"The Word of Unbinding" is the first Earthsea story to be published. Its original publication was in the January 1964 issue of Fantastic magazine. It deals with a wizard named Festin who is imprisoned by the evil wizard Voll. Certain aspects of its story prefigure the story of Cob in The Farthest Shore.
Summary[]
Festin, a wizard who is fond for quiet contemplation in the forest, finds himself imprisoned in a dungeon by an evil wizard, Voll the Fell. Festin attempts several times to escape, changing himself to slip out of his cell and hide in the forest and a bird and a fish. However, his troll jail-keeper always manages to recapture him.
Growing too weak to escape due to his accumulating injuries, Festin begins to wonder why Voll always keeps all his wizard prisoners alive rather than simply killing them. He develops a theory and realizes how to defeat Voll: he speaks the Word of Unbinding to end his own life, and journeys into the Dry Lands of death. Because of his great magical power, he does not forget his life as the dead normally do. He summons Voll to him, and the other runs away, finally going to ground in a corpse which lies in a dry riverbed -- Voll’s own corpse. Festin has guessed correctly that Voll was dead all along and has been trying to use dark magic to reenter the living world. Festin then begins an eternal vigil over Voll’s body to make sure he never escapes from death again.
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