A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items relating to mythological figures

Andaur

A woodcutter in the Gontish tale, the story of Andaur and Avad, who cut down a great oak which cried out in a human voice

Sources: Finding Words, T

Atwah

Titles: Twin God, God-Brother

One of the Twin Gods, Warrior Gods of the Kargad Lands; said to be sons of the Old Powers of the Earth. Brother of Wuluah

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; Rejoining, OW

Avad

Character in the Gontish tale, the story of Andaur and Avad, about a woodcutter, Andaur, who cut down a great oak which cried out in a human voice

Sources: Finding Words, T

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]

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

Gebbeth

Human being possessed by a dark force to become a puppet, whose body is only a shell. An example is Skiorh, who was possessed by the shadow-beast on Osskil

'The body of a gebbeth has been drained of true substance and is something like a shell or a vapour in the form of a man, an unreal flesh clothing the shadow which is real.'

[Hunted, WoE]

God-Brothers

See Twin Gods

Hama Gondun

Also known as: Woman on Gont, a

'Hama Gondun!' ('a woman on Gont') is a prophecy spoken in Kargish by Azver the Patterner during the council of the Masters of Roke in around 1051 to choose an Archmage to succeed Ged. At the time the prophecy is made, it is thought that the woman would guide them to the new Archmage. Azver later identifies Tehanu as the woman of the prophecy, which proves instead to refer to the Vedurnan

Sources: The Dolphin, T; Dragonfly, TfE; Rejoining, OW

Segoy

Titles: Eldest Lord, Doorkeeper, Maker

The creator of Earthsea, whose First Word balanced dark and light, and established the lands amidst the seas: the Making, as recounted in the Creation of Éa. All peoples of Earthsea appear to share this belief, including those of the Kargad Lands & the Children of the Open Sea. Tehanu calls the dragon Kalessin Segoy

Sources: Orm Embar, FS; Tehanu, T; Rejoining, OW

'Among all beings ever returning, the eldest, the Doorkeeper, Segoy'

[A Description of Earthsea, TfE]

Shadow-beast

Also known as: Shadow, gebbeth

The dark creature released by Ged has various manifestations, a beast shape [The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE], a dark shapeless shadow [The Dragon of Pendor], the Skiorh gebbeth [Hunted], a shadow with some human likeness [Hunter], Ged's form casting no shadow [Iffish], various humans, a winged monster [The Open Sea]. Gensher of Way believed it had no name, while Ogion counselled that '"All things have a name"'^a, and Yevaud, the Dragon of Pendor & the Stone of Terrenon both offered to give Ged its name. Ged eventually defeats it in the furthest east by naming it with his own name, and joining with it

Sources: The Loosing of the Shadow, WoE; The Dragon of Pendor, WoE; Hunted; WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE (a); Hunter, WoE; Iffish, WoE; The Open Sea, WoE

'Light and darkness met, and joined, and were one. … "The wound is healed," he said, "I am whole, I am free." … Ged had neither lost nor won but, naming the shadow of his death with his own name, had made himself whole: a man: who, knowing his whole true self, cannot be used or possessed by any power other than himself, and whose life therefore is lived for life's sake and never in the service of ruin, or pain, or hatred, or the dark.'

[The Open Sea, WoE]

Twin Gods

Also known as: God-Brothers, Warrior Gods, White God-Brothers

Warrior Gods of the Kargad Lands, Wuluah and Atwah; said to be sons of the Old Powers of the Earth. Their worship is centuries older than the worship of the Godking. Their original centre of worship was Awabath; there is a Temple of the God-Brothers at the Place of the Tombs on Atuan. Symbol is the double arrow

Sources: Warriors in the Mist, WoE; Hunting, WoE; The Wall around the Place, ToA; A Description of Earthsea, TfE; Rejoining, OW

Warrior Gods

See Twin Gods

Woman on Gont, a

See Hama Gondun

Wuluah

Titles: Twin God, God-Brother

One of the Twin Gods, Warrior Gods of the Kargad Lands; said to be sons of the Old Powers of the Earth. Brother of Atwah. Thol claims descent from Wuluah

Sources: The Wall around the Place, ToA; Rejoining, OW

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