If I remember, there were The Master Doorkeeper, the Master Summoner, the Master Patterner - what were the other titles?
And was it the Master Doorkeeper that Ged meets again towards the end of his schooling and realises that he was more than just a Doorkeeper, but the Wizard responsible for the security of the school?
I can’t find my copy of Wizard of Earthsea, but I found The Farthest Shore, which says there are 9 apart from the Archmage. It’s possible that Le Guin added 2 for the later book; her work does tend to evolve. (I’m thinking especially of Tehanu, the Last Book of Earthsea, which struck me as so different in tone from the first 3 that even though the main characters are named Ged and Tenar, they’re really different people)
These are the 9 Masters named in The Farthest Shore
And yes, when Ged comes back from a year or so of studying with the Master Namer, Kurremkarmerruk, in the Isolate Tower, the Master Doorkeeper challenges him in a way that shows that he’s in charge of keeping out danger.
Nine - the Nine Masters of Roke. In addition the those listed above, the other ones mentioned are Master Windkey, Master Chanter, Master Changer, Master Hand, Master Herbal, and Master Namer. Then there is the Archmage.
Good to see there are other Earthsea fans around! I’ve known and loved the books since the mid 1970s.
Tamerlane, are there 9 masters in the first book?
And what do people think of Tehanu, the Last Book of Earthsea?
I thoight Tehanu was a mixed bag. I liked the story generally, but I sort of didn’t like what LeGuin did with Tenar and Ged. Not that it was inappropriate, just that I first read the original trilogy as a child and Sparrowhawk has always been a hero of mine, Earthsea a place I wanted to explore. It also makes me hungry for more backstory about Earthsea and its legends myths and magics (who built the stone wall for example)
In my copy of the trilogy (there are five, by the way), I see in the first book a passage in which the protagonist contemplates that there are Nine masters of Roke: Changer, Chanter, Hand, Herbal, Namer, Patterner, Summoner, and Windkey. Plus there was the Archmage and, lastly, the Doorkeeper whom you mentioned.
Tehanu was a let-down at the end.
I was hoping The Other Wind would undo that but it didn’t, for me. I have a galley copy because the company I was working for published it. So it’s on my shelf with the others, but after all those years gone by it seemed like a decent read and it was rather topical at the time, but it didn’t feel quite as good.
Ahh, that’s right! I’d forgotten about the fifth book, in which the story of the founding of the School at Roke was told. IIRC there was originally a Master Finder (one of the founders of the School) a Title/Position that was eventually eliminated wasn’t there?
I would look it up but, alas, I loaned all my Earthsea books out to my nieces, and have never gotten them back.
That, I think, was where I read maddeningly tantalizing hints about the building of the stone wall.
ETA No, it was in Tehanu, that the hints were given, I’m certain.
I just re-read the entire original trilogy and also read the more recent books for the first time, and I think you’re thinking of Tales from Earthsea (2001). It’s a collection of short stories set in Earthsea, including one about the founding of the wizard school (“The Finder”). The book also contains some lengthy notes on the history and culture of the Earthsea world.
The Other Wind, which was also published in 2001, is a novel and a direct sequel to Tehanu (1990), although one of the stories in Tales from Earthsea (“Dragonfly”) takes place in between Tehanu and The Other Wind.
I’m not sure what you’re referring to here, but The Other Wind explains why there’s a wall between the living world and realm of the dead.