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Archmage Nemmerle
After Archmage Nemmerle dies saving Ged from the shadow, Archmage Gensher is elected by the nine Masters of Roke to replace him. Gensher is a wise, thoughtful man who is invested in Ged’s healing and in his future. Despite his great power, Gensher is unable to see what lies before Ged on his adventures—yet as he coaches Ged through his final years on Roke and prepares to help send him out into the world, he cautions Ged never to forget what his hardships have taught him and to always keep an eye out for the temptation of power and glory.
Archmage Gensher Quotes in A Wizard of Earthsea
The A Wizard of Earthsea quotes below are all either spoken by Archmage Gensher or refer to Archmage Gensher. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4 Quotes
"Lord Gensher, I do not know what it was—the thing that came out of the spell and cleaved to me—"
"Nor do I know. It has no name. You have great power inborn in you, and you used that power wrongly, to work a spell over which you had no control, not knowing how that spell affects the balance of light and dark, life and death, good and evil. And you were moved to do this by pride and by hate. Is it any wonder the result was ruin?”
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Chapter 5 Quotes
"There is no comfort in this place," the Archmage had said to Ged on the day he made him wizard, "no fame, no wealth, maybe no risk. Will you go?"
"I will go," Ged had replied; not from obedience only. Since the night on Roke Knoll his desire had turned as much against fame and display as once it had been set on them. Always now he doubted his strength and dreaded the trial of his power. Yet also the talk of dragons drew him with a great curiosity.
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Archmage Gensher Character Timeline in A Wizard of Earthsea
The timeline below shows where the character Archmage Gensher appears in A Wizard of Earthsea. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...of the world wash over him. The moment passes. Ged recognizes the man as the Archmage and approaches him with the letter from Ogion.
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The Warder of Roke is known as the Archmage Nemmerle. A very old man who once trained Ogion when Ogion was a young mage,...
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...just keeping a “rat” in his cloak. The Lord of O, once a pupil of Archmage Nemmerle, has come to the school for a feast with his bride in tow. Vetch,...
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Chapter 4
...Hand—the Master even gives Ged advanced books, though he warns Ged not to tell the Archmage of the private knowledge he’s passing down to him. Ged begins working with the Master...
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...it dissipates, the shadow is gone. Ged is unbreathing and covered in bloody, gaping wounds—the Archmage Nemmerle is standing over him. Nemmerle touches Ged with his staff, and Ged gasps for...
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...fever, but no spell can cool him down. In another room of the school, the Archmage Nemmerle, his power spent after casting out the shadow, lays dying. The other Masters stand...
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The next day, the nine Masters gather to choose the next Archmage—they settle on a wizard called Gensher of Way who lives far away and send a...
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...is covered in white scars, and he has grown terribly thin. Ged goes straight to Archmage Gensher to swear his loyalty toward him—but when he bends the knee, the Archmage, who...
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The Archmage Gensher chides Ged for using his power wrongly and spinning a spell without thinking of...
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...of winter, at which point he returns to the Great House to be made sorcerer. Archmage Gensher accepts Ged’s pledge of loyalty and allows him to study higher magic. Ged finds...
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When Ged turns 18, the Archmage Gensher sends him to study with the Master Patterner in the hidden Immanent Grove. Little...
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Chapter 5
...part of him that thrills at the chance to encounter dragons. Before leaving Roke, the Archmage Gensher warned Ged that a powerful presence which wills his destruction was waiting in the...
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Chapter 7
...he has disappointed all who have taught him so far: the Masters of Roke, the Archmages Gensher and Nemmerle, and Ogion, too. He is embarrassed about running away from his shadow...
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