A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items relating to books & maps

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]

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

Charts

See Maps

Chronicles of Enlad

Book telling the history of Enlad

Related entries: Books

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]

History of the Wise Heroes

History book

Related entries: Books

Lore-books

See Books

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

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

Runebook

See Book of Runes

Runebooks

See Books

Earthsea and its inhabitants were created by Ursula Le Guin, and no infringement of her copyright is intended in this fan site