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At first Festin, a strong wizard in his own right, is confident of his power to escape and overcome Voll – but all his attempts are rebuffed more than defeated. Finally, Festin's desperate longing for his beloved countryside makes him transform himself into a fish, swimming in one of the
220:
By now, Festin has realized that the source of Voll's power and invulnerability is that he is already dead, and controls his servants from the world of the dead. The only course left to Festin is The Word of
Unbinding, the uttering of which is tantamount to
243:"The Word of Unbinding" underscores the importance of language to the entire Earthsea mythos. In particular, the use of "word" in the title, along with the use of "names" in "The Rule of Names" solidifies this message in the first two Earthsea stories.
256:
similarly goes into the world of the dead to fight a "dead" enemy threatening the world of the living, and defeats him at the cost of enormous sacrifice (though in that case, of his power rather than his life).
240:'s early stories of the 1960s such as "The Word of Unbinding" and "The Rule of Names" show that she "was an accomplished writer, expressing valuable insights with grace and humour."
205:
named Festin, finds himself imprisoned. Thinking back, he recalls his apprehension at the news that the evil wizard Voll had been marching from island to island, among the
193:", this story conveys Le Guin's initial concepts for the Earthsea realm, including its places and physical manifestation, but not the characters appearing in the novels.
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subduing all in his way, with no one able to understand or fight his magic. Festin determines that Voll must have just reached his island; thus his imprisonment.
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island's cool streams. However, Voll has noticed what happened, and a
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Ursula K. Le Guin Beyond Genre: Fiction for
Children and Adults
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474:(1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers.
372:(1st ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
301:, (New York, Harper & Row, October 1975), foreword.
434:(1st ed.). New York, New York: Harper & Row.
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340:(New York, Harper & Row, October 1975), page 65.
393:(1st ed.). New York, New York: Chelsea House.
1279:Works originally published in Fantastic (magazine)
201:At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, a
1255:
412:(1st ed.). New York, New York: Routledge.
189:, was first introduced. Along with the story "
167:, first published in the January 1964 issue of
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368:Bernardo, Susan M.; Murphy, Graham J. (2006).
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353:(Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984), page 27.
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314:(New York: Chelsea House, 1986), page 186.
183:realm, later made setting of the novel
1136:Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences
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370:Ursula K. Le Guin: A Critical Companion
173:, and reprinted in collections such as
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451:Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination
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327:(New York: Routledge, 2002), page 135.
325:Fantasy: The Liberation of Imagination
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453:(1st ed.). New York: Routledge.
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16:Short story by Ursula K. Le Guin
1152:Unlocking the Air and Other Stories
232:Literary significance and criticism
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1073:The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
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859:Vaster than Empires and More Slow
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1014:Very Far Away from Anywhere Else
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810:The Word for World Is Forest
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941:Annals of the Western Shore
468:Spivack, Charlotte (1984).
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895:Coming of Age in Karhide
818:Four Ways to Forgiveness
275:"The Word of Unbinding"
236:Susan Wood writes that
22:"The Word of Unbinding"
1269:Earthsea short stories
246:The story foreshadows
1274:Fantasy short stories
1233:Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching
1080:The Diary of the Rose
669:The Books of Earthsea
636:The Daughter of Odren
608:The Word of Unbinding
408:Cadden, Mike (2005).
179:. In this story, the
157:The Word of Unbinding
1190:(series) (1988–1999)
1022:The Eye of the Heron
881:The Matter of Seggri
629:Darkrose and Diamond
557:A Wizard of Earthsea
349:Spivack, Charlotte,
186:A Wizard of Earthsea
1038:The Beginning Place
1006:The Lathe of Heaven
888:A Man of the People
845:The Dowry of Angyar
734:Earthsea Revisioned
697:Tales from Earthsea
661:Tales from Earthsea
207:islands of Earthsea
163:by American writer
1264:1964 short stories
1241:Steering the Craft
1046:Always Coming Home
873:The Shobies' Story
573:The Farthest Shore
565:The Tombs of Atuan
323:Mathews, Richard.
279:Internet Book List
249:The Farthest Shore
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351:Ursula K. Le Guin
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312:Ursula K. Le Guin
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191:The Rule of Names
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71:Published in
1209:Non-fiction
1104:Collections
826:The Telling
680:Adaptations
653:Collections
161:short story
66:Publication
28:Short story
1258:Categories
1195:Cat Dreams
721:Characters
284:2011-07-10
261:References
107:Chronology
91:Media type
1030:Malafrena
643:Firelight
622:Dragonfly
520:Works by
252:in which
170:Fantastic
76:Fantastic
1187:Catwings
1096:" (2002)
1089:" (1982)
1082:" (1976)
1075:" (1973)
911:" (1999)
904:" (1996)
897:" (1995)
883:" (1994)
868:" (1974)
861:" (1971)
854:" (1969)
847:" (1964)
751:Hainish
716:Universe
688:Earthsea
645:" (2018)
638:" (2014)
631:" (1999)
624:" (1997)
617:" (1964)
610:" (1964)
540:Earthsea
430:(1975).
181:Earthsea
133:—
116:Earthsea
86:Magazine
56:Genre(s)
46:Language
1054:Lavinia
991:fiction
926:Ansible
919:Related
709:Related
361:Sources
238:Le Guin
223:suicide
159:" is a
136:
60:Fantasy
50:English
38:Country
1244:(1998)
1236:(1997)
1228:(1982)
1220:(1979)
1171:(2003)
1163:(2002)
1155:(1996)
1147:(1994)
1139:(1987)
1131:(1982)
1123:(1976)
1115:(1975)
1057:(2008)
1049:(1985)
1041:(1980)
1033:(1979)
1025:(1978)
1017:(1976)
1009:(1971)
998:Novels
989:Other
977:(2007)
974:Powers
969:(2006)
966:Voices
961:(2004)
950:Novels
876:(1990)
829:(2000)
821:(1995)
813:(1976)
805:(1974)
797:(1969)
789:(1967)
781:(1966)
773:(1966)
762:Novels
737:(1993)
701:(2006)
699:(film)
692:(2004)
672:(2018)
664:(2001)
592:(2001)
584:(1990)
581:Tehanu
576:(1972)
568:(1971)
560:(1968)
549:Novels
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203:wizard
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112:Series
958:Gifts
753:Cycle
215:troll
94:Print
476:ISBN
455:ISBN
436:ISBN
414:ISBN
395:ISBN
374:ISBN
102:1964
726:Ged
254:Ged
30:by
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