Runebook

The Runebook is the central repository of written magical knowledge in Earthsea, a collection of ancient tomes that contain the runes, spells, and lore essential to a wizard's education. More than a mere library, it is the physical embodiment of the tradition that connects the spoken magic of the present to the foundational language of creation, the Old Speech. Its pages hold the power to shape reality, but also the peril of unleashing forces beyond a wizard's control, a truth that Ged learns at the cost of his own peace and the life of the Archmage Nemmerle.

Nature and Contents

The Runebook is not a single volume but a collection of ancient lore-books, the most significant of which are kept at the School for Wizards on Roke. These books contain the Six Hundred Runes of Hardic, the written script of the Archipelago's language, which itself has roots in the Old Speech. The study of these runes is the first step toward understanding the true names of things, for the way to the Old Speech starts with the Runes that were written when the islands of the world first were raised up from the sea. The books are very ancient, passed down from master to master, with Ogion having received his from his own master, Heleth Farseer, and Heleth from his master before him, going back into the times of myth. The writing is small and strange, overwritten and interlined by many hands, all of which are now dust. Among these texts are specialized works like the Book of Shaping, which contains the Great Spells of Change, and the Lore-Books that hold the spells of Summoning. The books are not merely instructional; they are potent artifacts in their own right, and the knowledge within them is guarded by the Masters of Roke, who understand the dangers of their misuse.

Use in Magical Training

For a young wizard, the Runebook is the primary tool of formal education. Ged's first winter with Ogion in Re Albi is spent learning to write and read the Six Hundred Runes of Hardic from the Runebook, a task he is very glad to undertake, for without it, no mere rote-learning of charms and spells will give a man true mastery. Later, at the School for Wizards on Roke, the Runebooks are central to advanced study. The Master Namer, Kurremkarmerruk, sits in the Isolate Tower writing down lists of names that must be learned before the ink fades at midnight, leaving the parchment blank again. The students must learn the names of every cape, point, bay, sound, inlet, channel, harbor, shallows, reef, and rock of various islands. The Master Changer gives Ged the Book of Shaping to study, a text that contains the perilous arts of true transformation. The Runebook is thus the curriculum itself, a vast, inexhaustible source of knowledge that a wizard must spend a lifetime learning.

The Peril of Misuse

The Runebook is also a source of immense danger, as its spells can be read without the wisdom to understand their consequences. This is most dramatically illustrated when Ged, driven by pride and a desire to impress the girl Serret, takes down the Lore-Books from Ogion's shelf while his master is out. He looks for a spell of self-transformation but, being slow to read the runes, he stops on a page that bears a spell of summoning up the spirits of the dead. As he reads it, a horror comes over him, and he cannot lift his eyes until he has finished reading all the spell. This act of reading, without understanding the Equilibrium or the price to be paid, directly leads to the loosing of the shadow. The Runebook, in this instance, becomes a gateway to catastrophe, a testament to the fact that knowledge without wisdom is a weapon that turns against its wielder. The Archmage Gensher later confirms this, telling Ged that he used his great power wrongly to work a spell over which he had no control, not knowing how that spell affects the balance of light and dark, life and death, good and evil.

The Runebook and the Old Speech

The ultimate purpose of the Runebook is to provide access to the Old Speech, the language in which things are named with their true names. The Master Namer explains to his pupils that magic consists in the true naming of a thing. The words of the Old Speech lie hidden and changed among the Hardic words of everyday speech. A mage knows many of these words, but there are many more, some lost over the ages, some hidden, and some known only to dragons and to the Old Powers of Earth. The Runebook is the key to this hidden language, the bridge between the mundane world and the realm of true power. It is through the study of the runes that a wizard learns the names that give him power over the elements, over beasts, and over the forces of the world. The Runebook is thus not just a book of spells; it is a lexicon of creation itself, a record of the words that Segoy spoke when he raised the islands of Earthsea from the deeps.

Significance in the Narrative

The Runebook serves as a crucial plot device and a symbol of the central themes of the novel. It represents the allure and the danger of power, the necessity of patience and humility in learning, and the profound responsibility that comes with knowledge. Ged's initial, reckless use of the Runebook sets the entire plot of his hunt for the shadow in motion. His subsequent, more disciplined study of the same books at Roke represents his slow, painful journey toward wisdom. The Runebook is the physical manifestation of the tradition that Ogion, the Masters of Roke, and all true wizards serve. It is the source of the spells that can heal, protect, and create, but also of those that can destroy. In the end, the Runebook is a tool, and its value depends entirely on the wisdom and intent of the one who uses it.