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The Rule of Names (1964) is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in the April 1964 issue of Fantastic, and reprinted in collections such as The Wind's Twelve Quarters. This story and "The Word of Unbinding" help explain the underpinnings of the world of Earthsea, in particular the importance of true names to magic. Set on the island of Sattins, the concept of naming is central to the curriculum of Palani the schoolteacher. Little else is taught, except the essentials of trade. Sattinsmen are very superstitious. They believe that to explicitly wish a neighbor "Good Morning" will change the weather for the worse; that dragons are fond of eating virgin girls; that two wizards in one town are trouble. Their resident magician is a fat, incompetent man with the nickname "Mister Underhill" (so called because he lives in a cave outside of the village). One day, a stranger from the Archipelago arrives on the island, whom the locals dub Blackbeard. On hearing of Mister Underhill, Blackbeard hires a village lad called Birt to guide him to Underhill's home. Once there, Blackbeard reveals that he is a mage, and a descendant of the pirate lords of Pendor. A dragon had killed the lords and taken their treasure, which Blackbeard desires to reclaim. Rumor has it that the dragon has been defeated by another mage, whom Blackbeard believes to be Mister Underhill, no mere bumbling village sorcerer, but a powerful wizard. Before Birt's very eyes, the two enchanters engage in a magical battle of shape-changing, at the end of which Underhill assumes a dragon's form. However, Blackbeard has a secret weapon. He has somehow learned Underhill's true name, Yevaud. With this, he can lock Underhill in his true form and prevent him from changing shape. Unfortunately for Blackbeard, Underhill also has a secret. He and the dragon are one and the same; he is not a man who had taken dragon shape, but on the contrary a dragon who had been hiding under an assumed human shape, and calling him by his true name simply reinforces his dragon nature. Yevaud devours his surprised opponent. Birt hastily departs the island, taking his love Palani with him. With his false identity revealed, and with his predatory dragon nature reinforced by being called by his true name, Yevaud takes to the sky to wreak havoc on Sattins. In A Wizard of Earthsea, Ged knows this tale as an ancient bit of lore and makes a desperate gamble based on it.
| Preceded by: | Series: |
Followed by: |
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| The Word of Unbinding | Earthsea | A Wizard of Earthsea |
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| Earthsea |
Listed in order written with publication date in parentheses.
"The Word of Unbinding" (1964) • "The Finder" (2001) • "Darkrose and Diamond" (1999) • "The Rule of Names" (1964) • "The Bones of the Earth" (2001) • A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) • The Tombs of Atuan (1971) • "On the High Marsh" (2001) • The Farthest Shore (1972) • Tehanu (1990) • "Dragonfly" (1997) • Tales from Earthsea (coll 2001) •The Other Wind (2001) |
| Hainish Cycle | "Dowry of the Angyar" (1964) • Rocannon's World (1964) • Planet of Exile (1966) • City of Illusions (1967) • The Left Hand of Darkness (1967) • "Winter's King" (1969) • "Vaster Than Empires and More Slow" (1971) • The Dispossessed (1974) • "The Day Before the Revolution" (1974) • The Word for World is Forest (1976) • "The Shobies' Story" (1990) • "Dancing to Ganam" (1993) • "Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea" (1994) • "The Matter of Seggri" (1994) • "Unchosen Love" (1994) • "Solitude" (1994) • Four Ways to Forgiveness (1995) • "Coming of Age in Karhide" (1995) • "Mountain Ways" (1996) • "Old Music and the Slave Women" (1999) • The Telling (2000) |
| Other fiction
(novels bold)
|
The Lathe of Heaven (1971) • The Wind's Twelve Quarters (1975) • Orsinian Tales (1976) • The Eye of the Heron (1978) • Malafrena (1979) • The Beginning Place (1980) • The Compass Rose (1982) • Always Coming Home (1985) • Buffalo Gals, and Other Animal Presences (1987) • Searoad (1991) • A Fisherman of the Inland Sea (1991) • Unlocking the Air and Other Stories (1996) • The Birthday of the World (2002) • Changing Planes (2003) |
| Nonfiction | The Language of the Night (1979) • Dancing at the Edge of the World (1982) • Revisioning Earthsea (1992) • Steering the Craft (1998) • The Wave in the Mind (2004) |
