A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items starting D

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

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

Dance

Dancing, often accompanied by music of drums, pipes, flutes and other instruments, appears to be important throughout Earthsea, with both religious and secular examples. The Long Dance in midsummer is one of the major religious festivals, celebrated widely throughout Earthsea (including by the Children of the Open Sea, though not in the Kargad Lands) with dancing all night long. Dancing on the village green to music provided by bands of itinerant musicians is a common entertainment at parties, such as Nameday celebrations. Courtly and country dancing are both practised in the court at Berila on Enlad. Several ceremonies associated with the worship of the Nameless Ones at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan involve dancing, such as the Ceremonies of the darkness. The existence of dancing girls in Awabath on Karego-At reveals that dancing also has secular applications in Kargad; King Thol is said to have been welcomed to Awabath with dancing in the streets

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; Dreams and Tales, ToA; The Masters of Roke, FS; Orm Embar, FS; Darkrose and Diamond, TfE

Dancers, the

Constellation of the Archipelago

Sources: Mending the Green Pitcher, OW

Dances of the dark of the moon

See Ceremonies of the darkness

Dark Folk

Also known as: Accursed-sorcerers

Kargish pejorative terms for the Hardic people of the Archipelago

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW

Dark land, the

See Dry land

Dark Ones

See Nameless Ones

Dark Pond

Small pond at the top of Semere's high pasture, on the slopes of Gont Mountain, a mile above Re Albi, where, according to the sorceress Ard, the mountain can be read

'It was small, half mud and reeds, with one vague, boggy path to the water, and no tracks on that but goat hoofs. The water was dark, though it lay out under the bright sky and far above the peat soils. … It was absolutely silent. / No wind. No birdcall. No distant lowing or bleating or call of voice. As if all the island had gone still. Not a fly buzzed. / He looked at the dark water. It reflected nothing.'

[The Bones of the Earth, TfE]

Dark Powers

See Old Powers

Dark Time

See Dark Years

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]

Dark Years

Also known as: Dark Time

Chaotic time after the death of Maharion, when warlords ruled in the absence of an acknowledged King of All the Isles and unregulated wizardry caused plagues, famines and other ills. The best historical account of this time is found in the Book of the Dark

'"No commonwealth was left and no justice, only the will of the wealthy. Men of noble houses, merchants, and pirates, any who could hire soldiers and wizards called himself a lord, claiming lands and cities as his property. The warlords made those they conquered slaves, and those they hired were in truth slaves, having only their masters to safeguard them from rival warlords seizing the lands, and sea-pirates raiding the ports, and bands and hordes of lawless, miserable men dispossessed of their living, driven by hunger to raid and rob."'

[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]

Death-related customs

Burial is used both in the Archipelago/Reaches and the Kargad Lands. In the Archipelago, a vigil is held over the body, with words recited, candles and burning of oils. Village witches usually prepare bodies for burial, termed homing; the corpse is laid on the left side, with the knees bent, and a charm bundle is placed in the left hand. The Agnen rune of Ending is inscribed on coffin lids. Family graveyards are mentioned on Gont, both for the farmer Flint and for the Lord of Re Albi; Ogion is buried alone by the Old Mage's House. Rites of Mourning are enacted in Atuan for the deaths of priestesses; the ceremonies of burial and purification for the One Priestess last one lunar month

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; Light under the Hill, ToA; The Dry Land, FS; A Bad Thing, T; Ogion, T

'…with Tenar and the others [Moss] had watched the night by Ogion's body. She had set a wax candle in a glass shade, there in the forest, and had burned sweet oils in a dish of clay; she had said the words that should be said, and done what should be done. …When she had laid out the corpse as it should lie to be buried, on the left side with the knees bent, she had put in the upturned left hand a tiny charm-bundle, something wrapped in soft goatskin and tied with coloured cord.'

[Ogion, T]

Decorative arts

Also known as: Art, Sculpture

Paintings are rarely mentioned in the Archipelago, but many other forms of decoration are described, including carving, engraving, mosaic and inlay work, tapestry and embroidery. A painted silk fan on Gont depicts figures in Havnor City on one side and dragons on the other, and may be related to legends of the Vedurnan. The inner face of the horn door of the School of Wizardry on Roke bears a carving of the Thousand-leaved Tree, and the same motif is carved in the walls and ceiling of the gallery of that school. Morred's High Seat is carved with a flying heron bearing a twig of rowan, and carved window screens are found in the New Palace of Havnor City. Carved bone figures, depicting people and animals, are described as Gontish toys; a carved dolphin in ivory or bone, perhaps from Havnor, is also mentioned. The Ring of Erreth-Akbe, a woman's arm ring said to be old at the time of Morred and Elfarran, is engraved with a wave-like pattern on the outside and nine True Runes on the inside. Coins bear designs, eg ivory counters from Way with the Otter of Shelieth on one face and the Rune of Peace on the reverse. In cities, doorways are often carved with statues, eg the landgate of Gont Port is carved with dragons, and in Hort Town a palace doorway is carved with giant figures described as 'statues whose necks were bowed under the weight of a pediment and whose knot-muscled bodies emerged only partly from the wall, as if they had tried to struggle out of stone into life and had failed partway.'^a The prince's throne room in Berila on Enlad has a great decorative map in mosaic work on the north and west walls, possibly constructed in the days of the kings (800 years ago). The New Palace has a small table 'inlaid with curling patterns of ivory and silver, leaves and blossoms of the rowan tree twined about slender swords'^b which illustrates Lebannen's true & use names. Tapestry hangings and embroidered seat coverings at the New Palace are mentioned, but no details of designs are stated; embroidery also decorates fine clothing for both sexes.

Ships' timbers are often carved in the shape of dragons or serpents, for example, the Shadow has a carving of the Old Serpent of Andrad. Eyes are painted on the prow of Lookfar. An Osskilian ship is described: 'her high bent prow carven and inlaid with disks of loto-shell, her oarport-covers painted red, with the rune Sifl sketched on each in black.'^c

In the Kargad Lands, the murals in the Painted Room of the Labyrinth on Atuan depict 'bird-winged, flightless figures with eyes painted dull red and white'^d, which may represent non-reincarnated spirits of Archipelagan people trapped in the sterile afterlife of the dry land; the date at which they were painted is unknown. Small painted ivory tables are mentioned as part of the treasure of the Hall of the Throne, depicting dancers in the Hall of the Throne; a carved chest of cedar wood there, said to be many hundreds of years old, depicts the One Priestess advising a King. Eight of the stones of the Tombs of Atuan bear 'vague carvings … -- shapes, signs'^e. The silver key of the Treasury of the Tombs has a haft carved as a dragon. Anthil's dress is decorated with seed pearls in a design including the double arrow symbol of the Twin Gods and a crown.

The Children of the Open Sea (raft people) carve wood for idols and decorations to their temple; these include both abstract (eg complex square design above a doorway) and representational (eg doorjambs carved as grey whales sounding) designs. The descriptions of the idols 'dolphin bodies, gulls' wings folded, human faces with staring eyes of shell'^f seem to resemble the pictures in the Painted Room of Atuan. Some adorn their bodies with tatoos

Sources: The Shadow; Hunted, WoE (c); The Wall around the Place (e); The Great Treasure, ToA (d); Hort Town (a); The Children of the Open Sea (f); Selidor, FS; Mice; Hawks; Finding Words; The Dolphin, T; Dragonfly, TfE; Palaces (b); The Dragon Council, OW

Deed of Enlad

Epic telling of the earliest kings and queens of Enlad, before Morred and of his first year on the throne. Partly historical, partly mythical

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

'…the song tells how the mage Morred the White left Havnor in his oarless longship, and coming to the island of Soléa saw Elfarran in the orchards in the spring. … to the sorry end of their love, Morred's death, the ruin of Enlad, the sea-waves vast and bitter, whelming the orchards of Soléa.'

[The Open Sea, WoE]

Related entries: Songs; King of All the Isles

Deed of Erreth-Akbe

Lay recounting the deeds of the mage Erreth-Akbe, sung every year at the Long Dance. It tells of the building of the towers of Havnor City, and of Erreth-Akbe's travels from Ea throughout the Archipelago & the Reaches until he met the dragon Orm on Selidor, and of how the sword of Erreth-Akbe is set atop the highest tower of Havnor

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

'O may I see the earth's bright hearth once more, the white towers of Havnor…'

[The Open Sea, WoE]

Related entries: Songs

Deed of Ged

Song telling of Ged's deeds, probably particularly his defeat of the necromancer Cob. According to this account, Ged attended the crowning of Lebannen and then sailed away in Lookfar never to be heard from again

Sources: The Stone of Pain, FS

Deed of Hode

Song, presumably recounting the deeds of Hode

'Daybreak makes all earth and sea, from shadow brings forth form, driving dream to the dark kingdom.'

[Hunted, WoE]

Related entries: Songs

Deed of Morred

See Deed of the Young King

Deed of the Dragonlords

Also known as: Deed of the Dragonlord

Epic recounting deeds of wizards in the time late during the reigns of the Havnorian kings when raids from dragons were a common danger

Sources: A Description of Earthsea, TfE

Deed of the Young King

Also known as: Deed of Morred, Song of the Young King

Epic telling the story of the reign of Morred, sung annually at the Festival of Sunreturn; the same song is also known as the Deed of Morred. Recounts the love story of Morred & Elfarran, and tells of how Morred battled the Enemy of Morred and drove back the Black Ships

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

'If Elfarran be not my own, I will unsay Segoy's word,
I will unmake the islands, the white waves will whelm all.'

'Praised are the Fountains of Shelieth, the silver harp of the waters,
But blest in my name forever this stream that stanched my thirst!'

[A Description of Earthsea, TfE/Hort Town, FS]

Related entries: Songs

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

Derhemen

Medium-sized island in the northerly West Reach, near Narveduen and Onon

Desi Port

Port town or village in the west of Gont

Sources: Frontispiece map, T

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]

Dice and sticks

A game with dice and sticks is played by the novices at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Possibly the same as a Kargish gambling game using five-sided ivory dice-sticks mentioned; as the dice-sticks are said to be owned by Tosla, a variant may also be played in the Archipelago

Sources: The Wall Around the Place, ToA; Dolphin, OW

Related entries: Games

Disease

Diseases, disorders and injuries mentioned in humans include rickets, hunchback, smallpox (called Witch-Fingers), consumption, wasting fever/wasting cough (possibly tuberculosis), redfever, marsh fever, fever, plague, stroke, scrofula, rheumatism, arthritis, gangrene, cataracts, blindness, detached retina, nearsightedness, hazia-induced nervous disorder, quicksilver (mercury) poisoning, sea sickness, warts, sprains, broken bones, lameness and deformed births; in animals, infected udders (goats), maggot-infected wounds (sheep), spavins (horses), mange (cats, dogs), murrain (the staggers), caked udders and foot/hoof rot (all in cattle), rabies and deformed births; in plants, black rot of vines and tent caterpillar infestation of fruit.

Magic overused or wrongly used can also produce fits or a trance-like condition, as described for Ged in 'Warriors in the Mist', 'The Loosing of the Shadow', 'The Dragon of Pendor' [WoE], Thorion in 'Orm Embar' [FS], and Irioth in 'On the High Marsh' [TfE]. It can also let loose plagues, as occurred two centuries ago on Paln and Semel after a duel of magic, and frequently during the Dark Years

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q; The Dragon of Pendor, WoE; The Wall around the Place, ToA; Light under the Hill, ToA; Finding Words, T; The Master, T; The Finder, TfE; On the High Marsh, TfE; Dragonfly, TfE; Palaces, OW; Dolphin, OW

Division, the

See Vedurnan

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

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

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]

Down Wiss

Coastal village or town in the east of Gont, near Beech Springs, Wiss and Tant

Sources: Frontispiece map, T

Dragon

See Woman of Kemay

Dragon Council

Meeting of the King's Council of Havnor City in around the year 1066, at which Orm Irian speaks of the Vedurnan and the disagreement between dragons and the Archipelagans over the domain called the other wind

'"Councillors! This is a day that will long be told and sung. Your sons' daughters and your daughters' sons will say, 'I am the grandchild of one who was of the Dragon Council!' So honor her whose presence honors us. Hear Orm Irian."'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Dragon of Pendor

See Yevaud

Dragon of Selidor

See Orm Embar

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

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]

Dragons

Also known as: Children of Segoy, People of the West, the Eldest

Vast winged, lizard-like, fire-breathing creatures; they speak the Old Speech. Described by Orm Irian as jealous and irate; dragons obey none and have no king. Very long-lived: some are older than any other living thing; young dragons are thin and black, with little fire-breathing capacity. According to the lore of the Vedurnan, dragons and humans were one people in ancient times; in token of this, one or two dragon-humans are born into each generation. At the time of the Earthsea cycle, dragons are largely confined to the westernmost isles, especially the Dragons' Run; they move between this world and the timeless region west of west, the other wind. At the end of The Other Wind, dragons abandon the earthly realm. Named examples include Kalessin, Orm, Orm Embar, Yevaud (the Dragon of Pendor), Bar Oth, Orm Irian, Ammaud and Tehanu.

Small dragons, around a yard long, live in the mountains on Hur-at-Hur; they have only wing stubs and hiss without speaking. Considered sacred animals, a spring sacrifice is made to them annually at the Place of the Sacrifice. Tiny dragon-lizards called harrekki are found on Iffish in the East Reach

Sources: Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW

'…that the dragon and the dragon's speech are one thing, one being. That a dragon does not learn the Old Speech, but is it."/"As a tern is flight. As a fish is swimming,"''

[Palaces, OW]

Dragon's fire

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

Sources: Lorbanery, FS

Dragons' Run

Also known as: Dragon's Run

Cluster of small, rocky isles in the West Reach largely scattered along an east--west line. It is inhabited by many dragons, including Kalessin. Includes the Keep of Kalessin, an island with sheer basalt cliffs three hundred feet high. The Dragons' Run was sailed by Ged more than twenty years before The Farthest Shore, and by Ged and Lebannen in FS, but not travelled by any other living man

'The water was a maze of blue channels and green shoals, and among these, by hand and word and most vigilant care, he [Ged] and Arren now picked their boat's way, between the rocks and reefs. Some of these lay low, under or half-under the wash of the waves, covered with anemone and barnacle and ribbony seafern; like water-monsters, shelled or sinuous. Others stood up in cliff and pinnacle sheer from the sea, and there were arches and half-arches, carven towers, fantastic shapes of animals, boars' backs and serpents' heads, all huge, deformed, diffuse, as if like writhed half-conscious in the rock. The sea-waves beat on them with a sund like breathing, and they were wet with the bright, bitter spray.'

[The Dragons' Run, FS]

Dragons' Way

A path in the mountains of Hur-at-Hur along which small, flightless dragons crawl annually to the Place of the Sacrifice for the spring sacrifice; it's taboo to set foot on it. Also used as a synonym for the other wind, the realm of dragons

Sources: The Dragon Council, OW; Rejoining, OW

'"It's a path, all smooth dust, made by their bellies crawling along it every year since time began."'

[The Dragon Council, OW]

Dromgan

Farmed islet of the Ninety Isles, lying near Hosk

'the rainy pastures of Dromgan…'

[Hunted, WoE]

Dry land

Also known as: Dark land, the

Waterless spirit region where the spirits of the (human) dead go after death according to the Archipelagan belief system. Described as steep dry hillsides, bounded on one side by a wall of stones and on the other by the high black Mountains of Pain. Nothing grows there, there are no animals, and the heart of the land is a dry river. There are several cities and towns inhabited by spirits of the dead. Overhead the stars are small and unchanging, in constellations called the Door, the One Who Turns, the Sheaf and the Tree, which are not seen in the living lands; there is no moon. Wizards can visit the dry land in spirit, and return over the wall of stones, though they do so only rarely and at great peril; Ged and Lebannen crossed the dry land via the Mountains of Pain.

In The Other Wind, the dry land and the dragon realm of the other wind are equated, with the dragons claiming that the dry land was stolen in ancient times by mages, the Rune Makers, making walls of spells to exclude dragons. At the end of this novel, these spell walls are destroyed, along with their manifestation, the wall of stones; light and life return to the dry land, which is restored to the dragons

Sources: The Dry Land, FS; Mending the Green Pitcher, OW; The Dragon Council, OW; Rejoining, OW

'…there was no passage of time there, where no wind blew and the stars did not move.…/The market places were all empty. There was no buying and selling there, no gaining and spending. Nothing was used, nothing was made. … All those whom they saw -- not many, for the dead are many, but that land is large -- stood still, or moved slowly and with no purpose. None of them bore wounds … No marks of illness were on them. They were whole, and healed. They were healed of pain, and of life. … Quiet were their faces, freed from anger and desire, and there was in their shadowed eyes no hope./ … the mother and the child who had died together, and they were in the dark land together; but the child did not run, nor did it cry, and the mother did not hold it, nor even look at it. And those who had died for love passed each other in the streets.'

'"And envying that freedom, they followed the dragons' way into the west beyond the west. There they claimed part of that realm as their own. A timeless realm, where the self might be forever. But not in the body, as the dragons were. Only in spirit could men be there… So they made a wall which no living body could cross, neither man nor dragon. For they feared the anger of the dragons. And their arts of naming laid 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 the spirit forever./But as the wall was built and the spell laid, the wind ceased to blow, within the wall. The sea withdrew. The springs ceased to run. The mountains of sunrise became the mountains of the night. Those that died came to a dark land, a dry land."'

[The Dry Land, FS/Rejoining, OW]

Related entries: Religion and the afterlife; Immortality

Dry river

A dry river at the heart of the dry land (the lands of the dead)

Sources: The Dry Land, FS

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

Dunnel

Islet near Misk, Set and Wasny, at the northeastern edge of the South Reach

Duny

See Ged

Dyeing

Bright blue or crimson (dragon's fire) dyes are mined on Lorbanery as ores (eg emmel-stone); dye-making on that island is a profession carried out by sorcerers (the Dyers of Lorbanery). Plant-derived dyes of red madder or unspecified yellow are mentioned for domestic dyeing on Gont

Sources: Lorbanery, FS; Hawks, T

Dyers of Lorbanery

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

Sources: Lorbanery, FS

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