Atnini

Atnini is one of the four great lands that constitute the Kargad Empire, lying between the Northern and Eastern Reaches. The Kargad Empire, which also includes Karego-At, Atuan, and Hur-at-Hur, is a savage and fierce people, white-skinned, yellow-haired, and fond of bloodshed and burning towns. The tongue they speak is not like any spoken in the Archipelago or the other Reaches. In the days of Ged's youth, the Kargad Empire was strong, and its warriors raided the islands of the Archipelago, attacking the Torikles and Torheven, and sacking Spevy, before sailing to Gont in a host of thirty great longships. The Kargish war-cry, shouted by the warriors as they fought in the mist at Ten Alders, was the names of the White Godbrothers of Atuan: "Wuluah! Atwah!"

The Language and People of Atnini

The language of the Kargad lands, including Atnini, is distinct from the Hardic tongue of the Archipelago. When Ged, shipwrecked on a nameless isle in the East Reach, tried to communicate with the old man and woman who lived there, he found they did not understand Hardic. He asked, "Kargad?" and the old man nodded, but that was the only word Ged knew of the Kargish language, so their conversation ended. The old woman, who had been a princess of the Kargad Empire, later showed Ged a little child's dress of silk brocade stiff with seed-pearls, stained with salt and yellow with years, on which the pearls were worked in the shape of the double arrow of the God-Brothers of the Kargad Empire, surmounted by a king's crown. This dress, and the broken ring she gave him, confirmed that she and the old man were castaways from a royal house of the Kargad Empire, likely sent to die on an uncharted islet far from Karego-At.

The Kargish Raids and the Archipelagan View

The Kargad Empire, including Atnini, is presented from the perspective of the Archipelagans as a savage and warlike people. The Kargish raiders who attacked Gont were described as white-skinned, yellow-haired, and fierce, liking the sight of blood and the smell of burning towns. They were armed with bronze helmets, greaves, breastplates of heavy leather, shields of wood and bronze, and the long Kargish lance. The raid on Ten Alders was a brutal affair, with the Kargs setting fire to thatch, slaughtering cattle and men, and burning fields and orchards. The Archipelagan view of the Kargs is also reflected in the later description of the Kargish people as "white barbaric folk" when Ged sails near Karego-At. The author, Ursula K. Le Guin, later noted that she was "bucking the racist tradition" by making the Archipelagans various shades of copper and brown, while the light-skinned people, like the Kargish raiders and Serret, were often the antagonists.

The Significance of Atnini in the Narrative

Atnini, as part of the Kargad Empire, serves as a foreign and hostile other to the Archipelago. The Kargish language is a barrier to communication, and the Kargish people are depicted as a threat to the peace of the Archipelago. The nameless isle castaways, who were from a royal house of the Kargad Empire, represent the tragic human cost of the Kargish political system, where a tyrant or usurper could send a prince and princess to die on a barren rock. The broken ring the old woman gave Ged later became significant in his quest for the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, which led him to the Tombs of Atuan. Thus, Atnini, though barely described, is a key part of the world-building that establishes the cultural and political divisions of Earthsea.