Ten Alders

Ten Alders is a lonely village high on the mountain of Gont, at the head of the Northward Vale. It is the place where Ged was born and where he lived until the age of thirteen, and it is the setting for the two events that define his early life: his first use of powerful magic to save the village from a Kargish attack, and his naming by the mage Ogion, which marked his passage into manhood and the beginning of his formal training in wizardry.

Identity and Setting

Ten Alders is a small, isolated village perched high on the slopes of Gont Mountain, at the head of the Northward Vale. Below it, the pastures and plowlands of the Vale slope down toward the sea, and other towns lie on the bends of the River Ar. Above the village, only forest rises, ridge behind ridge, to the stone and snow of the heights. The village is home to a few families, including the bronze-smith and his six sons, and the witch who is the sister of Ged's dead mother. The village is poor and simple, with huts and houses straggling along a single street, and its people are goatherds, farmers, and artisans. It is a place where the old ways of life persist, and where the presence of magic is known but not fully understood.

Ged's Childhood and Early Life

Ged was born in Ten Alders, and his mother died before he was a year old. His father, the bronze-smith, was a grim, unspeaking man, and his six older brothers left home one by one, so Ged grew up wild, a "thriving weed," loud, proud, and full of temper. He herded goats on the steep meadows above the river-springs, and when he was strong enough, his father made him work as a smith's boy, at a high cost in blows and whippings. He spent much of his time roaming the forest, swimming in the cold pools of the River Ar, and climbing to the heights above the forest to see the sea. The village was also home to his aunt, the witch, who initially paid him no heed but later became his first teacher in the art of magic.

The Kargish Raid and the Fog-Weaving

When Ged was twelve years old, the Kargad Empire attacked Gont. A band of about a hundred Kargish warriors, white-skinned and yellow-haired, came up the mountain toward Ten Alders. The villagers, only eighteen men and boys, prepared to fight with hunting bows and newly forged spears. Ged, who had worked all night at the forge-bellows, was too exhausted to hold a spear. As a thick white fog rose on the autumn morning, Ged remembered a fogweaving charm taught to him by an old weatherworker. He spoke the charm, interlacing it with a spell of concealment, and the fog closed and thickened over the entire village, hiding the villagers from the Kargs. The Kargs, unable to see their enemies, were led by the villagers up to the High Fall, a cliff's edge, where many of them fell to their deaths. The rest fled in terror. Ged's spell saved the village, but it drained his strength, leaving him speechless and stunned for five days.

The Naming and Departure

After the raid, the story of the boy who wove the fog spread across the Northward Vale and beyond. On the fifth day, a stranger came to Ten Alders: Ogion the Silent, the Mage of Re Albi. He healed Ged with a touch and declared that the boy would not be a common man. Ogion arranged for Ged's naming ceremony, which took place on his thirteenth birthday. The witch took from him his childhood name, Duny, and he walked naked into the cold springs of the River Ar. As he crossed to the far bank, Ogion whispered his true name: Ged. After the feasting, Ogion took Ged away from Ten Alders, and Ged never returned to the village as a permanent resident. The village thus represents his origin, the place where his power was first recognized and where he was given the name that would define his destiny.

Narrative Significance

Ten Alders is the starting point of Ged's journey, the "ordinary world" from which he is called to adventure. It is the place where his innate power first manifests, both in the simple act of calling goats and in the great feat of fog-weaving that saves his people. The village also represents the life he leaves behind—a life of poverty, hard work, and limited horizons. His departure from Ten Alders with Ogion marks the beginning of his formal education in wizardry and his entry into the wider world of Earthsea. The village is also the site of his first encounter with the Kargish people, who will later play a role in his quest for the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. In his later years, Ged remembers Ten Alders with a sense of loss and longing, as a place of simple, known things, a home he can never return to.