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Throughout A Wizard of Earthsea, true names symbolize the intense power of being seen, known, and accepted as one truly is—a concept that relates profoundly back to several of the novel’s major themes, including coming of age, identity and the shadow self, and cosmic balance. In the world of Earthsea, individuals are given names just as they are in the real world—but in Earthsea, every living thing, whether it is a human, a plant, an animal, or a mineral, also has a hidden true name that defines its essence. Knowing another’s true name is a powerful thing: true names can be used to summon someone, to bind them to one’s will, or to otherwise control them. It is thus very vulnerable for the characters in the novel to share their true names with one another, yet several characters do just that in order to demonstrate love, trust, and goodwill, such as when Vetch offers Ged his true name (Estarriol) upon departing Roke. Much of the magic Ged and his classmates at the School on Roke learn has to do with divining true names. A thing cannot be changed or transformed without knowledge of its true name. Wizards-in-training spend months at a time studying the true names of every living thing in isolation at a tower far away from the school itself in order to devote themselves to full understanding of how consequential possession of a thing’s true name is.
Whenever someone invokes a thing or a person’s true name, then, it symbolizes that that person or thing’s essence is wholly known to them. Because Ged’s journey is a journey of self-discovery, it is fitting that in order to best the shadow which has pursued him across Earthsea since his school days can only be defeated with its true name. When Ged realizes that the shadow’s true name is Ged—his own name—it shows that he has at last come to understand himself wholly, and that he at last has power over his own destiny. To master a thing’s name is to master the thing itself—and yet all residents of Earthsea are duty-bound to use the true names they learn throughout the course of their life carefully, making sure not to disturb the careful balance of the universe by changing, controlling, or corrupting even a single blade of grass without understanding the consequences. Through the symbol of true names, Le Guin argues that to be a part of the world is to take responsibility for all of it—and to learn a thing’s true name is to learn exactly what one is assuming responsibility for.
True Names Quotes in A Wizard of Earthsea
The A Wizard of Earthsea quotes below all refer to the symbol of True Names. 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 1
Quotes
He crossed to the far bank, shuddering with cold but walking slow and erect as he should through that icy, living water. As he came to the bank Ogion, waiting, reached out his hand and clasping the boy's arm whispered to him his true name: Ged.
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Chapter 3
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“To change this rock into a jewel, you must change its true name. And to do that, my son, even to so small a scrap of the world, is to change the world. […] You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard’s power of Changing and of Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. […] It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow…”
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If the student complained the Master might say nothing, but lengthen the list; or he might say, "He who would be Seamaster must know the true name of every drop of water in the sea."
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Chapter 4
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"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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No one knows a man's true name but himself and his namer. […] If plain men hide their true name from all but a few they love and trust utterly, so much more must wizardly men, being more dangerous, and more endangered. Who knows a man’s name, holds that man's life in his keeping. Thus to Ged, who had lost faith in himself, Vetch had given that gift only a friend can give, the proof of unshaken, unshakable trust.
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Chapter 7
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"I have no strength against the thing," Ged answered.
Ogion shook his head… […] "Strange," he said: "You had strength enough to outspell a sorcerer in his own domain, there in Osskil. You had strength enough to withstand the lures and fend off the attack of the servants of an Old Power of Earth. And at Pendor you had strength enough to stand up to a dragon."
"It was luck I had in Osskil, not strength," Ged replied, and he shivered again as he thought of the dreamlike deathly cold of the Court of the Terrenon. “As for the dragon, I knew his name. The evil thing, the shadow that hunts me, has no name."
“All things have a name," said Ogion.
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Get the entire A Wizard of Earthsea LitChart as a printable PDF.
True Names Symbol Timeline in A Wizard of Earthsea
The timeline below shows where the symbol True Names appears in A Wizard of Earthsea. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...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...
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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...
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...Ogion says he anticipates with excitement the day Duny turns 13 and receives his true name.
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...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...
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Chapter 2
...and nondescript. After four days under Ogion’s tutelage, Ged has not learned a single spell, name, or rune. Sheepishly, Ged asks Ogion when his apprenticeship will begin; Ogion responds that it...
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...learn about even ordinary plants, so that he may one day learn those plants’ true names and true beings. Ged feels like a fool and begins to resent Ogion, but he...
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...to the Old Speech, the ancient language in which all living and inanimate things are named with their true names.
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...Roke—a ship called the Shadow is sailing soon, and though Ogion does not like the name of the vessel, he nonetheless urges Ged to board and to use his skills in...
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Chapter 3
...Ged asks the doormaster for help. The doormaster tells Ged to say his own true name aloud. Though in the world of Earthsea doing such a thing is unheard of unless...
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...not about changing the thing itself. To change an object, one must change its true name: to do that would throw off the balance of the world.
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...Isolate Tower with the Master Namer. There, Ged and his fellow students learn the true names of every geographical feature of the cape. The work is draining and boring, but the...
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...to creatures such as dragons. One must be careful when practicing magic to use true names in order to control, change, or influence only the specific thing named in the spell:...
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...the creature as an otak—similar to a small cat or fox—but he knows its true name is Hoeg. Addressing the creature by its true name, he invites it to follow him...
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Chapter 4
...isles.” If Ged ever needs him, Vetch says, Ged should summon him by his true name: Estarriol. Ged, too, tells Vetch his true name. Ged knows what a meaningful thing it...
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Chapter 5
The Dragon offers to tell Ged the shadow’s name. Ged knows that the Dragon is manipulating him—he is certain that to trust the Dragon...
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Chapter 6
...near, his voice sounds like the voice of a beast. Ged stops and calls Skiorh’s name. When Skiorh turns around, Ged sees that there is no face beneath Skiorh’s hood. Ged...
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Chapter 7
...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...
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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...
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...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...
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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...
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Chapter 9
...no power over it. Vetch, however, optimistically insists that Ged will find a way to name it and conquer it. Vetch asks what it could mean that the shadow has taken...
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...and Ged declares that the greatest power is the power held in a thing’s true name. Ged enjoys talking with the sharp, smart Yarrow, and the two joke and tease each...
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Chapter 10
...whip-smart sister, who is like an uncatchable minnow. Vetch smiles and says that Yarrow’s true name is Kest—“minnow” in the Old Speech.
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...magnet. The two of them occasionally discuss how they might figure out the shadow’s true name, but even after trading stories of great wizards’ remarkable deeds, Ged settles on the idea...
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...creature. As Ged and the shadow come face to face, Ged speaks the shadow’s true name to it: Ged. The shadow says the same thing back. Ged takes hold of his...
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...is true: Ged has not lost or won; he has simply made himself complete by naming the shadow and understanding his “whole true self.” Ged, Vetch knows, cannot be used or...
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