A glossary of people, places & objects in Earthsea

Now showing glossary items relating to seas & coasts

Armouth

Coastal area at the mouth of the river Ar in Northward Vale in the east of Gont; in some sources, also a town or village. Hundreds of Kargish invaders were massacred on the beaches here in around 1012

'Farther down the Northward Vale those warriors got their fill of fighting. The towns of the East Forest, from Ovark to the coast, had gathered their men and sent them against the invaders of Gont. Band after band they came down from the hills, and that day and the next the Kargs were harried back down to the beaches above East Port, where they found their ships burnt; so they fought with their backs to the sea till every man of them was killed, and the sands of Armouth were brown with blood until the tide came in.'

[Warriors in the Mist, WoE]

Balatran

See Roads of Balatran

Bay of Havnor

Also known as: Great Bay of Havnor, Havnor Bay

Huge calm bay in the south of Havnor Island, fed by the Onneva river and reached from the Ebavnor Straits via natural portals named the Gates of the Bay. The huge port of Havnor City lies at its north-east

Sources: Voyage, ToA; The Mending of the Green Pitcher, OW; Palaces, OW; The Dragon Council, OW

'…the bay that lies locked in the heart of Havnor…'

[Voyage, ToA]

Bay of Thwil

See Thwil Bay

Closed Sea

Sea south and east of the isle of O containing small rich isles including the Bars of Uny which, in the Dark Years at least, did not trade with the islands of the Inmost Sea

Sources: The Finder, TfE

Ea, Sea of

See Sea of Éa

Ebavnor Straits

Broad channel between Havnor and Ark & Ilien, part of the Inmost Sea, from which Mount Onn is visible in clear weather. A crowded shipping lane, with traders and fishing vessels of all sizes

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; The Finder, TfE

'…the next day passed the northern cape of O and entered the Ebavnor Straits. There they dropped sail and rowed, always with land on either side and always within hail of other ships, great and small, merchants and traders, some bound in from the Outer Reaches with strange cargo after a voyage of years and others that hopped like sparrows from isle to isle of the Inmost Sea.'

[The Shadow, WoE]

Emah

Name used by the Children of the Open Sea (raft people) for the beaches on the Long Dune in the South Reach where they come ashore annually in autumn

Sources: The Children of the Open Sea, FS

Felkway Bay

See Passage of Felkway

Gontish Sea

Sea to the south-west of Gont island, in which lie Oranéa, Barnisk, Torheven and the islet Kameber

Sources: The Shadow, WoE

Great Bay of Havnor

See Bay of Havnor

Gut of Osskil

Sea channel running east--west between the two arms which form the western end of the island of Osskil; around 150 miles in length. Islets called the Gravels lie in its mouth

Havnor Bay

See Bay of Havnor

Inmost Sea

Central sea of the Archipelago between Havnor in the north and Wathort in the south, in which lies Roke, Ark, Ilien, Leng, Vissti, Kamery, Issel and other small islands

'…they entered on the long waves, full of light, of the Inmost Sea.'

[Hort Town, FS]

Jaws of Enlad

Great sea channel to the east of Enlad, running between strings of islets called the North & South Teeth

Sources: The Hawk's Flight, WoE

Long Banks

Coastal region of Sattins island

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Onneva Sands

See Sands of Onneva

Open Sea

The sea bordering all the islands. Unclear whether it stretches infinitely, wraps back (ie, Earthsea is spherical) or terminates in other unknown lands. According to the dragons, there are lands beyond any that humans have sailed to

'…the Open Sea going on past all knowledge; …'

[Sea Dreams, FS]

Related entries: World view

Osskil Sea

Sea between Osskil and Enlad, at the northern edge of the Archipelago, south of the North Reach

Sources: Hunted, WoE; The Hawk's Flight, WoE

'Then as a red sun rose they rowed out on the Osskil Sea, into the northeast winds that blow unhindered from the islandless vastness of the North Reach.'

[Hunted, WoE]

Passage of Felkway

Also known as: Felkway Bay

Channel between the islands of Felkway and O leading to the Ebavnor Straits; also termed Felkway Bay in some sources

Sources: Palaces, OW

Pelnish Sea

Broad sea channel between Paln & Semel to the west and Havnor to the east; it lies north of the Ninety Isles

Sources: The Dragon of Pendor, WoE

Roads of Balatran

Also known as: Balatran

Place where the rafts of the Children of the Open Sea meet and come together in summer for the Long Dance

Sources: The Children of the Open Sea, FS

Roke Bay

See Thwil Bay

Sands of Onneva

Also known as: Onneva Sands

Sandy coastal region in the west of the Bay of Havnor, at the mouth of the Onneva river and under the shoulder of Mount Onn

Sources: Palaces, OW

Sattins Harbor

Main harbour of Sattins island, home to a fishing fleet of around forty vessels

Sources: The Rule of Names, W12Q

Sea of Éa

Also known as: Ea, Sea of

Sea north of Havnor and south of Enlad. The islands of Taon, Ea and Ebéa lie in it, and Soléa before it was engulfed was located there

Thwil Bay

Also known as: Roke Bay, Bay of Thwil

Small bay in the southeast of Roke, backed by the rounded hill of Roke Knoll; location of the harbour town of Thwil. It's said that here 'there's no wind but the wind they want'^a, as the bay is protected by the Roke wind

Sources: The Shadow, WoE; The School for Wizards, WoE; Dragonfly, TfE (a)

Valmouth Bay

Bay in southern Gont on which the port town of Valmouth lies; busy with fishing vessels

Sources: The Dolphin, T; The Master, T

'…the docks and piers of Valmouth on its bay of satiny blue water.'

[The Dolphin, T]

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