Ged (Earthsea)

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Ged is the main protagonist in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea book series.

Originally called Duny, Ged was born on the island of Gont, in a peasant family. As a small boy, Ged had overheard the village witch using various words of power. Imitating her, he was able to call animals to him. Particularly, he was seen in the company of wild sparrowhawks so often that his "use name" became Sparrowhawk. The witch knew that using words of power effectively without understanding them required innate power, so she endeavoured to teach him what little she knew.

When Ged was in his early teens, the island was attacked by Kargs. This attack changed Ged's life forever. When the Kargads attacked, Ged, seeing the doom of his village, used a simple spell to protect his people from the Kargs. The spell worked, enveloping the village in a fog, which made the Kargs unable to see where the villagers were. Ged's need to cover a large area in fog overspent his strength, leaving him in a semi-conscious state.

The witch was unable to heal Ged, but the island's great wizard, Ogion, had heard the tale of Ged's deed and sought him out. Ogion healed Ged and later returned to perform a naming ceremony for his passage out of childhood where Ogion gave him the "true name" of "Ged". After the naming ceremony, Ogion took Ged as a pupil in the wizardly arts.

Sensing the latent power within Ged, but understanding Ged's youthful impatience to be trained faster than Ogion was willing, Ogion sent Ged to the wizard school on the island of Roke. On Roke, Ged was a very good student, but his arrogance and a dispute with a particular classmate caused him to try a very dangerous spell: he attempted to call the spirit of the long-dead queen Elfarran. He succeeded in calling Elfarran, but an evil shadow-spirit slipped in through the "door" Ged had opened between the living world and the dead. This evil power hunted Ged until he was able to name the shadow and thus gain power over it and banish it.

Sometime later, Ged recovered the second half of the broken ring of Erreth-Akbe (having been given the first half during his flight from the shadow) from the tombs of Atuan, thus restoring a force for peace in Earthsea. In the process he met and befriended Tenar, the high priestess of the Nameless Ones who dwelt in the tombs, and took her away from Atuan.

Ged was later appointed as archmage - the head of the wizard school of Roke. On a quest to halt the decline of magical power from Earthsea, Ged became friends with a prince named Arren, who eventually became King Lebannen, the first king of Earthsea for many centuries. Their quest was successful but Ged was forced to sacrifice his own power to ensure the survival of magic within the world.

After this, Ged retired to live with Tenar on Gont, although he was involved in some further adventures.