A Wizard of Earthsea: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

The island of Gont in the Northeast Sea of the Earthsea Archipelago is a land famous for its wizards. The greatest, bravest, and most famous of all these wizards, according to many, was the wizard Sparrowhawk, who was also known as Ged. Before he was either Ged or Sparrowhawk, however, this young Gontish boy was known as Duny. The last of six children, Duny’s mother died shortly after his birth. Duny had a “wild” childhood adventuring through Gont’s forests and cliffs.

One day, when Duny is a boy of seven, he hears his mother’s sister—a local witch and herbalist—command a herd of goats by crying out a rhyme to them. The next day, Duny repeats the charm to the herd. As the goats slowly, as if in a trace, march toward him, Duny finds himself both mesmerized and terrified by his ability to command the beasts.

As the goats come closer and closer, Duny tries to run away from the herd, but they follow him through the village. Hearing the commotion, Duny’s aunt emerges from her hut and speaks a single word to the goats. They are released from the spell. Duny’s aunt calls him into her dark hut, which is fragrant with the herbs the woman uses in her healing spells. Duny’s aunt sees the “makings of power” in her nephew and offers to teach him more spells—provided he doesn’t share them with the other children. Duny promises to keep the knowledge hidden. It is an easy promise for him to make, as he likes to “know and do what they [know] not and [can] not.”

To make sure Duny follows her directive, Duny’s aunt creates a spell that will bind his tongue until she permits him to speak, and that will even then keep him from sharing what she’s taught him with another. Duny’s aunt starts a ritual fire, feeding it with leaves and herbs as she chants songs in a language Duny does not recognize. When the witch tests her spell, Duny is still able to laugh. She realizes that young though he is, he must be extremely powerful to make any noise in the face of the strongest spell she knows how to weave. Duny’s aunt douses the fire, allows Duny to speak, and begins teaching him the animals’ true names—the names to which they must come when called. This is the first step of Duny’s life as a mage, or wizard.

Soon, Duny can call birds out of the sky with ease. He is so hungry for the knowledge his aunt possesses that he does anything she asks of him. Duny has reverence for what his aunt teaches him, but being a simple country witch, she knows little of “the Balance […] which the true wizard knows and serves.” Duny’s aunt teaches him small spells and charms for every circumstance. Duny takes pleasure in being able to control the animals around him, and, by the time he is 12, he knows a good deal about herbals, healing, mending, finding, and binding. He has studied the lore his aunt has taught him about the great deeds of great wizards, and he has even begun to dabble in the powers of illusion.

The narrator describes the strong and powerful Kargad Empire, rulers of four great lands in the Earthsea archipelago. The Kargs are “savage” people with white skin and yellow hair—as opposed to the people of Gont, who are dark-skinned—and they sail the Archipelago ransacking towns and conquering all they can. The people of Gont have heard that the Kargs recently raided lands just south of them, but as an insular community, they care little for the struggles of other isles. One night, though, the people of Gont can see the fires of a nearby island being raided—some hurry to flee into the forest while others prepare to make a stand against the Kargads. Duny helps his father, a bronze-smith, prepare through the night by building as many weapons as fast as he can.

In the foggy morning, as Duny prepares to fight alongside the other Gontish men, he is scared. He knows he has no physical strength. Though there is power in him, he does not have the knowledge to set that power free. He laments that he will soon die in battle before he can achieve any of his dreams of greatness. As the Kargs approach, Duny suddenly thinks of a spell that might help his people: a fogweaving charm that binds the mists together and allows one to shape the fog into illusory ghosts.

Thinking quickly, Duny changes the spell to suit his needs: he names aloud the boundaries of the village, then speaks the charm, adding to its words a spell of concealment. His father urges him to be quiet as the Kargs approach—but he explains to his father that he’s hidden their village from the Kargs, buying them all time to escape. Duny’s father heeds his son’s words.

The villagers attack the Kargs through the fog, leaving the Kargs confused and wounded. Though the Kargs attempt to charge through the fog, they are distracted and frightened by the fleeting fog-ghosts Duny has conjured. They turn tail and run for their ships. Though the Gontish people suffer some losses, their village is by and large safe. Duny is hailed as a hero—yet something has come over him in the wake of the battle, and he seems unable to hear or speak. His aunt assesses him and tells the others that he has overspent his power—she can do nothing to help him. Duny spends several days recovering, and on the fifth day, a cloaked stranger wielding a staff comes to town. The man, a wizard, visits Duny and heals him with a simple touch.

The wizard, who is called Ogion the Silent, announces that the tales of Duny’s deed with the fog have reached his home of Re Albi, on the southern side of the island, where he is Mage. Duny’s father knows that Ogion wants to take Duny away and train him, but he begs the wizard to let Duny spend his 13th birthday—his “Passage” into adulthood—at home. Ogion vows to return for the boy after the winter has passed and keep him as prentice, or apprentice. Ogion says he anticipates with excitement the day Duny turns 13 and receives his true name.

On Duny’s 13th birthday, he takes a ritual dip in the cold river Ar just outside the village. On the near bank, his aunt takes his name from him. On the far bank, as the boy emerges from the river, he finds that Ogion is there to receive him. Ogion gives the boy his true name: Ged. That evening, as the feast of the Sunreturn carries on, Ogion bids Ged to follow him—it is time to leave the village and head for Re Albi, far away across the isle of Gont. Ged gathers his few possessions, says farewell to his people, and sets off with his new master.