"The Rule of Names" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

, first published in the April 1964 issue of ''

Fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...

'', and reprinted in collections such as ''

The Wind's Twelve Quarters ''The Wind's Twelve Quarters'' is a collection of short stories by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, named after a line from A. E. Housman's '' A Shropshire Lad'' and first published by Harper & Row in 1975. Described by Le Guin as a retrospectiv ...

''. This story and "

The Word of Unbinding "The Word of Unbinding" is a short story by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, first published in the January 1964 issue of ''Fantastic'', and reprinted in collections such as ''The Wind's Twelve Quarters''. In this story, the Earthsea realm, which ...

" convey Le Guin's initial concepts for the

Earthsea ''The Earthsea Cycle'', also known as ''Earthsea'', is a series of high fantasy books written by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Beginning with ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' (1968), '' The Tombs of Atuan'', (1970) and '' The Farthest Shore'' ...

realm, most importantly its places and physical manifestation, but not most of the characters appearing in the novels, other than the dragon Yevaud. Both stories help explain the underpinnings of the Earthsea realm, in particular the importance of

true name A true name is a name of a thing or being that expresses, or is somehow identical to, its true nature. The notion that language, or some specific sacred language, refers to things by their true names has been central to philosophical study as wel ...

s to

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

Plot summary

Sattins Island (among the

Islands of Earthsea Earthsea is a fictional world originally created by Ursula K. Le Guin for her short story "The Word of Unbinding", published in 1964. Earthsea became the setting for a further six books, beginning with ''A Wizard of Earthsea'', first published in ...

, though this is not mentioned in the original story) contains a rustic village and their resident wizard, nicknamed "Underhill" because he lives in a cave below a hill. Fat, shy, and largely incompetent, Underhill mostly uses simple magic to help the villagers with day-to-day minor medical and agricultural difficulties. Meanwhile, the village's teacher, the pretty Palani, introduces the concept of naming to her schoolchildren: each citizen of Earthsea has one name as a child, which they abandon at puberty in favor of their "truename", but this name must be kept private as it can be used by ill-intentioned magicians to control the individual. One day, a lone handsome stranger from the distant Archipelago arrives on the island. The locals dub him Blackbeard. He hires a village lad called Birt to guide him to Underhill's home. Speaking to Birt, Blackbeard reveals his purpose: he is a powerful magician, searching for the treasure of his ancestors, which was stolen by a dragon. He believes Underhill to be a wizard who defeated the dragon and made off with the treasure. Birt and Blackbeard arrive at Underhill's home. There, Blackbeard confronts Underhill, culminating in a battle in which the two magicians shapeshift into different animals and natural forces. After Underhill transforms into a massive dragon, Blackbeard reveals that he knows Underhill's truename, Yevaud, and that speaking the name will lock Underhill into his true form. This proves effective, but not as Blackbeard expected; Underhill explains that he is in fact the dragon who stole the treasure of Blackbeard's ancestors, and so his true form is indeed that of a dragon. Blackbeard, stunned, is hastily dispatched by Yevaud. Meanwhile, Birt flees the island, taking his love Palani with him. As he does so, Yevaud, embracing his predatory dragon nature, prepares to devour the villagers of Sattins Island. (In ''

A Wizard of Earthsea ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely in ...

'',

Ged The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

knows this tale as an ancient bit of lore and makes a desperate gamble based on it.)Spivack, Charlotte, ''Ursula K. Le Guin'', (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984), page 27.

Literary significance and criticism

Susan Wood points out that it was during the early 1960s when Ursula K. Le Guin was selling stories such as "

" and "The Rule of Names" that she "was an accomplished writer, expressing valuable insights with grace and humour".Wood, Susan, ''Ursula K. Le Guin'', (New York:Chelsea House, 1986), page 186. The story underscores the importance of language to the entire Earthsea cycle. In particular, the use of "names" in the title, along with the use of "word" in "The Word of Unbinding" solidifies this message in the first two Earthsea stories.Mathews, Richard. ''Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination''. (New York: Routledge, 2002), page 135. Specifically, within the Earthsea realm, knowing another man or dragon's true name gives one power over them; as a corollary, sharing one's true name with another is an act showing complete trust. In later parts of the Earthsea cycle, the concept is developed of humans and dragons being akin and having been originally one species, and some persons such as

Tehanu ''Tehanu'' , initially subtitled ''The Last Book of Earthsea'', is a fantasy novel by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin, published by Atheneum in 1990. It is the fourth novel set in the fictional archipelago Earthsea, following almost twenty ...

have a dual human-dragon nature. However, there is no hint of that in this early story. Yevaud had turned himself into a human being for the purpose of hiding, as

turned into a bird in ''

'' and Festin into a fish in "The Word of Unbinding", and there is no suggestion that being human was in any way an inherent nature for him.

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rule Of Names, The 1964 short stories Earthsea short stories Fantasy short stories Works originally published in Fantastic (magazine)