The dragon is a creature in Earthsea, neither necessarily good or evil. They occupy farthest west reaches of Earthsea and have a history of attacking villages in search for food or treasures. The main defenders against dragons are wizards. If a wizard is present during an attack, then a dragon may be warded off.
Behaviour[]
Dragons are not seen as good or evil by humans, but tend to act viciously and are very dangerous. Some believe that looking into the eye of a dragon will anger them. Ged avoids doing so on several occasions. Dragons believe that humans are idiotic, weak and short-living mayflies.
History[]
Dragons and man were once of the same species, until they went their separate ways due to their different natures and preferred tendencies. Some half-dragons/half-humans exist to this day, such as Irian, as seen in "Dragonfly".
Dragonlords[]
Dragonlords are the only humans that dragons see fit to talk to. Dragons only speak the language of the Making and are worth listening to because of their very long life, in which time they have learned a great deal. If a dragonlord knows the true name of a dragon, they can control it. This occurs in the first book of Earthsea when Ged wards off a dragon by revealing its true name, and forcing it to make a promise to never return. The only known Dragonlords are Ged, Cob, King Lebannen and Tehanu. Erreth-Akbe is the legendary Dragonlord and is well known throughout Earthsea.
Strengths[]
- Body - Dragons are physically larger than other creatures, the largest, and therefore can easily overpower any other living thing.
- Strength - Dragons are much larger than any other creature, and therefore are stronger.
- Teeth - Dragons have razor sharp teeth, and are able to chew through almost anything.
- Lifespan - Dragons live much longer than humans, and so refer to them as mayflies. They are known to outlive humans by hundreds of years.
- Wisdom - Because dragons are able to live so long, they can gather wise knowledge that they can share with Dragonlords and other dragons.
- Flight: Dragons have wings, and are therefore able to take flight at any time they wish, even during an attack.
Weaknesses[]
- Dragonlords - Because Dragonlords can communicate with dragons, they can convince them to leave or ward them off using their name or magic.
- Naming - If a dragon's true name is known by one, then they have power over the dragon, and can control it to leave or do their bidding.
- Wizards - Wizards are known as the only creatures who can destroy a dragon, besides another dragon. They are also a weakness because of the magic that they carry.
- Dragons - Although Dragons may not wish to fight eachother, the only other way a dragon can be destroyed is by being killed by another dragon.
- Vision: The vision of a dragon is slightly different than that of a man, because they have eyes on separate sides of their face. This means that dragons may not be able to see straight ahead of them.