Ged (Earthsea)

Ged /ˈɡɛd/, is the true name of a fictional character in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea realm. He is introduced in A Wizard of Earthsea, and plays both main and supporting roles in the subsequent Earthsea novels. In most of the Earthsea books he goes by the Hardic name Sparrowhawk.

Ged is the main protagonist in A Wizard of Earthsea in which he is a serious and arrogant boy who matures into "one of the wisest and most powerful magicians in the land". He has red-brown skin.

At birth Ged was given the child-name Duny. He was born on the island of Gont, as a son of bronze-smith. His mother died before he reached the age of one. As a small boy, Ged had overheard the village witch, his mother's sister, using various words of power to call goats. Ged later used the words without understanding of their meanings, to surprising effect. The witch knew that using words of power effectively without understanding them required innate power, so she endeavored to teach him what little she knew. After learning more from her, he was able to call animals to him. Particularly, he was seen in the company of wild sparrowhawks so often that his "use name" became Sparrowhawk. By the age of twelve, Ged had learned all the village witch could teach him.

When Ged was twelve, the island was attacked by raiders from the nearby Kargad lands. This attack changed Ged's life forever. When the Kargs attacked, Ged, seeing the doom of his village, used two spells to protect his people from the Kargs. The first spell worked, enveloping the village in a fog, which made the Kargs unable to see where the villagers were. The second caused the presence of illusions in the fog. Ged's need to cover a large area in fog, for a long time overspent his strength, leaving him in a semi-conscious state.

The witch was unable to heal Ged, but the island's great wizard, Ogion, had heard the tale of Ged's deed and sought him out. Ogion healed Ged and later returned to perform a naming ceremony for his passage out of childhood where Ogion gave him the "true name" of "Ged". After the naming ceremony, Ogion took Ged as a pupil in the wizardly arts.

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