![]() ![]() ![]() The purpose of the wizards' school in Earthsea is to teach one how to use magic without upsetting the balance of the world. There are competing magical forces: not so much between light and darkness, as between the wise and sensible use of magic - and darkness. There are dragons, for whom the ancient tongue is native, but they are not to be trusted: while incapable of lying, they have different conceptions of truth. To know someone's true name is to have power over him or her it is vouchsafed only to those whom one trusts utterly. Earthsea is an imaginary archipelago, the traditional pre-industrial world of children's fantasy literature, but governed by a supremely compelling and simple idea: there is an ancient language of creation, and anyone who has the gift of sorcery and who can speak that language, in which things are given their true, as opposed to arbitrarily phonemic names, can master their physical presence. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |