Ogion's staff

Ogion's staff is a plain oaken staff, coppershod, that serves as the symbol of the mage's power and authority. It is first introduced when Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, carries it into Ten Alders village to heal the boy Duny after he overspent his power weaving a fog to repel Kargish raiders. The staff is described as a great staff of oak that was as tall as himself, and Ogion carries it lightly, bareheaded, as he walks down from the forests of the higher mountainside. When he enters the smith's house, he does no more than lay his hand on the boy's forehead and touch his lips once, and the boy recovers. The staff is not merely a walking stick; it is a conduit of Ogion's power, and its true nature is revealed when Ged, in his youthful arrogance, opens the Lore-Books and reads a spell of summoning up the spirits of the dead. As he reads, a horror comes over him, and he sees a shapeless clot of shadow darker than the darkness crouching beside the closed door. The door is flung wide, and Ogion enters with a white light flaming about him, a great bright figure, and the oaken staff in his hand burns with a white radiance. The darkness and the whispering cease and are dispelled. This moment establishes the staff as a weapon against the dark, a physical manifestation of the mage's will and the light he commands.

Symbol of Authority and Power

Ogion's staff is a symbol of his authority as a mage, recognized by all who see it. When Ogion and Ged walk down to the Port of Gont, the guards of the City of Gont, seeing the mage, kneel with bared swords and welcome him. They know him and do him honor by the Prince's order and their own will, for ten years ago Ogion had saved the city from earthquake. The staff is part of his presence, and its power is acknowledged even by the Harbormaster, who names a ship bound for the Inmost Sea aboard which Ged might go as passenger. The staff is also a tool of teaching; Ogion uses it to point out a plant called fourfoil, and he tells Ged that to know its true name, one must know its being, which is more than its use. The staff is thus linked to the deep wisdom of the mage, a wisdom that values patience and silence over the mere display of power.

The Staff's Role in Ged's Journey

After Ged's disastrous summoning on Roke Knoll, which looses a shadow that hunts him, he flees to the Court of the Terrenon in Osskil. There, he is tempted by the Lady Serret to touch the Terrenon stone, an Old Power of Earth. He refuses, and when the Lord Benderesk tries to curse Serret, Ged strikes the lord's hands down with his own, saying only one short word. Though he has no staff, his will prevails. Later, when he escapes the Court, he is attacked by dark creatures summoned by the Stone. He stoops and plucks a blade of wild grass that pokes up dry and frail out of the snow where the otak had lain dead. This blade he holds up, and as he speaks aloud to it in the True Speech it lengthens, and thickens, and when he is done he holds a great staff, a wizard's staff, in his hand. No banefire burns red along it when the black, flapping creatures swoop over him and he strikes their wings with it: it blazes only with the white magefire that does not burn but drives away the dark. This staff, made from his anger and a blade of wild grass, is a direct echo of Ogion's staff, a weapon of light against the dark.

The Gift of the Staff

When Ged returns to Gont, broken and transformed into a hawk, Ogion restores him to human form. After Ged tells his tale, Ogion works on a long, rough shaft of yew-wood, carving it with knife and rubbing-stone and spell-craft. Many times he passes his hands along the wood as if seeking any flaw. Often as he works he sings softly. When he is done, he hands the finished staff to Ged, saying, "The Archmage gave you yew-wood, a good choice and I kept to it. I meant the shaft for a long-bow, but it's better this way." This staff is a gift of trust and a tool for the hunt ahead. Ged uses it as a mast for his boat, and it becomes his constant companion. In the final confrontation with the shadow on the Open Sea, Ged's staff, now black yew-wood, all radiance quenched, is grasped in his right hand, and he will not let go of it. After the shadow is named and integrated, Ged stands up erect, holding his staff in his two hands as a warrior holds his long sword. The staff, once a symbol of Ogion's power, has become Ged's own, a testament to his growth and his mastery over the shadow within himself.