I chased pure gold in lead and stone, with signs and seals in tongues unknown. I failed the prize that made me famed, yet mastered change and earned my name.

I’m one word hiding two others. Remove my first half and I’m still food. Remove my second half and I become what I mostly am. I’m green where I’m guarded, red where I’m revealed, and named for what fills me, not what flavors me. What am I?

I'm traded when some seek their vengeance, I'm heard in almost every sentence. You turn me, blind, feign you don't care, Yet my flipped view lends you my stare.

Through valleys and over mountains I roam, Guiding through deserts and forests, through shadow and sun. Poets honor me in verse and in ode; Some run toward me with purpose; others, from where I lead do they run.

I joined a girl and her dog, on a brick laden road, all to find her way home. My own goals were smart, though I didn't figure that out, until someone told me directly. Who am I, a nine letter word, that generally is not a pronoun?