In this series, I’ll be working my way through Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea works and analyzing her prose chapter by chapter. Spoilers follow.
Chapter 5: Light Under the Hill
Length: 12 pages, 66 paragraphs
Setting: The Place of the Tombs
Characters introduced: The sorcerer
I got a bit ahead of myself in last night’s post. It isn’t until Thar’s illness and death at the beginning of this chapter that Arha begins to embrace her domain and the freedom she has in the Undertomb and the Labyrinth and the Hall of the Throne.
The Place of the Tombs is a character in its own right. I love the exploration of the Hall of the Throne and the forgotten and neglected treasures there. Whatever the Nameless Ones were to the people of the Kargad Lands, they aren’t now, and there’s starting to be a sense that the tradition of the Arha is more about keeping those ancient powers happy than any reverence for them.
I also like the careful way that Le Guin expands Arha’s horizons. She sees in Penthe that some people aren’t concerned with the gods worshiped at the Place of the Tombs at all. Even a priestess can experience this unfaith. Then Arha recognizes that same unfaith in Kossil. Kossil relishes power and her devotion to the Godking is rooted in the access to power her service can give her.
We meet the stranger in the Undertomb in this chapter, and if it wasn’t clear already, it becomes clear that Arha is racked with guilt about the horrible deaths she forced upon her first prisoners. When she first sees the light in the Undertomb, she marvels at the natural beauty of the caverns. Panic doesn’t really set in until she sees the graves of the prisoners left there in the dark.
That’s all the gas I’ve got left for tonight. More tomorrow. Until next time!
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