When "The Orphan of Earthsea" was published, I added the subtitle "The Final Chapter of Earthsea".But I was wrong!I'm wrong! I did think at the time that the story was over, that Tenar was finally active again, that Ged and Tenar would obviously "live happily ever after," and that even if I didn't fully understand who or what Tehanu was, I didn't. feel confused. But, then I got confused. Many things in Earthsea also started to bother me, such as: If witches don't have to be chaste, do wizards have to be celibate?Why are there no women at Roke Academy?What is a dragon?Also, where do the people of Karg go when they die?

I answered these questions one by one, so I wrote the stories in "Tales from Earthsea". Then, finally, I could understand who Tehanu was and what a dragon was—in Strange Wind on Earthsea.