O let the Nameless Ones behold the girl given to them, who is verily the one born ever nameless. Let them accept her life and the years of her life until her death, which is also theirs. Let them find her acceptable. Let her be eaten!

The ritual formula of the Remaking, spoken by the High Priestess Thar during the ceremony that transforms the child Tenar into Arha, the Eaten One, the Priestess of the Tombs of Atuan. This prayer formally offers the girl to the Nameless Ones, declaring her life and death to be theirs, and is the central act of a ceremony that strips her of her former identity and binds her to the service of the ancient, dark powers of the Tombs.

The Ritual and Its Context

The prayer is the climax of a long, elaborate ceremony that takes place a year after the child is brought to the Place of the Tombs. The ceremony begins with a procession of priestesses in black robes, four by four, down the vast Hall of the Throne to the empty throne itself. The child, Tenar, is led between two tall priestesses, Thar and Kossil, and is made to climb the steps of the throne alone. On the middle step, she kneels and fits her head into a hollowed block of wood. A figure in white wool, masked, raises a five-foot steel sword over her neck. The drum stops. At the highest point of the swing, a figure in black darts out and stays the sacrificer's arms. This is a ritual enactment of sacrifice, not a real one. After this, a priestess pours a bowl of liquid—likely blood—on the steps beside the child. The child is then dressed in a black robe, hood, and mantle, and is turned to face the throne. It is at this moment that Thar speaks the prayer.

The Words of the Prayer

The prayer is a formal invocation to the Nameless Ones, the ancient, dark powers that the Tombs serve. Thar speaks: "O let the Nameless Ones behold the girl given to them, who is verily the one born ever nameless. Let them accept her life and the years of her life until her death, which is also theirs. Let them find her acceptable. Let her be eaten!" The prayer declares that the child is "the one born ever nameless," a phrase that echoes the central tenet of the Priestess's identity: she is to have no name, to be the Eaten One. The prayer offers her entire life—"the years of her life until her death"—to the Nameless Ones, stating that her death is also theirs. The final line, "Let her be eaten!" is the ritual formula that completes the offering. The other priestesses respond in shrill, trumpet-like voices: "She is eaten! She is eaten!"

The Consequences of the Prayer

The prayer is the moment of transformation. After it is spoken, the child is no longer Tenar. She is Arha, the Eaten One. The prayer is not merely a symbolic act; it is a binding spell that creates a new identity. The child is taken from room to room, temple to temple, in a day-long series of rituals that include having salt placed on her tongue, her hair cut short and washed with oil and scented vinegar, and lying facedown on a slab of black marble while a lament for the dead is sung. She is not allowed to eat or drink all day. At the end of the day, she is put to bed alone in a windowless room in a house that had been locked for years. The prayer has effectively killed the child Tenar and created the Priestess Arha. The prayer's power is such that even the eunuch Manan, her guardian, is reminded that she is no longer the little girl he knew. When he visits her that night and calls her "Tenar," she corrects him: "I am not Tenar anymore." He acknowledges this, calling her "the little Eaten One." The prayer has created a new being, one who belongs to the Nameless Ones and is set apart from all human connection.

The Prayer's Thematic Significance

The prayer is a stark illustration of the power of ritual and naming to create identity. It is a formula of absolute surrender, in which a human life is offered to a dark, impersonal power. The prayer's language is direct and final: "Let her be eaten!" This is not a request for protection or blessing, but a declaration of consumption. The child is to be consumed by the Nameless Ones, her individual self erased. The prayer is the central act of a system that produces a priestess who is nameless, isolated, and bound to a life of service to the Tombs. It is a system that the author, Ursula K. Le Guin, later subverts in the sequel, The Tombs of Atuan, when the Priestess Arha begins to question her role and ultimately helps the wizard Ged escape the Tombs, an act that breaks the power of the prayer and allows her to reclaim her own name and identity. The prayer, therefore, stands as the defining moment of the old order, the ritual that must be undone for the character to achieve freedom.