A wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin Gont lies in the North Reach of Archipelago. Ged lives on Gont; he became a famous man, but this tale is about the days before the songs about him were made. He was born as Duny in a small village and he was raised by his aunt who was a witch. She taught him the first lessons in magic. The boy learnt to listen to birds etc. This is the time when he gets his nickname Sparrowhawk.Some years later, the Kargad Empire attacked and Duny saved the village he lived in by creating a fog. This deed interested Ogion, the wizard of Gont. On his 13th birthday, Ogion names him Ged. After that, Ged goes with Ogion to learn magic.But Ogion's way of teaching thi ...view middle of the document...
Changing things is a dangerous matter, because you can disturb the Equilibrium. When Ged goes to the Isolate Tower to learn names, he gets a companion: a rare animal, an otak.Ged studies rapidly; quicker than most others, but Jasper and Vetch are sorcerers before him. He secretly learns things about spirits and when he and Jasper are bullying each other again, he says he'll summon a spirit from the death to demonstrate his power. When he tries to do this, a shadow comes. Ged is seriously injured and the Archmage dies in order to save him. Ged lies ill for quite a while and he's sound again, the new Archmage says he can't leave Roke, because the shadow is out there and Roke is his only protection.Vetch is still his friend after Ged's foolish deed and they tell each other their real names. Vetch' name is Estarriol. At the end of his time in Roke, he has to ask the name of the Doorkeeper to gain his freedom.Ged goes to the Ninety Islands to protect the local men from a dragon, which lives at Pendor. He is afraid to leave the safe Roke, but he also knows that he has to face the truth once. He becomes friends with a local fisherman, Pechvarry. When his child is ill, Ged tries to save it; he even goes beyond normal life for the child's spirit. Ged falls down and if it were not for the otak, he would have been gone. He knows that the shadow has found him and he tries to protect himself by magic. He knows that he is a danger for the islands, so he decides to leave after he has dealt with the dragon. The young ones are no match for him, but the mother is. She offers him the name of the shadow so Ged can control it. But Ged knows that dragons can lie in Old Speech and he knows the dragon's name so he controls it and he makes her promise to stay on Pendor.Ged wants to return to Roke, but the Roke-wind ( which prevents evil from coming to Roke) prevents him from doing so. He goes to another island where he meets a man who advises him to go to the Court of Terrenon on Oskill to "find a sword to fight shadows with". So he goes to Oskill and when he comes there, he meets Skiorh, who tells him the way to the court. But Skiorh is a gebbeth ( a soul which the shadow has possessed ) and it says Ged's real name. Ged runs away and when he hears someone whispering "come" he follows.Ged awakes in the Court of Terrenon. A girl, Serret, is there and she tells him that the master of the court if the wizard Benderesk, her husband. Serret offers him to have a look at the Terrenon, a precious stone. Serret tells Ged that it will answer any question Ged will ask it, but Ged knows it is not safe to ask something to a bounded spirit. Serret keeps asking it, offering that the stone will say the shadow's name and they will b...
