Vox Populi
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Video: Earthsea | What the Original Wizard School Got Right
What are the literary origins of the boy wizard and the wizard school? This video takes us on an adventure through 20th century fantasy literature to explore the roots of this trope, the connection between Lord of the Rings, Earthsea and Harry Potter, and how race, feminism, gay wizards and bi witches feature in this universe.
Written and narrated by Verity Ritchie
Produced by Ada Černoša
Running time: 29 minutes
Email subscribers may click on the title of the post to watch the video.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) was the celebrated author of twenty-three novels, twelve volumes of short stories, eleven volumes of poetry, thirteen children’s books, five essay collections, and four works of translation. Her acclaimed books received the Hugo, Nebula, Endeavor, Locus, Otherwise, Theodore Sturgeon, PEN/Malamud, and National Book Awards; a Newbery Honor; and the Pushcart and Janet Heidinger Kafka Prizes, among others. In 2014, she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2016 joined the short list of authors to be published in their lifetimes by the Library of America.
The Earthsea Cycle, also known as Earthsea, is a series of high fantasy books written by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin. Beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Tombs of Atuan, (1970) and The Farthest Shore (1972), the series was continued in Tehanu (1990), and Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind (both 2001). In 2018, all the novels and short stories were published in a single volume, The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, with artwork by Charles Vess.
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Not sure Rowling “ripped her off”, different people can come up with similar ideas, nothing wrong with that. Both writers have their own unique gifts. There should be a place for all creative writers, similar or not, without judgement.
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Thanks, Noelle. I’m very grateful to Rowling because her Harry Potter series inspired my son to learn to read, a passion which has stayed with him. And I admire the fact that she’s given away a large part of her royalties. But it is clear that Rowling borrowed a great deal from Tolkien and Le Guin and never gave credit to her literary mentors. Those of us who love Le Guin can’t help but feel she was given short shrift. Anyway, I do like this video for the way it brings together a lot of different kinds of ideas to discuss Le Guin’s Earthsea series.
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I, too, love her poems….
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Yes, her novels are far better known than her poems, but she began as a poet.
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BRILLIANT VIDEO…and super exploration of “Earthsea” (once and ever one of my very favorite tales (and its precedents and antecedents.) (I was once given a copy of Earthsea as I launched on my very own first spiritual journey, and it inspired me and nurtured my imagination, and kept me company throughout…) xx, m
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Thanks, Margo. Le Guin invented the trope of the school for wizards which Rowling ripped off and never gave Le Guin credit. Le Guin was truly a great story teller — and I love her poetry as well.
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