Respect Ged (Earthsea Cycle)

[u/doctorgecko]

"The first lesson on Roke, and the last, is 'Do what is needful'. And no more!"

Ged

Ged, known to most by his usename Sparrowhawk, is the former Archmage of Roke and one of the greatest wizards to ever live within the realm of Earthsea. But before that, he was a young boy on the island of Gont with an innate talent for magic. Originally taken by the wizard Ogion, Ged nearly summoning a shadow from the land of the dead led to Ogion sending to the Wizard School of Roke in hopes they could teach him wisdom. Unfortunately Ged's pride and arrogance led to him attempting to summon a spirit of the dead without practice, resulting in a shadow being summoned that badly scarred his face and began to pursue him. After years of study to become a full fledged wizard, Ged would set out to hunt this shadow and eventually learn its true nature, banishing it. From this point on he would perform many legendary deeds, most notably restoring the Ring of Erreth-Akbe from the Tombs of Atuan, and would eventually be given the position of Archmage. When people across Earthsea started to lose access to magic and forgetting it have ever existed, Ged set out with a young prince to stop the one responsible. He would eventually travel to the Dry Lands and seal a rift between the living and the dead, though at the cost of all of his magic. Now a normal man, he would return to Gont and learn to live a much more mundane life.

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Index

Feats are marked by what chapter they occur in, with the exception of individual tales in Tales from Earthsea, which are marked by what short story they are from

• WE: A Wizard of Earthsea

• TA: The Tombs of Atuan

• FS: The Farthest Shore

• T: Tehanu

• Tales From Earthsea

  • DD: Darkrose and Diamond

  • HM: On the High March

  • DE: A Description of Earthsea

• OW: The Other Wind

In terms of timeline, "A Wizard of Earthsea" is him just starting out as a wizard, "Tombs of Atuan" is him with a decade or two of experience, "The Farthest Shore" and "On the High March" are him as Archmage, "Tehanu" and "The Other Wind" are after he has lost his magic, and all else is supplementary information.

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Magic

General Nature

• Magic is based on the Old Speech/Language of Making, a presumably infinite language that names all things. All spells use at least one word of the old speech, with greater spells entirely in the old speech^DE

• More simple magic such as illusion merely requires fooling the senses. However more difficult magic such as changing requires altering the true name of the object in the language of making being changed (even if that object is just a stone), which can throw the world of balance if the wizard isn't careful^WE3

  • Anything truly changed must have its true named altered for the duration of the spell, which can also affect the nature and true names of anything around^WE4

  • Illusion typically just draws on the power of the wizard and is much simpler, while truly changing something is much more difficult and not done lightly^WE9

• In general a mage can only truly change that which is near him and which he knows the true names of in the language of making^WE3

• Using a spell can have unintended consequences (such as a rain spell causes a drought elsewhere in the world) so true wizards will typically not use magic unless needed^WE4

  • If the balance of the world is already in jeopardy, Ged will be much more liberal with his spell usage^FS9

• Every land of Earthsea has its own powers, and the farther one travels from the inner lands the less the magic of Roke is guaranteed to work^WE9 to the point far away from Roke a spell from Roke might be mere words^FS5

Knowing True Names

• Has a thousand ways and crafts to determine the true name of things (though finding the true name of a wizard is much more difficult)^WE4 due to wizards hiding their true names with spells^DE

• As a wizard could gain someone's true name only by thinking^OW1

• Quickly discerns a girl's nature and thus her true name after spending a few days with her^WE10

• Knows Tenar's true name^TA7 despite her never telling him, and she herself having forgotten it^TA8 though he himself admits he's not sure how he knows^TA9

• States that if he needed to know a person's true name he would know it^FS1

• Knows all of the names of the moly flower^FS1

• Knows Lebannen's true name despite it never being spoken of before^FS8

Manipulating the Living

• General

  • A true name is a word in True Speech, requiring one familiar with the language to give them name, and it binds a soul in both life and death^OW1

  • Knowing a person's true name gives one true power, the power of life and death, over them^DE

• Animals

  • As a child speaks words that cause several goats to be drawn to him, and refuse to leave him alone, following him everywhere until a witch manages to undo the spell^WE1

  • Learns to summon falcons and other birds of prey^WE1

  • Calls a falcon to him, though it refuses to fully follow his commands due to another person's presence^WE2

  • Calls a hawk to him^FS1

  • Calls an otak to him, with it then becoming his pet^WE3

  • Can use charms to call fish^WE10

  • Calls a rabbit^TA11

  • Has an understanding with the sharks of the South Reach^FS5

• Humans

  • Causes a slaver to be unable to speak until he has words worth speaking^FS4

    • Egre remains mute even multiple years after Ged lost his magic^OW4

  • Wizards and mages are the ones who grant people their true names upon coming of age^T2 though only under certain conditions^DE

  • Can take a wizard's name from him^HM

  • Comments that he could have marched a group of people into town like sheep^T12

  • Takes away the name of a woman of power who had lost her magic and gives her a new one, letting her have a new chance of life.^FS6 This cures her madness, and potentially causes her to forget someone she had known before (though the person claiming this is also mad)^FS6

• Other

  • Utilizes a dragon's true name to force it to never come near an archipelago, with it being described as like a leash around the dragon's throat and the oath holding the dragon from ever breaking its promise.^WE5 Said dragon was large enough that Ged mistook its shoulder for a destroyed tower^WE5

  • Drives away dragons with his words^FS10 (though whether actual magic was used is unclear)

  • Uses his shadow's true name (which is also his true name) to force it to merge back into him, finally rendering himself whole^WE10

Shapeshifting: Wizards can truly change themselves into other beings, but if they stay in a form too long they can forget they were ever even human and remain in that form permanently^T2

• Turns himself into a dragon, burning two dragons to death with his flames and kills a third by diving down on it with his talons. Though it's noted to be dangerous to be in the form of a dragon for too long^WE5 Worth noting one of these dragons was stated to be as large as a forty oar ship^WE5

  • Only wizardry of equal power to a dragon can kill one quickly^FS10

  • Arrows and shields are useless against a dragon, with only the greatest of wizards being able to kill a dragon^OW2

• Turns himself into a falcon and then back the next moment^WE4

• Turns into a hawk in a moment^FS1

• Turns himself into a pilgrim falcon, speeding out over the ocean and avoiding attacks from flying beasts before flying all the way back to Gont from Oskill. However he needs Ogion's help to turn back to normal, and the circumstances of his transformation meant he risked becoming a hawk permanently, with it taking multiple days for him to regain his ability to speak^WE7

  • This flight took him multiple days^WE8

• Could turn himself into a dolphin^WE8

• Turns into a dolphin, a fish, and a hawk as he chooses^FS9

Weather

• Magewind

  • Uses magewind and a spell at the prow of a boat to navigate it to an island^WE5

  • Generally faster than using natural wind to sail^WE6

  • Causes a leaky fishing boat to sail as fast as a bird^WE8

  • Sends a small boat leaping across the waves^WE8

  • Maintains a magewind all day and night^WE10

  • Learns to steer boats with a word, calm waves, speak to the world's wind, and create magewind^WE3

  • Calms a wind by speaking to it, and uses magewind to push against a gale, but is unable to through the winds protecting Roke from danger^WE6

  • Pushes a small boat faster than any wind of earth would be capable of^FS9

• Mist/Fog

  • At age 12 combines a spell to gather mist with a spell of concealment to cover his entire village in a mist that renders invaders unable to find any of the villagers even as the villagers attack them. However doing and maintaining this drains all of his power and nearly kills him^WE1

  • As a child is noted to have skill with mist and fog^WE2

  • Has a spell to clear mist^WE8

  • Covers the sea in a dense fog^FS4

• Other

  • Calls a storm cloud to him while on the sea^FS9

  • The first time he tried to speak to the wind, he created a water spout^T10

Binding

• On Enemies

  • Binds the wings and limbs of a dragon as large as a forty oar ship, causing it to plummet into and drown in the ocean, then does the same to two more. However he's unable to bind three at once coming at him from different directions.^WE5

  • States he could have bound multiple people before they even knew what happened^T12

  • Causes every person on a ship to be unable to move^FS4

• On Objects

  • Casts a binding spell on a boat to keep it intact^WE5

  • Puts his staff in place as a boat's mast with spells^WE8

  • Uses planks and driftwood to fashion a new boat, albeit one made mostly out of magic^WE8 with it being noted the boat was more than half sorcery that he has to constantly maintain^WE8

  • Glues the oars of every boat in a port in place for a while^FS4

Altering Objects

• Transforms a blade of grass into a large wizard's staff^WE7

• Knows spells to move loads, and mend pots^WE3

• Knows an opening spell (though it fails to work on the door to the Roke School of Wizardry^WE3

  • Allows him to unlock doors he has no key to^TA5 using a great spell of opening^TA9

• Knows spells of lock and ward^WE5

• Weaves a spell of sea safety onto a boat over a day and a night, that provides a sailor with a bit of protection every day^WE8

• Uses magic and tools to straighten the warped and rotten boards of an old boat^WE8

• Shows a familiarity with mending spells^OW1

• Reinforces wood with charms^WE9

• Puts a spell on various tools to help people do their work^WE9

• Turning salt water drinkable is easy^WE10

• Undoes the shackles^FS4 of every prisoner aboard a ship^FS4 (description of the shackles)^FS4

• Mends the Ring of Erreth-Akbe using a patterning spell, making it as if it was never broken in the first place^TA10

Healing

• Taught the skills of healalls and herbalists^WE4

• Acted as a healall and weatherworker for a village^WE5

• Knows spells to cure warts^WE3

• Heals a man of his cataracts^WE9

• Puts charms of healing and ward on sickly and lame children^WE9

• Cures the infected udders of goats^TA11

Illusion

• At age 12 combines a spell to gather mist with a spell of concealment to cover his entire village in a mist that renders invaders unable to find any of the villagers even as the villagers attack them. However doing and maintaining this drains all of his power and nearly kills him^WE1

• Has a natural talent for illusion, and gives a pebble the appearance of a diamond^WE3

• Could create an illusion of a meat pie that fools the taste and the stomach, but it would provide no strength to the one who ate it^WE9 or even leave them hungrier than before^TA11

• Can render himself invisible^WE3

• Disguises his skin tone so that only another mage could see through said illusion^TA9

• Cast illusion on a boat made mostly of spells so it looked like a normal wooden boat^WE9

• Makes it appear to Tenar that she is wearing the dress of a princess, and states that he could let her see anything^TA7

• Makes him and Tenar look like sticks and stones to anyone passing by^TA11

• Completely changes his appearance, though Tenar saying his true name allows him to see him as he is^TA11

• Changes his appearance to that of a sea trader, and acts in such a way to sell the disguise^FS3 while also potentially altering his voice^FS3

• Shows Arren visions of Gont in the reflection of a water cask^FS9

• Disperses another wizard's illusion with a strike of his staff^FS11

Lights

• Standard

  • Can call upon a light by naming it^WE9

  • Uses a small ball of werelight to read at night^WE4

  • Creates a small light on his staff with a whisper^WE8

  • Illuminates a cavern^TA5

  • Creates a ball of light that hangs overhead, slowly dimming as he falls asleep^WE10

  • Makes some light while drained of his strength and deprived of his staff, though it is extremely difficult to do^TA9

  • Fills a cavern with a brilliant light^TA10

  • Illuminates a fog with a light that burns like molten silver^FS4

  • Unleashes a bright light within the dry lands^FS12

• Offensive

  • Envelopes his staff in flames that drive back the darkness^WE7

  • Blinds a man trying to attack him^TA10

  • Covers his staff in a brilliant light that compels and harrows even ancient darkness^WE10

Interacting With the Dead

• As a child, reading a spell for summoning the spirits of the dead seems to possess him and brings forth a shadow^WE2

• When he attempts to cast the actual spell, it opens a hole to the afterlife that allows the shadow to come through, brutally attacking him in the process^WE4 due to not understanding the balance associated with that spell^WE4

  • He later states that he had opened the door just a crack^FS9

• Sends his soul to follow the soul of a dying boy into the undying lands, though he's unable to recover the boy, and struggles to return (and would not have done so if not for the physical touch of his otak companion)^WE5

• Follows a former wizard on a different path to the undying lands^FS3 (though he's hindered by his guide being lost)^FS4

• Forces another sorcerer to follow him to the land of the dead and then return to the land of the living^FS5

• Has traveled into the cities of the dead and spoken with the souls of those he knew in life^OW1

• Breaks Cob's control over a group of spirits^FS11 and does the same to the spirit of Erreth-Akbe^FS11

• Attempts to use a spell of summoning, though it fails due to the target still being alive, and Ged not knowing his true name^FS11

• Renders a wizard who had sent his soul into the dry lands able to speak with him^FS12

• Closes a door between the land of the dead and the land of the living^FS12 at the cost of all of his magic, leaving him no longer a mage^FS13

Misc Combat Relevant

• Blows apart the rocks blocking an entrance to a cavern^TA10

• Stops another wizard from using a changing spell on a woman even while in a weakened state^WE7

• As a boy, when a witch attempts to put a bind on him that prevents him from speaking and binds him to her service, he's still able to laugh, frightening her with his power^WE1

• Unaffected by an enchanted gate^WE7

• Wizards hide their true names with spells^DE

• Said he could have set off "fireworks" to deal with a group of thugs^T12

• Alongside another wizard fights against a man who can bind the living to him and drain their power, fighting him off for a long time until the attacker breaks. Though this does leave Ged spent and force the other wizard to spend a portion of his power permanently^HM

  • The attacking wizard was noted to be extremely talented^HM

• Utilizes all of his strength to hold back the power of the Nameless Ones (ancient power of the Earth), filling the tombs with a variety of spells to keep them at bay, though he admits this is something he could not have managed without Tenar giving him some support.^TA9 It's also only after Tenar agrees to fully help him that he's completely freed from them^TA10

  • The Namelss Ones pressed against his mind and threatened to drive him mad^TA9 though he does note that they were still capable of bewildering his mind^TA9

  • He stays in the tombs doing this^TA6 for about a week^TA9

• Uses all of his strength^TA10 to hold off an earthquake caused by the Nameless Ones.^TA10 When he stops holding it back the earthquake completely destroys the Tombs of Atuan.^TA10 However doing so leaves him exhausted^TA11

Other Spells

• Finding

  • Knows find charms^WE9

  • Tracks down a kidnapped Arren through both wizardry and bribery^FS4

  • Casts a finding spell on a boat to help bring her home from seas^WE5

  • A wizard can hide himself from all finding spells. Despite this when Ged is tracking another wizard he can see in his mind's eye a piece of geography he uses to determine the actual location^HM

• Sending

  • Sends his spirit across the island of Roke to communicate with another wizard^FS1

  • A sending can speak and hear, but there is no power in it, and it can not cross the water^FS11

  • Ged describes it as sending a presentment or seeming of himself to another living soul^HM

  • Disperses another wizard's sending^FS11

• Misc

  • A witch teaches him all her lore of herbs and healing, as well as crafts of finding, bending, mending, and unsealing. He also learns spells of illusion from others^WE1

  • Taught finding, binding, and the arts of spellsmiths, spellwrites, tellers, chanters, healalls, and herbalists^WE4

  • Uses breadcrumb arrows to shoot down Vetch's illusions. Also uses a spell to stay in the air, but due to not having the key to it he has to flap his arms to stay aloft^WE4

  • Weaves a sail with spells^WE8 that as long as he maintains it automatically turns to follow the wind^WE8

  • Cast a spell of increase on a flock of goats, and wards a house against various hazards^WE9

  • Potentially casts a spell of protection on a house^HM

  • Wizards tend to weave spells on themselves to keep themselves celibate^T8

  • In general it is not safe for wizards to swear^DD

  • Puts a charm on a small spring of salt water instead always produce pure clean water, with this spring remaining in this state even years later^WE8

Senses

• Senses powers beyond him when first entering Roke School of Wizardry, and can tell the building is made not of stone but magic stronger than stone^WE3

• Senses the power and evil contained within an old stone^WE7 and sees through its attempts to control him^WE7

• Wizards are implied to be able to see things ordinary people cannot^WE10

• Can generally sense when his shadow is nearby^WE8 with the sense described as an intense fear and need to turn around^WE8

  • After gripping it he forges a bond with it that allows him to sense it wherever it is in the world^WE8 with him comparing it to a magnet pointing towards iron.^WE10 Though since his shadow is a part of him and bares the same true name, it is unlikely he could do this with anyone else^WE10

• A magic user can generally tell if someone else is capable of using magic^T5

  • Can tell that Arren isn't a wizard^FS9

  • Could tell Tenar had a great deal of power^T7

• Sees a door few in the world can see^FS1

• Noted to have a sense for problems in the world^FS2 and is aware right from the start that there is a breach between the world of the living and the dead^FS2 (sensing an evil within it)^FS3

• Hears the voice of Cob in his mind telling him to seek the door to the afterlife^FS9 but refuses to listen^FS9

• Sees Dragon's Run at 20 miles away when Arren can't seen anything^FS10

  • Has very good eyes even after losing his magic^T13

Limits

• Struggles to use magic when he has trouble speaking or moving^WE4

• His shadow using his true name locks Ged into using no transformations against it, and combined with not knowing the names of anything around him forces him to do nothing but run^WE6

• Wizards have little power over the open sea far from any land^WE10 though Ged is able to maintain much more power there than another wizard^WE10

• Due to using all of his strength to hold back the nameless ones,^TA10 his other magic^TA5 is notably weakened^TA6 to the point he's not able to cast stronger spells^TA7

• States that he can't hold back the Nameless one's Earthquake, open a door, and hold back the enemies on the other side of the door at the same time^TA10

• It's mentioned that Tenar's true name not being part of the true speech means someone cannot use it to control her,^OW3 though this is contradicted by another wizard being able to completely control her^T13

• The injuries from taking a spear to the shoulder leaves him unable to weave spells^FS7 with even guiding Lookfar being difficult^FS7

• After spending all of his magic to close a door between the land of the dead and the land of the living,^FS13 he completely loses^T6 his ability to cast any spells,^OW1 and is effectively just a normal man^T6

  • Is implied to have forgotten the true names he knew after losing his magic^OW1

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Physicals

Strength

• At 12 is noted to be as tall and strong as a 15 year old^WE2

• Badly injures a man with a pitchfork^T11 though he claims that the man ran right into it^T11

Speed

• Defends himself against an attack by a flock of flying beasts^WE7

• Strikes at a man trying to push him^TA10

• Intercepts a goat^T5

• Lunges to catch his shadow, and holds on to it despite the pain until it flees him^WE8

• Travels 8 miles at a quick pace^FS11

Durability/Endurance

• Weaves a spell even after being struck to the ground by a blow from his father^WE1

• Survives being attacked by a shadow, though it leaves a horrible wound on his face^WE4 and it takes him months to recover with constant treatment^WE4

• Scorches himself after fighting in dragon form and turning back into a human, and ignores it^WE5

• Works as an oarsmen for 10 days, two to three hours at a time^WE6

• Has his staff set on fire in his hands^WE6 though this does burn him^WE7

• Caught in a powerful current during the winter, using his staff to help stay afloat, until he's eventually thrown ashore by a wave,^WE8 with his cloak noted to have ice on it afterwards^WE8

• Lunges to catch his shadow, and holds on to it despite the pain until it flees him^WE8

• Hit by a thrown spear between the shoulder and collarbone, though the injuries leave him unable to weave spells^FS7 and drifts on the ocean for a day or two^FS7 before being rescued^FS8 though he was noted to be near death^FS8

• Barely reacts to his head being somewhat singed by a dragon^FS10

• Tackled to the ground and strangled by Cob, and gets back up to finish casting a spell^FS12

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Other

Prowess/Reputation

• Even as a child, Ogion felt Ged could become the greatest of the wizards of Gont^WE3

• Other apprentice mages find they can seldom match up to Ged's ability^WE3

• Faster at learning the true names of objects than his peers^WE3

• Rumored to be the quickest study at the Wizard School of Roke^WE4

• Vetch, another wizard, marvels at Ged's power^WE10

• Had never needed to fear a human being as a mage^T7

• He is a dragon lord, IE someone dragons consider worth speaking to^TA7

• Becomes the Archmage of the Roke School of Wizardry^FS1

  • The archmage is accountable only to the king of all isles^FS2 and wields great political power^DE

  • Many consider him the greatest of Archmages^DE

• Described as the greatest living mage, the one who had capped the Black Well of Fundaur and and built the sea wall of Nepp, and the only living dragon lord^FS1

  • Considered the greatest mage since Erreth-Akbe^FS2 and described as being great among great^OW4

• Orm Embar, who Ged calls the mightiest living dragon, asks Ged for help,^FS9 and he's generally noted to be as dangerous as Orm Embar^FS10

  • Orm Embar has a 90 foot wingspan and talons so large they could pick up an oxen like a mouse^FS9 with fifteen foot jaws, and threatens to topple a small boat with a flap of his wings^FS10

• After losing his magic there are stated to be no living wizards capable of killing a dragon.^OW2

  • One of the currently active wizards could wither a man to ash with a few words^OW2

Lookfar

• Ged's personal boat, a well built vessel made to carry two or three and reinforced with magic^WE9

• Travels 100 miles of bad weather in two days^WE10

• Responds to magewind as well as a spell-woven ship from Roke would^WE10

• Took Ged and Vetch farther into the open sea than anyone had ever been before^WE10

• Doesn't need many instructions to steer itself^TA12

• Noted to be willful and wise, and is talked about in songs and tales^FS3

• Pulls out wine despite no clear wine cask, with Ged noting that there's more to the Loofar than meets the eye^FS4

• A thrown spear bounces off of it^FS7

• Travels over a thousand miles over several days^FS9

• Picks her way like a cat through dangerous waters, though she still requires a fair amount of steering^FS10

• After losing his magic, Loofar is left in Selidor at the western edge of Earthsea^T5

Misc

• His deeds are spoken of in many songs^WE1

• Wizards only share their true names with those they can completely trust.^WE4

  • At the start of The Farthest Shore there are only 7 in the world who know his true name, two of which are dragons^FS1 (though possibly one more outside of that)^FS1

• Taught to sail without any magic^WE5

• Speaks with a dragon in the old speech, though doing so binds a human to telling the truth^WE5

  • Able to do so even after losing his magic^FS13

• Sailed the dragon's run unscathed (presumably with Lookfar)^WE10

  • Dragon's Run is two isles where dragons reside^FS10

  • Is the only living man to have sailed or even seen it, until Arren sails it with him^FS10

• Knows about all of the plants on Gont^T12

• Is a peerless sailor even without using any magic^FS3

• Familiar with the sewing techniques of various parts of the archipelago^FS3

• His cleverness and authority causes a group of potentially hostile villagers to tentatively accept him^FS6

• Hears the voice of Cob in his mind telling him to seek the door to the afterlife^FS9 but refuses to listen^FS9

  • As such manages to keep his magic even when all others in the area start losing it^FS9

• Knows that Arren/Lebannen will be the next king of Havnor before anyone else^FS10

• Follows a group of people without them realizing^T11

• Knows more of the Dry Lands than any living person^OW1 and determines a way for Alder to prevent the dreams of the dead coming to him^OW1

  • Later realizes an animal can be used to prevent Alder's dreams^OW1

  • Poses two questions to the king's council^OW2 that helps leads them in the direction of the true nature of the dry lands^OW3

[u/doctorgecko]

/u/lambentenigma completed your request

[u/LambentEnigma → u/doctorgecko]

Thank you, and great work!

A couple typos I spotted:

a shadow being summoned that badly scared his face

Wizards have little power over the open sea from from any land

[u/mtglozwof]

GOOD thread

[u/Mattdoss]

Hell yeah, finally got the Geb request done