A Wizard of Earthsea

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1968

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 1-2Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “Warriors in the Mist”

This chapter opens as if it is telling the legend of Sparrowhawk, a dragonlord and archmage. The story introduces Ged, the main character, and begins to introduce the world of Earthsea. Ged, whose birthname is Duny, is shown to be proud and powerful as he begins learning simple magic after his natural talents are noticed by his aunt, a village witch. Ged also loves birds, and the children begin to call him Sparrowhawk, a name he retains for the public. Midway through the chapter, Ged’s village is attacked by a warlike tribe from another island. Knowing they cannot win in a fight, only a few people remain in the village. As the tribe approaches, Ged weaves an illusion of thick, ghostly fog, which obscures the village. The tribe is unable to find anyone or anything and leaves in fear. A hero to his small town, Ged has nonetheless drained his strength entirely. Ogion, a powerful but humble wizard from another town appears and helps to heal Ged. Afterward, Ogion bestows Duny with his true name—Ged (until this point, he was known as Duny), and Ged leaves the village with Ogion to learn how to use his latent power and become a wizard himself.

Chapter 2 Summary: “The Shadow”

Ged is frustrated with Ogion’s slow and quiet approach to teaching. He finds joy and freedom in exploring the mountains around the village he and Ogion now live in. While exploring, he meets a witch’s daughter posing as a village girl, who belittles Ged’s skill. Prideful, Ged reads about calling spirits of the dead from a book in Ogion’s collection. Simply reading the words seems to summon a dark energy Ogion arrives just in time to drive off. Ogion understands Ged’s frustration and offers him a choice to either stay with him and continue training at this pace or to go to the school of wizards on the island of Roke. Though he has come to love Ogion, Ged opts to travel to the school for wizards to accelerate his learning. Ged makes the journey on a boat called Shadow, a foreshadowing of Ged’s trials to come. After guiding them through a storm, Ged arrives at the magical island of Roke.

Chapters 1-2 Analysis

These chapters introduce many of the themes that will continue throughout the novel, including the idea of agency and the importance of names. These chapters also introduce readers to the world of Earthsea and foreshadow the shadow that will become the main antagonist of the novel.

In Chapter 2, Ged is allowed to make the choice as to whether he wants to stay with Ogion or go to the school on Roke. Ogion is honest with him, telling Ged “[y]ou are very young to make this choice, but I cannot make it for you” (28). The idea of choice and agency, and the difficulty that comes with being allowed to make one’s own decisions, reoccurs often throughout the novel. This is one of the first such choices Ged makes, and it is one that shapes the entire story.

The importance of names is also central to the novel. This idea is introduced almost immediately; Ogion bestows Ged with his true name and Le Guin begins to explain the power that is held when someone’s real name in known in the world of Earthsea.

The Shadow Ged will spend the latter half of the novel chasing is foreshadowed in these initial chapters as well. The ship Ged takes to Roke is called Shadow, a fact that is not missed by Ogion. It is also in these chapters that Ged first reads about the spell he will eventually use to summon the Shadow, and it shows the spell or the shadow seem to have some power over him even now.

These first chapters also introduce the reader to the sprawling world of Earthsea. The people who live here are dependent on the land, the ocean, and the weather, and magic looms large over them all.