A Wizard of Earthsea

5 Pages 1206 Words

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 things disappoints Ged, because Ogion doesn't teach him 'real magic', but he teaches him mostly things about the power of herbs. To hear, one must be silent. When Sparrowhawk goes searching for herbs, he meets a girl who asks him things he hasn't learnt yet, but Sparrowhawk says he can do it. Therefore, he goes to Ogion's books, but Ogion sees him. Since Sparrowhawk says he wants to learn things, Ogion offers to send him to Roke. Sparrowhawk goes with a boat, but the boat gets caught in a storm. The 'captain' wants to go to another island, but Ged says he sees a light on Roke. The others see nothing, but since he came with Ogion they believe him. And indeed they reach Roke.

Ged goes to the school for wizards. To enter, he must say his name ( a man never says his name ), but Ged does so and he can enter. He goes to the Archmage and reads Ogion's letter to him. Later, Ged meets some other students: Jasper and Vetch. He likes Vetch, but he dislikes Jasper.
At the school, Ged learns many things, but his antipathy against Jasper remains. He learns that in order to really change a thing, you have to know its real name ( its name in the Old Speech). Everything has its own name; when you know that name, you have power over it. Changing things is a dangerous matter, because you can disturb the Equi...