series, this state persisted for millennia, though the appearance of a new Great King was prophesied. Some approximate dates in the history of Earthsea are:
MAGIC IN EARTHSEA One of the most distinctive aspects of the Earthsea universe is Le Guin's Magic system. Magic is a central part of life, and magic appears in all parts of Archipelago civilization, from weather workers on ships, fixers who repair boats and buildings, entertainers and court sorcerers, and most important of all, the staff-carrying Wizard s who are trained on Roke . In general, magic is usually the result of inborn talent, and with the exception of witches, mostly restricted to men. Le Guin imagined the magicians of Earthsea as purveyors of an unknown science, and a strong theme of the stories is the connection of power and responsibility. There is often a , is unbalanced and must be resolved or lead to catastrophe. Magic on Earthsea is verbal: All objects have a true name, in an old language related to the Dragon-tongue which is known simply as the Old Speech. By using this language, it is possible to have power over an object or living thing. To protect themselves from this, most characters have two names: one for everyday use and one, the true name, known only to close friends and family. For example, Sparrowhawk (use name) is known as Ged (true name) only to those closest to him. One vital aspect of magic is that it is impossible (for a human) to lie in the old language, so that magic works by forcing the universe to conform to the words spoken by the mage. For example, to say "I am an eagle" in the old language means that the speaker becomes an eagle, so that the statement is no longer false. The consequences of this are dealt with in the most recent Earthsea novel, '' The Other Wind ''. Examples of magic in the Earthsea series include:
THE SCHOOL OF MAGIC ON ROKE ISLAND Roke island is the magical heart of Earthsea and is protected by potent spells and a magical wind and fog that ward off evil. It contains several places of power, such as Roke Knoll and the Immanent Grove . The school of Roke was set up by Elehal and Yahan of Roke, and Medra of Havnor, as a centre of learning against feuding Warlord s who used magicians to do harm. The school rapidly grew in power and influence, until it effectively acted as a central government for the Archipelago. By gathering young people with magical potential and teaching them magic, the school controlled and guided their powers. With the new king, Lebannen, the school has waned in strength. Teaching in the school is carried out by a variety of Masters, each with a speciality:
The position of Finder was abolished by the first Archmage, Halkel, and replaced with that of Chanter, who teaches music and chanted spells. Halkel also banned women from the school. THE WORLD OF THE DEAD – "THE DRY LAND" This was a place where it was always night. Although the sky was filled with stars, they were small, cold, and did not move. The constellations in the sky were not the ones that the people of Earthsea recognise from the living world. People crossed over from the land of the living to the land of the dead by stepping over a low stone wall on the crest of a hilltop. On the other side the souls of the dead wandered, never recognizing or caring for one another. At the bottom of the valley of the dead (known as the dry land) was the dry river, and beyond that lay the mountains of pain, the only way back to the land of the living once one went too far from the wall. It is revealed in '' The Other Wind '' that the world of the dead was a failed attempt by mages to achieve immortality for the Hardic peoples. The mages stole half of the land "west of west" from the dragons as a paradise in which their souls would dwell. When they walled off the land, however, its beauty vanished, it fell under eternal night, and the immortal souls that went there existed without any meaning. In one of the final scenes of the cycle, the wall around the world of the dead is destroyed, freeing the lost souls to rejoin the cycle of death and rebirth. DRAGONS The dragons usually keep to themselves, but sometimes they attack inhabited islands and must be driven back by wizards. In the first book of Earthsea, Ged forces a dragon to promise not to attack people again, because he has guessed the dragon's true name. One connection between Dragons and Wizards is that Dragons speak only in the true tongue, which is also the language of wizardry. Moreover, they are the only beings able to tell lies in it. They have a strange connection to the true tongue, and one Wizard described that they live in it as a fish lives in water. In 'Tehanu: the last book of Earthsea' Ged says that perhaps dragons do not learn the old speech. Rather, it is inherent to them and they simply 'are' the language. Dragons being powerfully magical creatures, this is possible. Only wizards have been shown to be able to defeat dragons. RELIGION IN EARTHSEA The people of the Archipelago do not worship any gods, but there are many references to the "Old Powers" of the Earth, which are beings that have existed since before Segoy raised up the lands. It is revealed in '' Tales From Earthsea '' that once, the women of power (mages) spoke with and learned from the Old Powers, but in Ged's age, they are considered evil. Most of these powers exist in another realm, 'where there are no names'. Ged accidently summons a 'gebbeth', a creature of shadow, in '' A Wizard Of Earthsea '' and defeats it by naming it with his own name. Some of the Old Powers that are present on Earthsea include "The Nameless Ones" in Atuan and the Terrenon in Osskil. Gods are worshipped in the Kargad Lands. The oldest gods are "The Nameless Ones", who are worshipped at "the Place" in Atuan. They watch over a labyrinth beneath "the Place" where no one can safely walk besides the First Priestess and her eunuch. The First Priestess is chosen to serve them when she is five years old. When the girl turns six, she is 'eaten' by the Nameless Ones and becomes Arha, which literally means "The Eaten One". When Arha dies, the other priestesses of "the place" search the land to find a girl who was born the night Arha died. If that baby lives until she is five years old without being blemished by any major illness, she is deemed to be Arha-Reborn and is taken to "the Place" to be the new First Priestess. The last Arha was Tenar , who destroyed the labyrinth with the help of Ged in '' The Tombs Of Atuan '' The Twin-Gods Wuluah and Atwah are said to be sons of the Old Powers. They are warrior-gods and their symbol is a double arrow. Their original place of worship was at the Kargad city of Awabath before it became the seat of the God-Kings. There is a Temple of the God-Brothers at "the place". The God-Kings are actually mortals who rule the Kargad Lands from Awabath. The dynasty began with "priest-kings", but they now consider themselves gods. There is a temple to the God-King at "the place". It is the most opulent temple there. The last God-King was overthrown in a civil war by Thol of Hur-at-Hur and fled to "the place" in Atuan, where he was killed by a priest-eunuch. THE EARTHSEA CANON Short stories
Novels
Chronology The internal chronology of the stories is different from the publication order. It is, with certain uncertainties:
The stories "The Word of Unbinding" and "The Rule of Names" have no clear place in the chronology, and are not entirely consistent with the other stories. Nothing absolutely prevents "The Word of Unbinding" from taking place at any time before ''The Other Wind'', but the differences in magical terminology, the presence of the otherwise unknown "trolls" (whom Le Guin notes "became extinct in Earthsea at some point"), and the character of the evil wizard Voll the Fell suggest that it might be appropriately placed either before the time of Morred, or later, in the Dark Times after the death of Maharion and before the founding of the school on Roke; in either case before "The Finder". "The Rule of Names" apparently takes place some time in (about) the century before ''A Wizard of Earthsea''; Le Guin writes that the main character "must have been on Sattins Island some decades or centuries ''before'' Ged found him.... on the Isle of Pendor". But that could place the story before or after "Darkrose and Diamond," which is "at any time during the last couple of hundred years in Earthsea". "The Rule of Names" has some plot links to ''A Wizard of Earthsea'', while "Darkrose and Diamond" is an entirely independent story, so it may make more sense to read "The Rule of Names" second. "The Bones of the Earth" takes place early in Ged's lifetime, ten years before his apprenticeship to Ogion, and is closely linked to ''A Wizard of Earthsea''. The events in ''Tehanu'' partially overlap those in ''The Farthest Shore'', but nothing would be gained by reading them in reverse order; some parts of ''Tehanu'' assume, or are illuminated by information from ''The Farthest Shore''. EARTHSEA IN OTHER MEDIA Radio A BBC -produced two-hour radio dramatisation of ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' was originally broadcast on Radio 4 on 26 December 1996 . This adaptation was narrated by Dame Judi Dench and used a wide range of actors with different regional and social accents to emphasize the origins of the Earthsea characters (for instance, Estarriol and others from the East Reach were played by actors with Southern Welsh accents). The adaptation was highly praised and was subsequently released on audio cassette. Television The U.S.-based Sci Fi Channel broadcast a three-hour loose adaptation for television of ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' and ''The Tombs of Atuan'' in December 2004 , and was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK in Easter 2005 in two parts. Titled '' Legend Of Earthsea '', even before its transmission it angered Earthsea purists with the announcement that Ged would be played by a Caucasian and with the Dramatis Personae posted on the official website (see Below ), which featured "The Archmagus" and "King Tygath", the definitely non-canonical trio of "Diana", "Penelope", and "Marion", and several references to "Kargide" (not Kargad, Karg, or Kargish) characters. Le Guin was not involved in the production in any way. She did, however, publish the following remarks on her website: I can only admire Mr Anime Studio Ghibli 's new film, '' Gedo Senki - Tales From Earthsea '', will be based in the Earthsea mythology. It will be directed by Gorō Miyazaki , the son of Hayao Miyazaki . Le Guin has continuously rejected Hayao Miyazaki's offer to create a film based on the series, but due to his international success in recent years, Le Guin has granted Miyazaki this privilege. A Poster can be found here . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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