A Wizard of Earthsea

by

Ursula K. Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Ged wakes in a large bed upon a stack of mattresses. He is in a large room made of stone. From a nearby window, he can see the wintry moor outside. He is surprised to be alive. As Ged rises from the bed, he realizes that his otak is missing. He calls for it by its true name, but still, it does not come to him—he knows this means it is dead. He wonders what could have happened to it and finds that he cannot remember much about his struggle against the gebbeth. A door opens, and a young woman in fine clothing enters the room. She welcomes the wizard Sparrowhawk to her home.
Ged has no memory of how the encounter with the shadow ended—but without his staff or his otak, he is alone, defenseless, and more lost than ever before. Ged has come to a strange land after taking the circumspect advice of a stranger, and now he is truly on his own.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Ged asks the woman where he is. She tells him that he is at the Court of the Terrenon, ruled by the lord Benderesk, who is the keeper of the precious stone called Terrenon. The woman introduces herself as Serret. She promises Ged that he is safe in their castle—the mighty stone walls will protect him from the thing that drove him here. Here, she tells him, he may find a new and different kind of strength as he heals. Serret takes Ged on a tour of the castle and introduces him to her elderly husband Benderesk. Ged senses something strange about the place and wonders whether he is here by chance or by fate. 
Ged trusted the stranger on Orrimy and he trusted Skiorh upon arriving in Osskil—now, having seen the ill effects of placing his trust in unknown individuals, he takes nothing for granted and adopts an air of suspicion. Ged doesn’t know what has truly brought him here or what this place holds, but he is not willing to be trapped a third time. 
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
As the days pass in the cold, dreary palace, Ged finds himself full of sadness and shame. He feels 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 yet again. He keeps mostly to himself, but occasionally takes walks through the halls with Serret. Soon a friendship grows between them and they talk more and more each day.
Ged feels lost, vulnerable, and ashamed—and it is in this state that Serret seizes upon him and begins to grow closer to him. Ged felt skeptical about the Court of the Terrenon from the moment of his arrival, but now, in the depths of his self-loathing, he allows himself to be charmed by Serret.
Themes
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
One afternoon, Ged asks Serret about the precious stone of Terrenon. Serret offers to show it to him. She leads him up to a high, empty tower and unlocks a large door with a special silver key. Ged stares in amazement as Serret unlocks two more doors in a long, winding hall, breaking through the final door with a whispered enchantment. As Ged peers into the small, dank room she has unlocked, he feels a sickness come over him. He spots the stone of Terrenon: it is rough and unshapen yet it possesses a great, dark power—the power of an “old and terrible spirit” imprisoned within it.
As Serret reveals the stone of Terrenon, Ged knows that he has made a mistake both in coming here and in trusting that he’d be safe within the castle walls. True, the shadow cannot pursue him here—but there is a greater, darker power living here.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Get the entire A Wizard of Earthsea LitChart as a printable PDF.
A Wizard of Earthsea PDF
Serret tells Ged that the stone was made at the beginning of time itself—its infinite power allow it to answer any question asked of it. She invites Ged to ask it anything he wants, but he refuses to do so. Serret asks Ged if he is afraid of the stone, and he admits that he is. The stone, he explains, has the power to work terrible evil. Serret insists she’s touched the stone and spoken to it before, yet she has come to no harm. Serret abruptly leaves the room, and Ged follows her.
Ged proves yet again that he has learned from his past mistakes, as he does not dare go near the stone. He knows that power corrupts: his own search for power, dominion, glory, and greatness and his youth has led him only to ruin. He is not going to make the same mistake twice—but he cannot bring Serret back from the dark territory into which she’s already tread.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Quotes
Ged does not sleep well that night. The next morning, he apologizes to Serret for offending her. Serret explains that there is nothing to be afraid of—she believes that he is the lone individual who can control the stone. The stone itself, she says, prophesized Ged’s arrival. Serret encourages Ged to use what is his for the taking: the power of the stone. Ged insists that the Old Powers are not for the use of men—he believes he is here by chance, not by fate. Serret, however, explains that the man who spoke to him in the streets when he arrived in the north was once a wizard, now a servant of the Terrenon, who brought Ged to the castle. Only darkness, Serret says, can defeat the shadow.
Serret, having failed to lure Ged into using the power of the stone once, now tries a different tactic: she presents the stone as the only thing that can defeat Ged’s shadow. Ged, however, is staunchly opposed to using Old Powers not meant for him. He has seen what destruction dark powers in the hands of the wrong master can do, and he will not fall into his old ways again.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
Quotes
Ged says the only way he can defeat the shadow is to learn its true name. Serret says the stone can reveal that name. Though Serret quietly encourages Ged to give in and approach the stone so that they can rule the land together, Ged stands up and replies that it is light that defeats the dark—not more darkness. He realizes that he has fallen into a trap and is in danger of being bound to the Stone forever.
Ged stands firm against Serret’s tricks, just as he did against the Dragon on the isle of Pendor. Ged is proving himself to be someone deeply attuned to the balance of the universe and the dangers of unchecked power—a far cry from the impetuous, headstrong boy he once was.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
As Benderesk enters the hall, he reprimands Serret for being unable to bend Ged to their will—and the will of the stone. He calls his wife—addressing her as “woman of Gont”—a fool. Benderesk casts a Changing spell on Serret, transforming her into a hideous, sniveling beast. Ged reverses the spell. Serret grabs his hand and pulls him through the halls outside to a courtyard to make their escape before Benderesk unleashes the mysterious Servants of the Stone.
Benderesk, it turns out, has been even more profoundly corrupted by the stone than Serret. Ged attempts to save them both from the horrors that await those who refuse the stone’s power. Ged believes there’s still a way they can both escape the darkness surrounding the keep.
Themes
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Duty and Destiny Theme Icon
Outside, Ged leads Serret through the charmed gate, which is invisible to her, and out onto the moors. Ged at last recognizes Serret as the Gontish village girl, the daughter of the Lord of Re Albi—the girl who initially encouraged him to speak that horrible spell that loosed the shadow. Ged looks around nervously as they emerge onto the moor for any sign of the gebbeth or the shadow itself—instead, he spots the dead body of his otak preserved in the snow.
Ged failed to recognize Serret for who she was during his stay at the keep, though she seemed familiar to him. Ged now realizes that Serret has perhaps always served dark powers—she was able to tempt him once but not twice. Ged’s different reactions to Serret’s two attempts to force him into the use of dark magic show his growth over the course of his harrowing journey.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
Serret urges Ged to change himself quickly—the Servants of the Stone are creeping forward from the castle. Serret transforms into a grey gull and flies away. Instead of changing himself, Ged transforms a blade of grass into a wizard’s staff and uses it to cast a spell that will drive the dark creatures away. Still, the winged creatures continue attacking Ged, while others fly after Serret. Ged transforms himself into a hawk and flies after them. When he catches up with them, he realizes they have already killed Serret. Ged flies out to sea, where the Old Powers, bound to the isle of Osskil, cannot follow him.
Ged cannot save Serret in the end, yet he is able to escape the Court of the Terrenon without succumbing to the fearsome stone or its dark, shadowy servants. By transforming himself into an animal, however, Ged is still dabbling in dark and unrestrained power—yet doing so is by far the lesser of two evils.
Themes
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
Ogion, who has been wandering the forests of Gont for a whole season, returns to his hut in Re Albi. The morning after his return, as he fetches water from a spring, he hears the scream of a hawk—moments later, the hawk alights on his wrist. The hawk looks directly at him. Ogion recognizes the hawk as something he once named. He brings the hawk home and offers it water, but it is too frightened to drink. After speaking a spell and saying Ged’s name aloud, the hawk transforms into a trembling, scarred young man dressed in fine silks. Ogion leads him to a pallet in the corner and helps him to lay down and rest.
Ged flew directly to Ogion’s house, knowing that his old master—whom he sought out before being lured to the Court of the Terrenon—is the only one who can help him. Ogion’s ability to recognize Ged even in hawk form shows that Ogion truly knows, understands, and accepts Ged, and that acceptance is what Ged needs in order to heal and return to himself after so long in a different form.
Themes
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
Ogion knows that great dangers accompany the art of changing—the longer a person stays in their changed form, the greater risk they run of being unable to find their way back to themselves and forgetting their human identities entirely. While in hawk form, Ged’s instincts merged with the instincts of a hawk, and by the time he reached Ogion, he had lost the ability to return himself to his true form. Ogion knows he has saved Ged at the last possible moment.
Le Guin again demonstrates how upsetting the careful balance of the universe—even in dire circumstances—can profoundly threaten one’s well-being. To throw off the world’s equilibrium is to invite in dark forces; to change one’s nature is to risk being lost forever. Le Guin shows how important it is not to lose sight of oneself even in one’s darkest moments.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
In the morning, Ged wakes and apologizes to Ogion. He feels he has returned to him just as he left: as a fool. As snow begins to fall, Ged tells Ogion about the years that have passed since he left Gont, informing him about the battle he wages against his shadow. Ged tells Ogion he fears he has no power against it. Ogion points out the feats Ged has accomplished—but Ged attributes his survival to luck alone.
Ged is feeling low, lost, and full of self-loathing. Ogion, however, sees how much his prentice has grown. Ogion doesn’t want Ged to ignore the accomplishments he’s achieved or lose sight of the fact that he still stands a fighting chance against the forces that haunt him.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Quotes
Ged tells Ogion that he needs the shadow’s true name to defeat it—but he believes it has none. All things, Ogion tells him, have a name, and Ged senses the certainty in Ogion’s voice. Ogion remarks how strange it is that the shadow knew Ged’s true name. Ogion gets lost in thought, but Ged assures his former master he will not stay long enough to bring the shadow to Re Albi—he will soon move on. Ogion warns Ged that there is no safe place in the world, and that he will only make himself more vulnerable by changing shape to try escaping it. Ogion tells Ged the only thing he can do is turn around and seek that which seeks him. He must become the hunter rather than the hunted.
Ged is feeling defeated, hopeless, and useless. He fears he’ll never be able to best the shadow and will spend his life fleeing from it. Ogion, however, has faith in Ged’s ability to best the shadow. More than that, Ogion knows that all Ged needs to do is reframe how he thinks of the shadow—by seeing the shadow as something he pursues rather than the thing which purses him, Ged will be able to find the confidence and strength to outwit it. Things are far from over, Ogion knows, and all is definitely not lost yet.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon
Quotes
Ged, Ogion points out, has already returned to Gont, the place where his journey began—now, he must seek the source of the shadow. Maybe at their third meeting, Ogion suggests, Ged will have the opportunity to defeat it. Ged thanks Ogion for being his “true master.” Ogion gets to work whittling Ged a new staff of yew-wood. Ged, still weary from his ordeal, sits quietly and watches and listens as Ogion forms the staff. At last, the staff is finished. Ged accepts it with gratitude. In the morning, when Ogion wakes, he finds that Ged is already gone. Ged has left Ogion a note which reads only, “Master, I go hunting.”
Ged long rejected Ogion’s sage advice, believing he knew better than the slow, steady old man. Now, however, Ged is immensely grateful for Ogion’s help, wisdom, and generosity. Ged defied Ogion’s advice once before, and he is determined not to make the same mistake twice. As Ged departs Ogion’s hut, he’s full of renewed resolve and the determination to make his master proud.
Themes
Coming of Age Theme Icon
Knowledge and Patience vs. Power and Pride Theme Icon
Identity and the Shadow Self Theme Icon
Cosmic Balance Theme Icon