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 2: The Masters of Roke
Length: 17 pages, 134 paragraphs
Setting: Roke
Characters introduced: Gamble, the Master Changer, the Master Chanter, the Master Hand, the Master Herbal, the Master Summoner, the Master Windkey
Thus far in our exploration of Earthsea, it has largely felt a discovered world rather than a built one. In A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, the history of the world and its finer rules are painted in like backdrops, painted mountains to give a sense of scale to the action happening in the foreground.
This chapter is the first time Earthsea begins to render those mountains in three dimensions. The notion of the king in Havnor (or lack thereof), names like Erreth-Akbe and Morred and Elfarran, have been present since the outset, but only now do we start to get dates that place the current narrative in relation to those old tales.
I love Gamble’s companionable leg-pulling as he shows Arren around the school.
I find it interesting that Le Guin has most of the masters be doubtful of the danger Sparrowhawk and Arren are going to investigate, right up until Sparrowhawk states his intention to sail directly into it. Up to this point, the masters of Roke have been portrayed as a wiser bunch.
One final note, I keep finding pieces of Tolkien in Earthsea, and I don’t think I’m seeing things. This sequence rather resembles the Council of Elrond.
I’m keeping this post brief. I’ve got some of my own writing to do before bed. Until next time.
chasetriesagain.com 