The Rule of NamesEarthsea - Short Story
Ursula K. LeGuin
Various Editions
This is a cute story in the Earthsea tradition. It is the fun tale of a wizard who believes he can conquer another wizard because he has found out his true name. However what he didn't know was that he was not a man but was really a dragon playing at being a man.
Yet from Tehanu & Dragonfly we know that men and dragons were once the same race. It is just that the men forgot they were dragons. The lesson in this story is that knowing the true name of something is important, but knowing the essence, the being is just as important.
Key Notes:
1. I need to photo copy all the Earthsea maps out larger and compare them.
2. Should also map out each of Ged's journeys and compare his travels and points of intersection.
The Books of Earthsea:
A Wizard of Earthsea - 1968
The Tombs of Atuan - 1971
The Farthest Shore - 1972 (Winner of the National Book Award)
Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea - 1990 (Winner of the Nebula Award)
Tales from Earthsea - 2001
The Other Wind - 2001
The Short Stories of Earthsea:
The Word of Unbinding - 1964
The Rule of Names - 1964
Dragonfly - 1997
Darkrose and Diamond - 1999
The Finder - 2001
The Bones of the Earth - 2001
On The High Marsh - 2001
Chronology:
The Word of Unbinding
The Finder
Darkrose and Diamon
The Rule of Names
The Bones of the Earth
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
On the High Marsh
The Farthest Shore
Tehanu
Dragonfly
The Other Wind
Note: The short story "Dragonfly" from Tales from Earthsea is intended to fit in between Tehanu and The Other Wind and, according to Le Guin, is "an important bridge in the series as a whole".
Also check out this great Earthsea site. It should be noted as well that these books have editions in Children's (9-12) Teen, Sci-Fi and adult fiction, It appeals to a very wide audience.
(First written as Journal Reading Notes in 1999.)
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