School for Wizards

The School for Wizards on Roke is the central institution of magical learning in Earthsea, a place of immense power and ancient wisdom where young wizards are trained in the high arts. It is here that Ged, after leaving his master Ogion, undergoes his formal education, but it is also the place where his pride and rivalry lead him to unleash a shadow that will haunt him across the world, an act that costs the life of the Archmage Nemmerle and sets Ged on a path of peril and self-discovery.

Location and Architecture

The School is housed in a great, fortress-like building of mighty grey blocks of stone in the town of Thwil on Roke Island. Its few small windows are higher than the chimneytops of the surrounding houses, giving it an imposing, secretive appearance. The main entrance is a mean little door of wood, but this is a deception: the true door is of ivory without joint or seam, cut from a tooth of the Great Dragon, and its inner face is of polished horn carved with the Thousand-Leaved Tree. The building contains open courts, roofed halls, the Room of Shelves for books of lore, the great Hearth Hall for festivals, and upstairs in the towers and under the roofs, small, sparsely furnished cells where students and Masters sleep. Ged's own cell is in the South Tower, with a window overlooking the steep roofs of Thwil and the sea. The school is surrounded by the Immanent Grove, a mysterious wood that is itself an enchantment, and near it stands Roke Knoll, a green hill whose roots go down to the center of the earth, making all spells strong there.

Governance and the Nine Masters

The School is governed by the Nine Masters of Roke, each a master of a specific art: the Master Windkey, Master Hand, Master Herbal, Master Chanter, Master Changer, Master Summoner, Master Namer, Master Patterner, and the Master Doorkeeper. The Archmage, who is the Warder of the School, is considered the ninth Master, though when a new Archmage is chosen, the nine Masters meet to select him. The Masters are figures of immense authority and wisdom, each embodying a different aspect of magical knowledge. The Master Doorkeeper, for instance, controls entry to the School, testing those who seek to enter by requiring them to speak their true name. The Master Namer, Kurremkarmerruk, lives in the Isolate Tower on the northern cape of Roke, where he teaches the true names of all things, a task that is endless and forms the basis of all true magic. The Master Patterner learns his supreme magery within the Immanent Grove, a place where no spells are worked but which is itself an enchantment.

Curriculum and Training

The curriculum at the School is rigorous and comprehensive, covering both the lesser arts of illusion and the high arts of true wizardry. Students study with the Master Chanter, learning the Deeds of heroes and the Lays of wisdom, beginning with the oldest of all songs, The Creation of Éa. They practice with the Master Windkey in Roke Bay, learning to steer by word, still waves, speak to the wind, and raise the magewind. The Master Herbal teaches the ways and properties of things that grow, while the Master Hand teaches sleight, jugglery, and the lesser arts of Changing. The Master Changer teaches the true Spells of Shaping, explaining how to rename a thing to change it, and the perils of such transformation. The Master Summoner teaches the calling of real energies like light and heat, but warns that to summon up earthly forces is to change the earth of which they are a part, and that the highest spells of summoning spirits are spoken of only with great gravity. The most demanding part of the training is the year spent with the Master Namer in the Isolate Tower, where students must learn the true names of every cape, point, bay, sound, inlet, channel, harbor, shallows, reef, and rock of entire islands, a task that is the foundation of all magic. The Master Namer teaches that magic consists in the true naming of a thing, and that the power to work magic sets the limits of that power, for a mage can control only what is near him and what he can name exactly and wholly.

Key Events and Significance

The School is the setting for several pivotal events in Ged's life. It is here that he first meets his friend Vetch and his rival Jasper, whose mockery and challenge drive Ged to attempt a forbidden spell of summoning on Roke Knoll. This act, born of pride and hate, tears open the fabric of the world and releases a shadow that attacks Ged, an event that leads to the death of the Archmage Nemmerle, who expends all his power to save Ged. The School then becomes a place of refuge and recovery for Ged, but also of shame and isolation, as he must live with the consequences of his act. The new Archmage, Gensher, warns Ged that the shadow waits for him and that he must stay on Roke until he gains strength enough to defend himself. The School's defenses, the Roke-wind and the mighty spell-walls that surround the island, protect Ged from the shadow, but they also become a prison. It is only after years of study and a final test—learning the Master Doorkeeper's name—that Ged is deemed ready to leave the School and take up his first wizardry in Low Torning. The School for Wizards is thus not merely a place of learning but a crucible where Ged's character is tested, his greatest failure occurs, and his long journey toward redemption begins.