A

Abbenay | Ai, Genly | A-Io | Agat Alterra, Jakob | Alb | Anam | Anarres | Anarresti | Angyar | Ansible | Argaven | Athshe | Atro

Abbenay
A city on Anarres, close to the space port. The name means "Mind" in Pravic. Abbeney was originally a mining town called Anarres Town. It was renamed after Anarres was given to the Odonians.

Ai, Genly
The first Ekumenical Mobile on Gethen, EY 1490-97. Genly Ai is one of the main characters in The Left Hand of Darkness.

A-Io
A nation on Urras.

Agat Alterra, Jakob
Jakob Agat Alterra was one of the leaders of the Terran colony Landin on Werel. Agat is his family name, Alterra is "what the far-born call their leaders". ("Al Terra", as in "from Earth", get it?)

He fell in love with, and married, the hilf girl Rolery, not listening to the reasons against it: they were of different breed, incapable of having children (or so it seemed), and the Terrans and Tevarians were not always the best of friends. (Planet of Exile)

Alb
Possibly a planet.
(Ref. Winter's King)

Anam
A native (Ganam) name for the planet Tadkla.
(Ref. A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

Anarres
Anarres is one of the Cetian twin worlds - the other is Urras. Although the orbit the same star, the two worlds are wildly different.While Urras is a totalitarian state, the state of Anarres can be best described as anarchy.However, it is an anarchy that almost works, which has little to do with wearing leather jackets and spraying capital @'s on the walls.

The Anarresti share almost everything, and has almost no possessions. There is no money on Anarres.

Anarresti
Inhabitants of the planet Anarres.

Angyar
The Angyar (''lords'') are one of the intelligent species on Rocannon's World. They are beautiful, tall and dark-skinned, but have fair hair.Picture them as proud warriors -- with gleaming swords, stone castles and their winged cat-beasts, the windsteed.

The Angyar and the Olgyior are not strictly speaking two species, but merely two social castes, both of the Liuar species.

Ansible
The ansible is a device for instanteneous communication over the vast distances of space. It was invented by Shevek of Anarres.

When there is massage to be sent between two ansibles, one of them has to be in a fixe position on a body of a sufficiently large mass, e.g. a planet. The other ansible may be on another planet, a ship or anywhere.

A ship travelling in NAFAL space cannot transmit; it has to slow down and enter the normal space-time first.

The principle is that information is immaterial and therefore it does not have to follow Einstein's statement that nothing can travel faster than light. The principle has been discribed by an analogy: if you have a very, very long rod, and you move one end of it from side to side, then the other end moves too. It takes a lot of energy to send messages over the ansible, and so it's very expensive.

Due to cosmic mass interference, the range is limited to approx. 120 light years.

Argaven
When Genly Ai first arrived at Gethen, Argaven XV was ruling Karhide. The kings of Karhide are traditionally named Emran or Argaven.

Athshe
Athshe, aka World 41 or New Tahiti, is a planet covered in forest, with trees and wild life much like on Earth. The Atshean hilfs are small, roughly a meter in height, and covered in a greenish fur. They are a very peaceful people, who are deeply in touch with their dreams. See the guide to Athshe for more information.
(The Word for World is Forest)

Atro
Dr. Atro was a physicist from A-Io on Urras.

B

Beldene | Benbili

Beldene
A planet and a people. "Beldene, the Garden Planet, had never discovered chastity, or the wheel." (Ref. Vaster than Empires and More Slow)

Benbili
A nation on the western hemisphere of Urras.

C

Cetian | Churten | Chiffewar | Chifoilisk | Cime | Clayfolk

Cetian
The people of the Twin worlds, that is Urras and Anarres. The word Cetian really refers to the name of their sun - Tau Ceti. The inhabitants usually call themselves Urrasti and Anarresti.

Churten
The churten theory provides with a way of getting from point A to point B in virtually "no time at all". It was invented by scientists on Anarres.
(Ref. A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

Cime
A planet.

Chifoilisk
A Thuvian physicist on Urras.

Chiffewar
A planet.

Clayfolk
Another name for the Gdemiar on Rocannon's World.

D

Darranda | Davenant | Davidsson | Dalzul | Distances

Darranda
Possibly a place on Hain. The Handbook of known worlds was printed there.
(Four Ways to Forgiveness)

Davenant
Davenant is the terran name for the planet Hain. (From Rocannon's World: Rocannon says "I was born on a world called Hain by my mother's people and Davenant by my father's".)
See Hain.

Davidsson, captain
Captain Don Davidsson is one of the main characters in The Word for World is Forest. He is a Terran, aggressive and narrow-minded, on the brink of paranoia. See the guide to Athshe for more information.

Dalzul
A Terran, born in Alberta. He took a degree in temporal physics at the university in A-Io on Urras and trained with the Stabiles on Hain. He then became of Mobile of the Ekumen and returned to Terra. When he got there a troublesome religious movement had escalated into the Unist Revolution. Dalzul got the situation under control within months. He won the respect for those he worked for and the worship for those he worked against - for the Unist Fathers decided he was God.

Dalzul also saved a few thousand children from the planet Orint before all sentient life was destroyed there. These were called Dalzul's children.

Dalzul finally died on the planet Tadkla. (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, p. 117.)

Distances
This is a list of some interplanetary distances. Some of these are actually given as the time it takes to go there in NAFAL travel, so the actual distance might be slightly less.

Ollul is the planet closest to Gethen, the farthest is 250 ly away.

E

Ekumen | Eltanin | (Cultural) Embargo | Ensbo | Erhenrang | Estraven | EY

Ekumen
The Ekumen is an interplanetery network. According to The Left Hand of Darkness, there are 83 habitable worlds with approx. 3000 nations. The Ekumen send "Mobiles" to other worlds, while the "Stabiles" are stationed on planets. The Ekumen does not rule, it only coordinates. Also see the page on History.

Eltanin
A star, with terran astronomics described as Gamma Draconis. The third planet is inhabited. It's called Werel.

Embargo, Cultural
The cultural embargo is a part of the rules for the terran colonists. In its simplest form, it states that the terrans shouldn't try to change the ways of the world the visit. They shall not try to teach or preach, or use technology that is much more advanced than the native, or force new cultural patterns, or use paraverbal speech.

Ensbo
A planet.

Erhenrang
The capital city of the nation Karhide on the planet Gethen.

Estraven, Therem Harth rem ir
Estraven was "the King's Ear" during the reign of king Argaven XV of Karhide on Gethen. The title is one of great power, something equivalent to a prime minister. (The Left Hand of Darkness)

EY
Abbrevation for Ekumenical Year.

F

Faraday | Fiia | Fomalhaut | Four-Taurus

Faraday
In Rocannon's World, there is a rebel fraction - the Faradayans - that are preparing to attack the League of all Worlds.

Fiia
One of the intelligent species on Rocannon's World
From Rocannon's World:

Fiia (singular Fian): Highly intelligent, fully hominoid, diaurnal, av. ca. 130 cm. in height, observed individuals generally light in skin and hair. Brief contacts indicated villages and nomadic communal societies, partial colonial telepathy, also some indications of short-range TK. The race appears a-technological and evasive, with minimal and fluid culture-patterns. Currently untaxable. Status E-Query.

They appear to be friendly, sometimes a bit like children. They have no great love for the Gdemiar. Long ago the Gdemiar and the Fiia were one folk, but now the Fiia live above ground, loving the sun and the trees and the grass, while the Gdemiar live in caves, building machines and working mines.

Fomalhaut
Fomalhaut is a star in galactic area 8. The second planet is Rocannon's World.

Four-Taurus
A planet. The First Mobile of the Ekumen on Four-Taurus ws called Pellelge. He was killed during the assignment. (The Left Hand of Darkness)

G

Gaal | Gamma Draconis | Ganam | Gao | Gde | Gdemiar | Gethen | Gossiwor | Gum

Gaal
A nomad people on the planet Werel. (Planet of Exile)

Gamma Draconis
The star Gamma Draconis is known as Eltanin. It has seven planets in wide elliptic trajectories, the third of these being the planet Eltanin III, aka Werel. (Planet of Exile)

Ganam
A people on the planet Tadkla. (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

Gao
A planet.

Gde
A hot planet, mostly rock and desert. It was warm to start with, and an exploitive civilization wrecked its natural balances fifty or sixty thousand years ago, and burned up the forests. There are still people there, but it resembles Hell. (The Left Hand of Darkness)

Gdemiar
One of several intelligent species on Rocannon's World.
From Rocannon's World:

Gdemiar (singular Gdem): Higly intelligent, fully hominoid nocturnal troglodytes, 120-135 cm. in height, light skin, dark head-hair. When contacted these cave-dwellers possessed a rigidly stratified oligarchic urban society modified by partial colonial telepathy, and a technologically oriented Early Steel culture. Technology enhanced to Industrial, Point C, during League Mission of 252-254. In 254 an Automatic Drive ship (to-from New South Georgia) was presented to ologarchs of the kirensia Area Community. Status C-Prime.

The Liuar and Fiia call them Clayfolk. The Gdemiar and the Fiia were once one folk, but the Gdemiar for some reason chose to live in caves while the Fiia live above ground.

Gethen
A very cold planet, trapped in an eternal winter; also, the world is sometimes called Winter.

The people of Gethen - Gethenians - are androgynous. When they enter a state of reproduction (called "kemmer") they sometimes enter it as a man and sometimes as a woman. An individual can both bear and sire children. See Kemmer.

Gethen's period of revolution is 8401 Terran Standard Hours or .96 of the Terran Standard Year. The period of rotation is 23.08 Terran Standard Hours: The Gethen year contains 364 days. The year is divided into 14 months of 26 days each.
(More on the Gethenian calendar and clock in The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 302)

Gossiwor
A musical instrument in Karhide, "played only in the king's presence". The gossiwor is said to "make a preposterous disconsolate bellow". (The Left hand of Darkness, p. 3)

Gum
A spaceship.

H

Hain | Hilf | Hoalans

Hain
The starting point for the exploration of the universe conducted by the people of the Ekumen. Hain is the Prime world of the Ekumen. It seems this is where all worlds were first colonized from. The terran name for the world is Davenant.

The people on Hain are tall and slender with a pale complexion, and usually very civilized. It is said that there has never been a war on Hain

In Winter's King: [discussing the kinship of the Gethenians and the Ekumen Mobile]

"...all the people we have run in to are in fact human. But the kinship goes back a million years and more, to the fore-eras of Hain. The ancient Hainish settled a million worlds."

Handdara
A mysterious religion/lifestyle on Gethen. "The Handdara is a religion without institution, without priests, without hierarchy, without vows, without creed; I am still unable to say whether it has a god or not" (The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 55) The practioners of Handdara - the Handdarata - have mastered the act of foretelling the future.

Hilf
The word hilf is really an acronym: HILF stands for highly intelligent life form. It is used to describe the more or less indigenous populations on exotic planets. It is believed that all hilfs are in fact related with each other, and with terrans - that is, humans from planet earth. The widely accepted theory is that all hilfs share a common origin, namely the planet Hain. Hilfs vary in size and appearance; some look just like terrans, others have fur, wings, yellow eyes and so on.

Hoalans
"Mr. Hoalans of Alb, the chief Agent of the Ekumen in the West Worlds, who can meddle, if he likes, with the destinies of forty worlds." (Winter's King)

I

Ieu Eun | Iotic

Ieu Eun
The university in Nio Esseia in A-Io where Shevek went straight after he landed on Urras.

Iotic
An Urrasti language, spoken in A-Io and perhaps other nations as well.

K

Kapetyn | Karachi | Karhide | Karhosh | Kemmer | Ki'O | Kuhurn

Kapetyn
A planet.

Karachi
In The Word for World is Forest, the terran colony on Athshe recieves orders from "the colonial administration bureau in Karachi". (In the 20th century, Karachi was the biggest city in Pakistan. Whether this is the same Karachi is unclear.)

Karhide
A nation on the planet Gethen.

Karhosh
Karhosh, island, the usual word for the apartment-boardinghouse buildings that house the greatest part of the urban population of Karhide on Gethen. Islands contain 20 to 200 private rooms; meals are communal; some are run as hotels, others as cooperative communes, others combine these types. They are certainly an urban adaption of the fundamental Karhidish institution of the Hearth, though lacking, of course, the topical and genealogical stability of the Hearth.

Kerguelen
A city on New South Georgia. (Rocannon's World)

Kemmer
The Gethenians are unique in that they are androgynous. Their sexual cycle averages 26 to 28 days. For 21 or 22 days the individual is somer, sexually inactive, latent. On about the 18th day hormonal changes are initiated, and about the 22nd day the individual enters kemmer.

In this first phase of kemmer, secher, he is still androgynous, and will remain so if he is kept alone or with others not in kemmer. During the entire kemmer phase, the sexual impulse is extremely strong.

When the individual finds a partner also in kemmer, he enters the second stage, thorharmen, which last two to twenty hours. During this phase, the gender is decided, and the genitals grow or shrink accordingly. Normally individuals have no preposition for becoming either gender during kemmer; they do not know whether they will become a man or a woman, and they have no saying in the matter.

Finally he enters the final phase of kemmer, thokemmer, which lasts two to five days. During this, the sexual drive is at a peak. It ends fairly abruptly. The male returns to somer within a few hours, as does the woman if she was not impregnated. If she was impregnated, she remains in the female shape for an 8.4-month gestation period, followed by an 6- to 8-month lactation period. After this, she returns to somer and is again a perfect androgyne. (The Left Hand of Darkness, chapter 7)

Ki'O
A people on the planet O. (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

Kuhurn
Presumably an uninhabited planet orbiting the same star as Gethen. (The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 140)

L

Landin | League of All Worlds |Liuar | Ljubov

Landin
A Terran colony on the planet Werel. In EY 1405, they had been stranded on the planet for six hundred earth years without any external contact. The city of Landin had thick walls that withstood both the cold of the long, harsh winter and the nomad gaal. See Werel. (Again, this seems like a pun -- "Landin", where the terrans landed...) (Planet of Exile)

League of All Worlds
Before the Age of the Enemy, there was the League of All Worlds, which was trying to tie rediscover all inhabited planets in the galaxy. The League seems to have been a precursor to the Ekumen. Also see the page on History. It would seem that the League was more actively trying to speed up the advance of technology of "undeveloped" worlds.

Liuar
One of the intelligent species on Rocannon's World
From Rocannon's World:

Liuar (singular Liu): Highly intelligent, fully hominoid, diurnal av. height above 170 cm., this species possesses fortress/village, clan-descent society, a blocked technology (Bronze), and feudal-heroic culture. Note horizontal social cleavage into 2 pseudo-races: (a: Olgyior, "midmen", light-skinned and dark-haired; (b: Angyar, "lords", very tall, dark-skinned, yellow-haired.

Ljubov
Captain Raj Ljubov was really the only terran who made a decent attempt of reaching, and understanding, the minds of the hilfs on Athshe. See the guide to Athshe for more information.

M

Mindful | Mishnory | Mobile | Moietie

Mindful
The space freighter which carried Shevek from Anarres to Urras. He was then the first Anarrasti to visit Urras in 170 years.

Mishnory
A city in Orgoreyn on Gethen.

Mobile
When the Ekumen sends an ambassadeur to some world, they are called mobiles. The First Mobile - one who is sent to make the first contact with some world that is not a member of the Ekumen - always visits the world alone. "One alien is a curiosity, two are an invasion" (The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 209)

Moietie
The people on planet O are divided into two moieties; the Morning People and the Evening People. (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

N

NAFAL | Ne Theras | New South Georgia | New Tahiti | Nio Esseia

NAFAL
This acronym expands as "Nearly As Fast As Light".

NAFAL drive ships use the time dilation effect as stated by Einstein's theories: a ship that moves at a speed approaching the speed of light will appear to move outside of time. Those on board will experience that only a short period of time passes by, while those outside of the ship will experience of a far longer period of time.

As an example, a four light year journey feels like "a few hours", but in fact it takes four years. The Gum travels 256 light years in 10 hours 29 minutes. (Vaster Than Empires and More Slow)

Obviously, this causes some rather interesting problems: when you go somewhere, and then return to wherever you left from, you may have aged hardly anything, but those who stayed home have aged several years.

NAFAL space
When a ship travels nearly as fast as light, some strange effects occur and everyday physics are no longer valid. One image used to illustrate this is to say that the ship leaves our normal space and enter a ''NAFAL space''.

Ne Theras
A mountain range on Anarres.

New South Georgia
A planet. Semley in Semley's Necklace goes from Rocannon's World to New South Georgia to get her necklace. The journey took 16 years.

New Tahiti
Another name for world 41, Athshe.

Nio Esseia
The capitol city of the nation A-Io on Urras. It has some five million inhabitants. When Shevek first landed on Urras his first stop was the university Ieu Eun, in Nio Esseia.

Nusuth
A word meaning "it doesn't matter" or "it is not important". From The Left Hand of Darkness.

O

Planet O | Odo | Odonianism | Olgyior | Ollul | Orgoreyn | Orgota | Orint

O
A planet with a low, stable human population and an ancient climax technology. The dispersed village, rather than cities, is the basic social unit. There hasn't been a war on planet O for 5000 years.

The people on planet O is split in two halves called moieties: they are the Morning People and the Evening People. A child is born into its mother's moietie. One can have sex with or marry only a person of another moiety. A Ki'O marriage, called a sedoretu, consists of a Morning woman and man, and an Evening woman and man. The heterosexual pairs are called Morning and Evening according to the woman's moiety. The homosexual pairs are called Day - the two women, and Night - the two men. many people attach themselves to the sedoretu of a brother or a sister as an uncle or aunt. They can have sex with one or both spouses of the other moiety, regardless of gender.

          Day
      EF      MF
Evening        Morning
      MM      EM
         Night

First letter: moiety (Evening/Morning)
Second letter: gender (Male/Female) 

(A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

Odo, Laia Aseio
Laia Aseio Odo (698-769) was the founder of the Odonians on Anarres. (The Dispossessed, The Day Before the Revolution)

Odonianism
An anarchistic movement named after its founder, Laia Aseio Odo. Odonianism is the intellectual anarchism - not the bomb-in-the-pocket stuff, which is really just terrorism given a nice name, and not the social-Darwinist economic "libertarianism" of the far right.

This type of anarchy is about cooperation, solidarity, and mutual aid. The principal target is the totalitarian state, whether it's socialist or capitalist.

Olgyior
A subspecies of the Liuar on Rocannon's World. See Liuar.

Ollul
A planet.

Orgoreyn
A nation on Gethen.

Orgota
The people living in the nation Orgoreyn on Gethen are called Orgota. This is also the name of their language.

Orint
A planet, the only planet so far from which the Ekumen has withdrawn. The Orintians later destroyed sentient life on their planet by the use of pathogens in war. (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

P

Pae | Palat | Pellege | Perunter | planets | Pravic | Prestno

Pae
Dr. Saio Pae was a physicist from A-Io on Urras, loyal to the Ioti state.

Palat
Palat was Shevek's father - although in the Anarresti language and mind you wouldn't put it that way, you would simply say that Palat was "the father".

Pellelge
A mobile of the Ekumen who was killed during a mission to the planet Four-Taurus.

Perunter
The "antarctic" continent on the planet Gethen - I assume this means it is on the southern (whatever that means) hemisphere. The word "barbaric" seems to be used to describe it. (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.92)

Planets
There are many inhabited planets. Here's a list:
Alterra (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Anarres
Athshe (The Word for World is Forest)
Beldene (Vaster then Empires and More Slow)
Cime (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Chiffewar (The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 36)
Ensbo (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Faraday (Rocannon's World)
Four-Taurus (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Gao
Gde (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Gethen
(The Left Hand of Darkness)
Hain
Kapetyn (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
New South Georgia (Semley's Necklace)
O
Ollul
Orint
Prestno (The Word for World is Forest)
Rokanan (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
S (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Sheashel Haven (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Tadkla
Terra
Urras
Werel (Planet of Exile, City of Illusions)
Werel (2) (Four Ways to Forgiveness)
the Uttermosts (The Left Hand of Darkness, p.36)
Ve

According to The Left Hand of Darkness, there were 83 planets in the scope of the Ekumen in 1491. Also see Distances for a list of interplanetary distances.

Pravic
An Anarresti language. [?]

Prestno
Prestno, or world 88, is a planet, close to Atshse. It is referred to as "one of the Hainish group".
(The Word for World is Forest)

R

Rakuli | Rieswehl | Rocannon | Rocannon's World | Rokanan | Rolery | Rulag

Rakuli
The fifth, uninhabited planet in the Werel-Yeowe system.

Rieswehl
A continent on the planet Athshe. (The Word for World is Forest)

Rocannon
Gaverel Rocannon was born on Hain. "By blood I'm entirely of my mother's race; my father, who was a Terran, adopted me. This is the custom when people of different species, who cannot concieve children, marry." (Rocannon's World) Come to think of it, this is a rather strange thing to say, isn't it? There should be a biological father involved somewhere, you'd think.

Rocannon's World
The planet Fomalhaut II, world 62, surveyed by Gaverel Rocannon. There are several intelligent species on Rocannon's World:

• Species I:
• A) Gdemiar
• B) Fiia
• Species II: Liuar
  • A) Olgyior
  • B) Angyar

The year of Rocannon's World is 800 days.

Rokanan
In The Left Hand of Darkness, p. 89: "Human genetic manipulation was certainly practised by the Colonizers; nothing else explains --- the degenerate winged hominids of Rokanan..." This is possibly another name for Rocannon's World.

Rolery
Rolery was a hilf from Tevar on the planet Werel. She is one of the main characters in Planet of Exile.

She was a strange girl, born in the summer, when no children are born. (Remember the extremely long year of Werel). Consequently, she had no friends her own age, and all the men were 20 years older and already married. Granted, tevarian men can take several wives.

She fell in love with Jakob Agat Alterra - a terran living in the city of Landin. He took her as his wife, in spite of their differences and the (alledged) fact that she could never give birth to his child. As it turned out, the terrans had slowly become more and more like the hilfs, and maybe they did have children, or maybe they didn't.

Rulag
The mother of Shevek.

S

Planet S | Sabul | Sadik | Saire | Secher | Selver | Sedoretu | Shackleton | Shakatany | Sheasel Haven | Shevek | shifgrethor | Shoby | Sio | Camp Smith | stabile | somer | Sornol

S
A planet. In The Left Hand of Darkness: "Human genetic manipulation was certainly practised by the Colonizers; nothing else explains the hilfs of S..."

Sabul
A senior member at the Abbeney Institute. He took the role as a mentor to Shevek, and tried to take credit for Shevek's writings.

Sadik
Shevek's daughter.

Saire
A place on Hain.

Secher
The first phase of the Gethenian kemmer period, during which the individual is still androgynous but has a strong sexual drive. See kemmer.

Sedoretu
A Ki'O marriage. See Planet O.

Selver
Selver of the Ash is one of the main characters in The Word for World is Forest.

He was an hilf from Athshe, a small, furry and gentle character. After his wife Thele was raped and killed by the Terrans, he abandoned the athshean peaceful way of life to strike back horribly at the invading Terrans. See the guide to Athshe for more information.

Shackleton
The Shackleton is a NAFAL cruiser in The Word for World is Forest. It carries a shipload of women to the newly establish terran colony on the planet Athshe. She had room for 380 passengers. See the guide to Athshe for more information about the planet.

Shakatany
The tevarian girl Rolery's mother.

Sheasel Haven
A planet.

Shevek
A brilliant physicist from Anarres, inventor of the ansible.
(The Dispossessed)

Shifgrethor
Prestige, face, place, the pride-relationship the untranslatable and all-important principle of social authority on Karhide and all of Gethen.

Shoby
A spaceship equipped with the churten drive, the first time ever it was used with a sentient crew. The crew consisted of ten people, their names where Rig, Asten, Betton, Karth, Oreth, Lidi, Tai, Shan, Gveter and Sweet Today. (The Shobies' Story)

Sio
A language on the planet O. (A Fisherman of the Inland Sea)

Camp Smith
A terran camp on the planet Athshe. The terrans came to the planet to get the wood, and used the local hilfs as labour. Finally they fought back, and the first stroke was the attack on the Smith Camp. Some 900 athsheans killed all the 207 men in the camp. See the guide to Athshe for more information.

Somer
The androgynous and sexually latent period of a Gethenian. See Kemmer.

Sornol
The native name for one of the main continents on the planet Athshe. The terran Central City on Athshe was located on Sornol.

Stabile
The Ekumen officials that are stationed on any of the Ekumen worlds are called stabiles. Unlike the mobiles, they do not go off to explore new worlds.

Stasis
A state of hibernation. When the Ekumen send a ship to a new planet, the First Mobile descends to the planet, while the others remain in stasis.

T

Tadkla | Tëanb | Tevar | Terra | Thele | Thu | thokemmer | Tlokna | transilience

Tadkla
A planet, not part of the Ekumen. M-60-340-nolo. (Dancing to Ganam)

Tëanb
The tëanb is a key instrument of Hainish origin.

Tevar
A city/nation on the planet Werel. In Planet of Exile we are told the story of how the hilf population in Tevar and the terrans in Landin are forced to join their forcese to withstand a nomad invasion.

Tevarian
Inhabitants of Tevar.

Terra
A planet - identical to our own dear Earth.

Terran
Anything coming from, or relating to, Terra.

Thele
Thele was a hilf on Athshe. She was the wife of of Selver. After she was killed Selver became the leader of the athshean resistance.

Thu
A nation on Urras.

Thokemmer
The third and final phase of the Gethenian kemmer, during which the individual has established a gender. See kemmer.

Thorharmen
The second phase of the Gethenian kemmer, the mutual process of establishing gender and potency. See kemmer.

Tlokna
A hilf city on the planet Werel. It was taken by the Gaal tribes who came south with the signs of winter. (Planet of Exile)

Transilience
Another for the "travel" experienced using the churten drive.

U

Umaksuman | Urras | The Uttermosts

Umaksuman
A hilf from Tevar on Werel. He was the leader of the tevarian warriors. He was Wold's son and Rolery's brother.

Urras
Urras is one of the Cetian twin worlds. The other, the moon, is Annares. The inhabitants of Urras are called Urrasti, or simply Cetians.
(The Dispossessed)

Uttermosts, the
A place, possibly a group of planets. [?]

V

Planet Ve | Voe Dean | Voe Deo

Ve
A planet.

Voe Dean
1 The language spoken in Voe Deo. (And possibly on all of Werel and Yeowe?)
2 Anything coming from, or relating to, Voe Deo.

Voe Deo
A nation, comprising the single great nation on the planet Werel (2).

W

Werel | Werel (2) | Windsteed Winter | Winter Crown | Wold

Werel
The third planet around the star Eltanin is called Werel, or Eltanin III.

Werel has an extremely long year: There are 400 days to one moon phase, and sixty moon phases to a year. Thus, one local year is 24 000 days, or over 65 terran years - an entire life. We know that the 391st day of the 45th moon phase of the tenth year is equivalent to day 202 on year 1405 of the Ekumen.

On Werel, the hilfs have very light skin and yellow or amber eyes. They have not developed any advanced technology, not even the wheel. The have a type of cattle called hann and eat the seeds of bhan, as some sort of porridge. They hunt korio and wespry. They are reluctant to look each other in the eyes. They do not sing, and the only music they have is the rhythm of beating rocks.

When the long and hard winter comes, tribes of nomad gaal travel south and loot anything in their way, not to be seen again until springtime. (Remember that the winter is some fifteen earth years.)

There are other dangers on this planet, such as the snow ghouls. They are relatively small, but very strong and with sharp claws. They hunt in packs.

In Planet of Exile we are told the story of the forgotten terran colony Landin, close to the hilf cities Tevar, Pernmek and Tlokna. The terrans have been stranded on the planet for six hundred earth years, and are gradually fading away as a result of sterility and natural abortions.

Winter is on its way, but this year the gaal tribes have been united, and they no longer pass the cities but attempt to invade them. To face the gall horde, the terrans and hilfs are forced to unite their forces.

Gradually the terran colonists adapted to the planet, and eventually the terrans and the native hilfs merged.

The terrans on this planet have abilities to mindspeak each other, a practice learned from the people on Rokanan.
(Planet of Exile)

Werel (2)
Another planet with the same name is the fourth planet in the Werel-Yeowe system. (Four Ways to Forgiveness)

Note: In this encyclopedia the notation is Werel (2), or simply Werel. The tempting notation Werel-II is inappropriate as this implies a reference to the second planet of a system called Werel, which is not the case.

Windsteed
The windsteed are a species of large, catlike creatures with wings. They people on Rocannon's World use them for riding and flying.

Winter
When the first Mobiles arrived at the arctic planet Gethen, they called the planet "Winter" - for obvious reasons.

Winter Crown
The sun of Hain is called the Winter Crown, at least by the people on Rocannon's World.

Wold
Wold was the oldest, and the leader of the people of Tevar on the planet Werel. He was also the father of Rolery, the girl who fell in love with Jakob Agat Alterra.

Y

Yeowe

Yeowe

Yeowe (pron. yay-O-way) is the third planet in its system. It was colonized from the fourth planet, Werel (2). (Four Ways to Forgiveness)