A Wizard of Earthsea
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Volume 1 of the Earthsea Trilogy
Readability: 7
Main Characters: Sparrowhawk (Ged), Ogion, Jasper, Vetch, Shadow
Setting: Earthsea, a world of numerous islands and vast oceans

"Vetch alone ran forward to his friend. So only he saw the lump of shadow that clung to Ged, tearing at his flesh. It was like a black beast, the size of a young child, though it seemed to swell and shrink; and it had no head or face, only the four taloned paws with which it gripped and tore. "

His mother called him Dunny, but others knew him as Sparrowhawk. His "true name", Ged, however, was known by only a few select people. As a young boy Sparrowhawk exhibited a talent for Wizardry. In time he was admitted to a school for Wizards. While at the school, Sparrowhawk was goaded by an antagonist, into a test of supernatural skill. Sparrowhawk had boasted that he could call back the dead. While trying to call the spirit of Elfarran, a woman who had died a thousand years earlier, Sparrowhawk lifted from somewhere a shapeless mass of darkness, a shadow, whlch tried to destroy him. The shadow was relentless in its efforts to destroy Sparrowhawk. It pursued him in his travels throughout the lands and seas. Eventually Sparrowhawk discovered that the only way he could be free of the shadow's threat was to uncover its true name. By calling it by its name the shadow would be destroyed.

On the open sea Sparrowhawk and shadow met. Aloud and with clarity he spoke the shadow's true name. It was the same as his, Ged.

Questions:

1. What is this story mainly about?


2. What was Sparrowhawk's true name?


3. What kind of school did Sparrowhawk attend?


4. Who was Vetch?


5. What do you think the shadow represented?