The Tombs of Atuan

Ursula Le Guin

1974

In the North East of Earthsea lay the lands of the Kargad Empire. For many years the power of the Empire had grown as the Inner Lands waned. The Kargad peoples were now under the rule of the God Emperor who had his temple on the land of Atuan but there was a darker temple that was greater than his; the Temple of the Old Ones whose priestess was Arhe, the Eaten One, constantly reborn to be High Priestess.

Now, the High Priestess was guardian of the Under Tombs and the Labyrinth that contained the treasury of the Old Ones. Over the centuries, men had come from the barbarian Inner Lands, sorcerers and wizards all, to Atuan in failed attempts to penetrate the Labyrinth for it was told that there was a great treasure there. Greater, indeed, than the piles of gold and jewels that were piled in the Treasury, but why these barbarians would want the corroded broken remains of a ring the women of the Temples were unable to say.

One day, in her explorations of the Labyrinth, Arhe was startled to be faced with the sight of light in the most holy place. Some one had lit a light in an area were light was strictly forbidden. When she forced herself to face the intruder she found herself face-to-face with one of those dark-skinned barbarians. It was difficult to know who was the most shocked as the Under Tombs were dropped back into the depths of dark. In the ensuing chase, the strange man (would the indignities never end?) was forced into the Labyrinth and Arhe closed him in.

Over the weeks that followed, Arhe taunted her prisoner as she led him from room to room in the maze. Giving him just enough to keep him alive, she learns of the missing rune of peace and the history of the missing half of the ring, Arhe finds old memories of the time before she was the Eaten One being stirred. But not only old memories come forth in this time; the priestess of the God Emperor was jealous of Arhe and her position, so when she finds the alien in the maze, she threatens Arhe.

With her own faith in tatters, Arhe agrees to flee with the man, revealed as the Dragonlord Ged.

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All three books are available as part of The Earthsea Quartet.

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