Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett 's satirical Discworld series of fantasy novels. Her name in Nac Mac Feegle is Tir-far-thóinn or 'Land Under Wave'.
146-691: Tiffany is a trainee witch whose growth into her job forms one of the many arcs in the Discworld series. She is the main character in The Wee Free Men , A Hat Full of Sky , Wintersmith , I Shall Wear Midnight and The Shepherd's Crown . Tiffany grows up over the course of the series, from nine years old in The Wee Free Men to being in her late teens in The Shepherd's Crown . Beginning with The Wee Free Men in 2003,
292-765: A cameo . This leads to some speculation as to what had become of the coven. Her role in Wintersmith seems to have been filled in by Miss Tick , as more than three Witches together at one time becomes an "argument". She does, however, appear in The Shepherd's Crown , where she (along with Perdita) is one of the people across the Disc who feels Granny Weatherwax's death when she dies of old age; and then later attends Granny Weatherwax's Wake . It's revealed that Agnes has been going on singing tours , and had been in Quirm at
438-558: A beautiful but airheaded young singer named Christine (an obvious parody of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera ). Although Agnes is by far the more talented of the two, she finds herself relegated to the chorus while Christine's career benefits from the attention of the mysterious " Opera Ghost ". Agnes is also alienated from the rest of the chorus, due to her weight and practical nature. Granny and Nanny, having identified Agnes as
584-516: A big deal of their talents and look down on those who employ showy techniques and appearances. Witches unironically acting with melodrama, of which cackling is seen as an early sign, is often an indication of "going to the bad" and becoming a stereotypically wicked witch. Another later addition to witch skills, established in Maskerade , but first named in the Aching books, is First Sight—seeing what
730-449: A discussion of the older witches dying off leads reluctantly to discussing a redrawing of territorial boundaries; this appears to be the mutual widening of steadings by the witches due to fewer and fewer young girls becoming witches, necessitating more work being taken on by extant witches. Witches tend to lead lonely lives; they are generally feared and respected rather than liked, and often perform their duties with little or no thanks from
876-399: A full revolution in about a month; the full moon occurs when the luminescent side is completely visible from the Disc; the new moon when the dark side is shown. The sun's orbit is so complex that one of the elephants has to cock its leg to allow the sun to continue on its orbit. According to the wizards of Unseen University , Chelys galactica , and thus Great A'Tuin, are composed largely of
1022-552: A good cursin ' voice she's got there. You know you've been cursed with a voice like that ." She is also called by Nanny to help her take Granny home when Letice Earwig accuses Granny about her good behavior. At Granny's cottage, Agnes voices her own dislike of Letice Earwig before leaving with Nanny. Agnes does not appear in A Hat Full of Sky , Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight , stories which feature both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, nor does she show up in The Wee Free Men , in which Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg had
1168-554: A grey woollen dress. After Mort cut the line connecting her soul to her body, she realised it was no longer bound by the body's morphic field, and with much more control than most people her soul's form settled into the shape of her "inner self". Her hair unwound itself from its tight bun, changing colour and lengthening, her body straightened up. Wrinkles dwindled and vanished, and her dress turned into something green and clingy. Rather than go on to an afterlife, she remained at her home, intending her spirit to get thinner and spread through
1314-479: A half day's journey by horse, less if the horse is Boris from Going Postal ) and to which it is connected by two clacks towers. It encompasses a large boulder emerging out of the Sto Plains like 'a geological pimple', left there by the retreating Ice Giants. The castle is built into this rock. Its most recent king before the present monarch was King Olerve, who was shot with a crossbow by an assassin hired by
1460-501: A high level of skill in the art of magical self-concealment, and also learns how to absorb heat from any available source (including the sun) and channel it out into the world, without being touched by it herself. She generally precedes the use of the latter art with a sort of mantra , in which she states that she willingly chooses to undertake the dangerous action, and is prepared to accept full responsibility for all its consequences. Also like Granny, she has great difficulty in constructing
1606-532: A human, the easiest way is to convince the cat, on a deep level, that he is a human. In fact, the main reason the Auditors of Reality dislike sentient beings in the Discworld universe is that the Auditors are the personifications of the real-world laws of physics, but the Discworld physics' power of belief and the humans' ignorance constantly remake the world, making their work fruitless. More significantly, it
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#17327726165021752-501: A local noblewoman (and latent witch) Letitia Keepsake . During the fourth book, I Shall Wear Midnight , it is revealed near the end that she has entered into a romantic relationship with an intelligent young guard, named Preston, who aspires to study medicine at the Lady Sybil Free Hospital down in the city of Ankh-Morpork , under Dr. John Lawn , and further wishes to start a medical practice of his own up in
1898-519: A loose collection of independent city-states, ruled over by a close-knit (and probably interrelated) ruling class. The Sto Plains could be thought of as being similar to Germany prior to the unification of the states into the German Empire , with no overall authority. According to Mort the area was to be united in the coming decades. As reality was given a retcon in the book, the Duke who united
2044-512: A million thaums, beyond that level, Discworld reality starts to break down. Parodying the introduction of the metric system, later Discworld novels refer to the introduction of the newer unit, the Prime, to avoid arguments over the standard sizing of pigeons. It is defined as the magical energy required to move one pound of lead one foot, referencing the Joule . The thaum also appears to be a particle,
2190-563: A new pupil after Annagramma, continuing-on her flawed approach to witchcraft. When she learns of Granny Weatherwax's passing, rather than feeling any grief, her first thoughts are to attaining Granny's ' first among equals ' status (not yet knowing that Granny had already named Tiffany Aching as her successor), and about what she could now do with Granny's cottage to make it over anew . After having been thwarted during Granny's wake, she next attempts to 'convince' Tiffany that Tiffany needs her as an 'advisor' (viewing Nanny Ogg as unqualified), and
2336-523: A new witch character, Tiffany Aching , who was gradually tied into the main witch storyline as her series continued. Most fully qualified witches are known by the title of "Mistress". Senior witches, also known as 'Mistress', are known by honorary titles such as "Granny", "Nanny", "Nana", "Goodie/Goody", "Old Mother", etc. The 'mottos' of Discworld witches (as mentioned in the Tiffany Aching books) include: Starting with Equal Rites in 1987,
2482-437: A new, more exciting persona for herself. Agnes calls this alter ego Perdita X Dream (where the X stands for: " a person who has a cool and exciting middle name "). Perdita is even more romantic than Magrat, although her tastes are more Gothic than New Age. The Perdita persona leaves Agnes in two minds about everything. The first mind is herself, good-natured and sensible Agnes; the second is dramatic and rebellious Perdita. It
2628-517: A number of conflicting theories about the destination of Great A'Tuin's journey through the cosmos . If, as the Discworld version of the popular " Big Bang theory " states, Great A'Tuin is moving from the Birthplace to the Time of Mating, then at the point of mating the civilisations of the Disc might be crushed, simply slide off, or else the entire world will end. The hypothesis is that all stars in
2774-486: A prop for her headology (in this case the placebo effect ), as explained in Lords and Ladies . After a long engagement, Magrat became Queen of Lancre by marrying King Verence II . As of Carpe Jugulum the couple has one daughter, Princess Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling. This unusual name was the result of Magrat's attempt to correct a mistake made by her own mother, who had intended for Magrat to be named "Margaret" but
2920-652: A reference to Frances Buss ). It is explained in Soul Music that few of the Discworld's higher-class schools (such as the Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild School) will admit female students (although the Assassins have since changed this policy), so Miss Butts founded the College "on the astonishing principle that, since gels had nothing much to do until someone married them, they might as well occupy
3066-597: A reference to real-world background radiation ) occurs when a very powerful spell hits, creating myriad sub-astral particles that severely distort local reality. Building a house in (or even walking into) a region where this has happened is extremely dangerous, as it is mentioned that an individual may not remain the same species, shape or level of sanity as they were when they entered. Medium levels cause odd effects, such as coins landing on their edges and turning into caterpillars. Areas with larger than normal quantities of background magic tend to display unusual qualities, even for
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#17327726165023212-502: A retired wizard and a natural organiser, especially of things that don't really need organising. She (and no one else) pronounces her name " Ah-wij " (a possible reference to Hyacinth Bucket from the BBC series Keeping Up Appearances ). She wears a great deal of "occult" jewellery that doesn't actually do anything. Granny Weatherwax dislikes Mrs. Earwig, claiming that she reduces witchcraft to "shoppin'". Mrs Earwig isn't actually bad, but
3358-463: A school of magic, Braseneck College (a parody of Brasenose College, Oxford ), which is apparently in competition for prestige with the larger, older Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork. In fact, the novel Raising Steam makes clear that this rivalry extends to the city level, as Pseudopolis refuses to accept an Ankh-Morpork-constructed trainline. As of Unseen Academicals , the aristocracy of
3504-540: A slow timescale. All they have been able to discern is that the Great A'Tuin is looking forward to something. The other theory, described as being popular among the Discworld's academics as the Discworld version of the steady state theory , which in-universe is known as the "steady gait" theory, is that Great A'Tuin came from nowhere and is going to keep swimming through space to nowhere forever. Eric shows Great A'Tuin being made instantly from nothing, seemingly in support of
3650-607: A sort of magical inbreeding. Discworld Voodoo is considered to be an aspect of witch magic, combined with a sort of do-it-yourself religion, relying heavily on the power of belief. The most powerful Discworld voodoo-women can deliberately create moderately powerful gods for a specific purpose. Generally speaking, witches are women and wizards are men. Despite the opinions of wizards and witches on this subject (that systemization comes easier to men and intuition comes easier to women), there appears to be no reason for this beyond cultural bias. There has only ever been one female wizard on
3796-542: A spring-operated hat that only grows a point when she wants it to, although her name still provides a fairly obvious clue as to her real profession ("Miss Tick" = "Mystic"). Thanks to her time as a student at the Quirm College for Young Ladies , which views time in cold water as character-building, she has also mastered the ability to stay underwater for prolonged periods, allowing her to escape punishment from superstitious witch-hunters. To aid her in this endeavor, she
3942-470: A strong temper herself. In Witches Abroad Magrat was chosen to serve as a Fairy Godmother, but her inability to master the use of the wand (which had a tendency to reset to "pumpkins") prevented her from taking full advantage of the powers associated with this position. Magrat is technically a better doctor than the other two witches, since she actually believes in herbalism while Granny tends to use whatever plant or bottle of coloured water comes to hand as
4088-524: A swamp dragon-breeding dowager duchess in Guards! Guards! . In Sourcery , Quirm was destroyed by wizards in a magic war, but presumably restored by Coin when he put everything back as it had been before the war. Susan Sto Helit , Lady Sybil Ramkin and Miss Perspicacia Tick were educated at the Quirm College for Young Ladies. The school's headmistress and founder is Miss Eulalie Butts (possibly
4234-532: A very minor role in this book, Agnes is the only one of the 'cool' new witches other than Diamanda in whom Nanny Ogg senses any real Talent. Following Magrat's marriage to King Verence II , the role of Maiden in the Lancre coven was reluctantly taken up by Agnes. Agnes is a sensible young woman who suffers from a self-induced multiple personality disorder . Tired of being seen as just another overweight girl with "a nice personality and good hair", Agnes tried to create
4380-409: A vocal range that extends from a deep bass rumble to a glass-shattering soprano, can sing in harmony with herself (a normally impossible ability), project her voice around a room (and the page), and mimic the voices of others. These remarkable gifts are due to her suppressed magical ability, which Agnes unconsciously used to enhance her innate musical talent. After joining the opera company, Agnes meets
4526-493: A witch is her community's 'designated sensible person'. Pratchett found a young protagonist useful, because when one is young "you have to learn". The name "Tiffany" was chosen deliberately, to be poorly evocative of a witch. A young witch (9 during The Wee Free Men , 11 in A Hat Full of Sky , 12 and 13 in Wintersmith , almost 16 in I Shall Wear Midnight , and in her late teens in The Shepherd's Crown ), Tiffany hails from
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4672-406: A witch, Miss Level . During her time with Miss Level, Tiffany uses the words "see me" to exit her body and see herself, believing it to be a harmless trick. Her body becomes vulnerable to infestation by a "hiver," (a gestalt entity of minds from the dawn of time) which uses her power to harm and cause chaos, using Tiffany's suppressed thoughts and desires as a basis. She eventually manages to overcome
4818-399: Is almost always highly trained in martial arts. Discworld witches often employ narrative in their magic, but consider it ethically tricky since it interferes with free will . Discworld wizards avoid doing so because narrative that severely strains credibility requires outright sources of magic to feed on, sometimes indiscriminately. Knowledge of stories, their use and how to change them forms
4964-542: Is also belief that gives Discworld's gods their powers. Discworld gods start off as tiny spirits, and gain power as they gain believers; this is explored most thoroughly in Small Gods . A similar effect has led to the personalisation and "reification" in the Discworld universe of mythological beings symbolising abstract concepts, such as Death , the Hogfather and other anthropomorphic personifications. In Hogfather ,
5110-417: Is also the location of Dunmanifestin, the home of many of the Disc's gods and the Discworld analogue of real-world Greek mythology 's Mount Olympus . The area surrounding Cori Celesti is known as The Hub, a land of high, icebound mountains that serves as an analogue to the real-world Himalayas , polar regions (since, although the Disc has no poles as such, it is as far as possible from the Disc's edge and thus
5256-699: Is an almost landlocked body of water approximately halfway between the Hub and the Rim, opening at the turnwise side into the Rim Ocean. The Circle Sea is analogous to the Mediterranean , in that it is bordered both by countries on the Sto Plains (Europe) and continent of Klatch (Middle East, North Africa). Its principal trading ports are Ankh-Morpork and Al Khali and Ephebe on the Rimwards side. The countries around
5402-404: Is believed strongly enough, or by enough people, it may become true. Jokes such as treacle mines and drop bears are real on the Disc. In reality lemmings do not actually rush en masse off cliffs; on the Disc, they do, because that is what people believe. These concepts of Discworld physics are also exploited in both wizard and witch magic. For example, when a character wishes to turn a cat into
5548-531: Is described as roughly 10,000 miles (16,000 km) wide, giving it a surface area two-fifths that of the Earth , which would make it roughly the size of the Pacific Ocean . In addition to its flatness, Pratchett gives it another principal geographic feature; Cori Celesti, a 10-mile-high (16 km) mountain that lies at its exact centre and is the point of origin for its standing magical field. Cori Celesti
5694-438: Is essentially the local breakdown of reality, which allows a flat planet on the back of a turtle to even exist. The force called "magic" is really just a function of the relative absence of reality in the local area, much in the same way that the absence of heat is described as "coldness". Magic warps reality in much the same way as the real universe's gravity warps its space-time. The act of performing magic is, essentially, telling
5840-586: Is extremely snobbish and self-absorbed (which is later revealed to make her immune to an Elf's power of glamour ), has very poor people skills, and tends to assume everyone would really agree with her if they weren't so stupid (so does Granny Weatherwax, of course, but at least she doesn't blame them for being stupid). Her approach to teaching appears to be to 'trust in the folk wisdom' of the locals when it comes to practical things like birthing and medicine, and focus on such things as crystals, magic circles and soothing chants to help matters along. Annagramma Hawkin
5986-574: Is furious when Tiffany turns her away, and over the following weeks and months she fans rumours that Tiffany isn't up to the job (as Tiffany is stretched thin trying to witch two steadings). However, when the threat of the elves rises, she is amongst those called upon to fight them off (during which her ' immunity ' to the elves glamour comes to light), and is amongst the force to drive the Elf Lords' Lankin's and Peaseblossom's forces away from Lancre. Ammeline Hamstring , also known as ' Goodie' Hamstring
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6132-726: Is her star (and in fact only) pupil. She is also the (self-appointed) chairwoman of the Witch Trials committee and has written a book about "Magick"; the "k" is to distinguish what she considers the True Craft from the everyday stuff Granny Weatherwax and other witches do—this in turn is a comedic reference on Pratchett's part to the use of ostentatious variant spellings of the word "magic" (ranging from Aleister Crowley 's to some Wiccans '). She also appears in "The Sea and Little Fishes", A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith . According to The Shepherd's Crown , she has since taken on
6278-444: Is in her late teens, Granny Weatherwax dies, leaving a note recommending that Tiffany take over her steading. Though at first she splits her time between there and the chalk, she eventually leaves the steading to the care of Geoffrey, a man she had been training to become a witch. She builds for herself her own shepherd's carding hut by hand, so as to live up on the chalk, re-using the iron wheels which remained after Granny Aching's hut
6424-411: Is known as narrativium, the elemental substance of Story . Nothing on the Disc can exist without a Story first existing to mould its destiny and determine its form. This is, perhaps, a take on the fact that nothing can ever happen on the Disc unless it is written in a story by Terry Pratchett. On the Disc, if a story or legend is told often enough and believed by enough people, it becomes true. This
6570-609: Is known as the law of narrative causality. For example, characters in Guards! Guards! describe the marauding (noble) dragon as an "impossible" creature, yet it is able to fly and breathe fire because that is what dragons are expected to do . Similarly, a witch gone bad may meet a bad end after building a house of gingerbread . If a miller has a third son, he will invariably leave him only his cat . A hero will always win when outnumbered, since million-to-one chances are dramatic enough to "crop up nine times out of ten", but always lose when faced with "a little bald wrinkly smiling man" who
6716-557: Is learning from her to be a Witch Finder, and practices on her own while Miss Tick is out on the road). In The Shepherd's Crown , she is asked by Tiffany to help find her a couple of potential young witches looking to learn the craft to help her caretake for two steadings, after which time, Tiffany is also approached by Geoffrey Swivel . Lancre The Discworld is the fictional world where English writer Sir Terry Pratchett 's Discworld fantasy novels take place. It consists of an intersteller planet-sized disc , which sits on
6862-522: Is no time in Tiffany's life since then which when they have not (in)discreetly watched her. Tiffany begins her witching career at nine, upon being scouted out by the "witch finder" Miss Tick , after things from Fairyland begin making an entrance. She later leads the Feegles on a journey into Fairyland to rescue Wentworth, her toddler-age brother, as well as Roland , the young son of the local Baron, from
7008-460: Is not mentioned. Great A'Tuin has been mentioned to frequently roll on its belly to avoid asteroid and comet collisions, or even to snatch these projectiles out of the sky which might otherwise destroy the Disc. These stunts do not affect the Disc's population, other than to induce severe seasickness on anyone who happens to be looking at the night sky at that time. A'Tuin has been known to do more complex rolls and corkscrews, but these are rarer. This
7154-541: Is not seen as having magical properties, being instead something to employ magic through, and can only be made from scratch in the moment it is needed and used only once. A shamble, which can consist of any number of things, must contain something living, such as a fresh egg or a small insect. Unlike wizard magic, which is taught en masse, witch magic is taught on a one-to-one basis by older witches to apprentices. Although magical talent tends to run in families, witches do not teach their daughters, feeling that this would cause
7300-459: Is octiron, a dense black metal that is a large part of the Discworld's crust. Its melting point is above the range of metal forges. The gates of Unseen University are made out of it, as is Old Tom, the university's bell. It is used to make magic needles and bells. It releases magical radiation, but if it becomes negatively polarised, it can be used to absorb such radiation. It generates significant amounts of heat under pressure, accounting for most of
7446-420: Is really there instead of what one hopes to see, expects to see, or what others see—and Second Thoughts—thinking about the way one is thinking. Though witches rarely use magic, a low-level form of magic employed frequently is a 'shamble', a handmade device or construct used by witches for such uses as detecting or amplifying magic, for protection (like a "curse net"), or for sending out a spell. The shamble itself
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#17327726165027592-547: Is said that inside every fat girl, there is a thin girl waiting to get out (and a lot of chocolate)—according to Perdita, she is that girl. The Perdita personality usually manifests itself only as part of Agnes's internal dialogue, often in the form of sarcastic remarks (as though her 'Second Thoughts' have taken on a life of their own). Yet Perdita is capable of taking real action in emergency situations. This divided personality makes Agnes highly resistant to mental manipulation. Anyone trying to mesmerise or entrance Agnes will find
7738-592: Is said to be much easier to discover than fire, and only slightly harder to discover than water. One of Rincewind's many accumulated positions is Reader in Slood Dynamics. The General Theory of Slood was discovered by Archchancellor Sloman, and a stained glass window representing this event is in the meeting room of the Unseen University college council. The University's plumbing system contains pipes for maintaining slood differential. The Disc itself
7884-459: Is similar to real-world sea turtles' habit of rolling over with their shell down to protect themselves from sharks. Due to the Great A'Tuin's travelling through the universe, the night sky of the Discworld changes markedly over the course of decades, as the turtle departs older constellations and enters new ones. This means that astrologers must constantly update and alter their horoscopes to incorporate all-new zodiacs. A tiny sun and moon orbit
8030-503: Is surprisingly practical. She can defend herself physically when necessary, and is capable of performing impressive feats of real magic (as seen in Wyrd Sisters when Magrat uses her magic to turn the old wooden door into a rising oak—a display that impresses even Granny Weatherwax). Magrat's gentle personality allows her to serve as a mediator between the often-clashing Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, but she does occasionally display
8176-483: Is the anonymous author of Magavenatio Obtusis ( Witch-hunting for Dumb People ), which she generously places in the libraries of various witch-hating villages. It includes such vital information as drowning rather than burning a witch, ensuring that the witch has silver coins in her boots, and is given a nice meal of hot soup and tea before her ducking. Miss Tick appears in The Wee Free Men , A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith (where it's revealed that Lucy Warbeck
8322-484: Is the daughter of Simplicity Garlick, granddaughter of Araminta Garlick and niece of Yvonnel Garlick. She was the original Maiden in the Lancre coven, which consisted of herself, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg . She is often described as "a wet hen", generally by Granny Weatherwax. Magrat believes in crystals, folk wisdom, and cycles of nature, and is overall a gentle parody of New Age pagans. Despite appearances, beneath her silver jewelry and heavy eye makeup, Magrat
8468-521: Is the nature of belief on the Disc that temporary new gods come into being on a regular basis, and often for such mundane things as stuck drawers; Anoia, Goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers, came into her powers in such a manner, though she was previously a volcano goddess. The Disc's nature is fundamentally teleological ; its basic composition is determined by what it is ultimately meant to be. This primary element, out of which all others spring,
8614-461: Is the thaum (from the Greek thauma , marvel), equal to the amount of mystical energy required to conjure up one small white pigeon , or three normal-sized billiard balls . Several SI -modifiers have been applied to it (e.g. millithaum, kilothaum) in the books. Magic can be measured with a thaumometer, which is described as a black cube with a dial on one side. A standard thaumometer is good for up to
8760-400: Is understood that witches will accept gifts of food, clean used clothing or old pairs of shoes in return for their help. Despite not receiving traditional payment for their services, there is considered pride in being a witch, and Granny Weatherwax emphasises at every possible opportunity that it is considered lucky to have a witch in your house, and that it would be especially lucky if the witch
8906-461: The Neopagans ' Triple Goddess . The three witches are portrayed as more sensible and realistic than the often-foolish residents of the Discworld, and Granny Weatherwax "especially tends to give voice to the major themes of Pratchett's work." Witch magic is very different from the wizard magic taught in the Unseen University , and consists largely of finding clever and efficient ways to achieve
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#17327726165029052-536: The main Discworld continent , as described in the events of Equal Rites . The island of Krull on the very Rim of the Disc does not mind female wizards but no one from the Circle Sea would ever admit they exist. The role of witches has been defined as "smoothing out life's humps and bumps", and "helping people when life's on the edge", often taking the role of a village midwife, medicine woman and death doula. Witches do not accept payment for their services, but it
9198-590: The post . Astolat is a legendary location in Arthurian mythology , and Sto lat is also a traditional Polish song equivalent to Happy Birthday to You ( sto lat literally means "hundred years"). Sto Helit is a duchy within Sto Lat, which was given to Mort in Mort , after he'd saved Queen Kelirehenna. After his death in Soul Music , his duchy apparently was passed to his daughter, Susan . She works as
9344-442: The red- and blue-shifting of light becomes noticeable when travelling at speeds of merely a one hundred and twenty miles per hour (190 km/h). Reality is spread thinly on the Disc, so events may be affected by expectations, especially those of 'intelligent' species such as humans, dwarves, etc. As such, the Discworld is not governed by real-world physics or logic but by belief and narrative resolution. Essentially, if something
9490-557: The "steady gait" theory; however, the events in The Light Fantastic , in which the Great A'Tuin attended the hatching of eight baby turtles, each with four baby elephants and a tiny discworld of their own, would seem to support the Big Bang hypothesis. The little turtles have since gone off on their own journeys. Whether this was the event the Great A'Tuin was looking forward to or merely one step towards its ultimate goal
9636-617: The Chalk , a Barony and a region of Downland Rimward of the Ramtops . Her family the Achings are the tenants of the Home Farm of the local Barony, the de Chumsfanleigh (pronounced "de Chuffley"). Her late grandmother, Sarah 'Granny' Aching (who died 2 years prior to the events in The Wee Free Men ), was a shepherdess , and by Ramtop standards she was also a witch, although witchcraft
9782-454: The Chalk . In The Shepherd's Crown , Tiffany is still romantically attached to Preston, who has become a surgeon, though, given their devotion to their jobs, they rarely have time to see each other. She visits him in Ankh-Morpork, and they write letters. Tiffany is mentored by Granny Weatherwax , and is named her successor. Granny Weatherwax, who is notoriously difficult to please, has several times been impressed by her. Eskarina Smith ,
9928-541: The Chalk in what should be early spring, threatening the new lambs. Tiffany melts him using a trick taught by Granny Weatherwax, fulfilling her temporary role as the Summer Lady and allowing the real one, brought from the Underworld by Roland, to resume her role. After Miss Treason's death, she is briefly apprenticed to Nanny Ogg before returning to the Chalk and taking up the job of witch to the Chalk. When Tiffany
10074-449: The Circle Sea are Ankh-Morpork , Ephebe , Djelibeybi , Klatch, Omnia and Tsort. The Circle Sea is the location of Leshp, an island that occasionally rises to the surface on a cushion of foul-smelling gas, before settling back to the seafloor once more. Leshp's last appearance sparked a near-war between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch in Jingo . The unnamed continent is the one on which most of
10220-462: The Disc use a compass with a needle of the magical metal octiron , which will always point towards Cori Celesti. Light is so oddly affected by magic that, as it passes into the Disc's atmosphere, it actually slows down from millions to hundreds of miles an hour. One odd effect of this is that the Disc has time zones , however, as a flat world, it should not. Another effect is that, as reported in Thud! ,
10366-421: The Disc, (e.g. the number of the colour of Magic, octarine) and should never be spoken by wizards, especially in certain places. Doing so may allow the ancient dungeon dimension creature "Bel-Shamharoth the sender of eight" to break through (this is taken to an extreme end in one book, as even the narrator takes great pains to avoid saying the word). On the other hand, eight turns up in many places one would expect
10512-531: The Disc. Very high quantities of magic can knock a hole in Discworld reality, leading to an invasion by Lovecraftian monstrosities from the Dungeon Dimensions, or, almost as bad, the world of the Elves . In the Discworld universe, magic is broken into elementary particulate fragments in much the same way that energy and other forces are in real-world quantum physics . The basic unit of Discworld magic
10658-503: The Discworld are not given as North, South, East and West, but rather as directions relating to the disc itself: Hubward (towards the centre), Rimward (away from the centre) and to a lesser extent, turnwise (direction of the disc's rotation) and widdershins (against the direction of the disc's rotation). The drawing on the front cover of Jingo shows a weathercock fitted with the requisite H , R , T and W letters. The disc rotates clockwise as seen from above. The Circle Sea
10804-402: The Discworld physics equivalent of the atom . "Splitting the thaum" revealed that it was in fact composed of numerous sub-particles, called resons ("thingies") which in turn are created from a combination of up to five "flavours": up, down, sideways, sex appeal, and peppermint (parodying the real-world quarks ). In the opening books, the number eight is significant and has magical properties on
10950-439: The Discworld, also referred to as the eighth colour . This fictional colour is strongly indicative of magic and can only be seen by wizards and cats, who both possess "octagon cells" in addition to the normal cones and rods possessed by humans. (See tetrachromacy for the real-world equivalent.). Rincewind, a wizard, describes it as resembling a fluorescent greenish-yellow purple. The Disc contains magical substances. One such
11096-594: The Discworld. The narration has described A'Tuin as "the only turtle ever to feature on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram ". Great A'Tuin's sex is unknown to the inhabitants of Discworld (though in The Colour of Magic Pratchett describes the turtle as male), but the subject of much speculation by some of the Disc's finest scientific minds. The sex of the World Turtle is pivotal in proving or disproving
11242-685: The Duchess Annagovia of Borogravia in Monstrous Regiment . It is possible for gods to derive power from misotheists , as demonstrated in Small Gods when Om takes a liking to the ardently anti-Omnianist Sergeant Simony. As demonstrated in Faust Eric and Mort , personal belief determines someone's fate in the afterlife, rather than divine judgement, whether it is going to paradise or Hell, or being reincarnated. Such
11388-485: The Gonnagle , Hamish , and Not-as-big-as-Medium-sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock Jock . While training in Lancre, she attended a coven of young witches 'led' by Annagramma Hawkin . Tiffany and fellow coven members Lucy Warbeck and Petulia Gristle eventually acquit themselves well as witches; Annagramma, however, finds that her training, under the tutelage of Letice Earwig , had not been enough to prepare her for
11534-422: The Great A'Tuin, both about 1 mile (1.6 km) in diameter when described at the start of the series, but the description of their diameter is increased to at least 80 miles (130 km) later in the chronicles. The moon is slightly closer to the Disc than the sun. One half is covered with silvery glowing plants, which feed the lunar dragons. The other half is burnt black by the sun. The moon rotates and completes
11680-563: The Marquis des Aix en Pains speaks Morporkian with a French accent. Quirm is famous for its floral clock : a circle of flowers, each of which opens its petals at a different hour. Quirm is also famous for its (blue-veined) cheese. Quirmian cuisine is generally characterised by avec (French for "with"). Quirm is a duchy ruled by the Rodley family. Members of this family include Lord Rodley, an upper-class twit in Mort , and Brenda Rodley,
11826-655: The Perdita personality surfacing as Agnes begins to lose control, and vice versa. When Lancre is overrun by vampires with mind-control powers in Carpe Jugulum , Agnes/Perdita is one of the few people capable of resisting their hypnotic influence. In Maskerade Agnes becomes a major character for the first time. She leaves Lancre to become an opera singer in Ankh-Morpork , under the stage name 'Perdita X Nitt'. Agnes possesses an amazing talent for singing. She has
11972-470: The Pseudopolis city militias; curiously (and this may be no more than a coincidence, although there may be a connection given Nobby's penchant for nicking and flogging [i.e., stealing and selling] anything not nailed down), Pseudopolis always lost its wars at this period because of an unaccountable shortage of weapons. John Keel, a city watchman, moved from Pseudopolis to Ankh-Morpork and was the mentor of
12118-461: The Queen of the Elves . For this she earns the respect of Granny Weatherwax , a significant achievement in itself. Although Tiffany is too young at the time to be an official witch, Granny gives her an imaginary invisible hat to boost her confidence. Such is the power of belief on the Disc that this hat keeps off the rain. Two years later, Tiffany travels up to Lancre to be formally apprenticed to
12264-508: The Rim, a great, encircling waterfall (the Rimfall) sends the Disc's oceans cascading into space. Pratchett is evasive about how the water eventually returns to refill the oceans, only saying, "Arrangements are made." The mist from the plunging waters creates the Rimbow, an eight-colour (the eighth is octarine ) double rainbow consisting both of light and of magic. Cardinal directions within
12410-399: The Sto Plains was Mort, and he did it by diplomacy rather than conquest. The principal city of the Sto Plains is Ankh-Morpork . While it does not exert any political power over its neighbors, its economic domination of the region (summed up by the phrase, "Attack us, and we'll call in your mortgages") has meant that the smaller cities around it are essentially its satellites. For some reason,
12556-650: The United Kingdom, or even Greece (as a description in Unseen Academicals describes Quirm as having "strange water", which is the typical stereotype of the Greek water supply). The Quirmian language is occasionally described as similar to French or Spanish, but Snuff notes that all Quirmians speak perfect Morporkian. Spoken Quirmian in Making Money , is identical to French. In Raising Steam ,
12702-552: The animal is talked to death.) A witch who teaches school over the mountain from Lancre. She takes snuff and does her own shoe repairs, which makes her "All Right" in Nanny Ogg's book, but has a nasty habit of being reasonable when provoked. Appears in Witches Abroad and the short story " The Sea and Little Fishes ". A very old witch who has been fortune telling for so long that she is no longer able to keep her mind in
12848-660: The assassin Mr. Teatime tries to kill the patron of Hogswatch by using an old magic that involves controlling a person with a part of their body (in this case, the teeth collected by the Tooth Fairies), in order to stop children from believing in him, and almost succeeds. It is also possible for humans to gain godly powers through the power of belief, typically venerated rulers such as the Kings of Djelibeybi as seen in Pyramids , and
12994-579: The author invents them. But while the creative channel is being held open, all sorts of memories and thoughts creep out, somewhat to the owner's surprise. — Terry Pratchett on Tiffany's creation Pratchett once said that Tiffany Aching "started with a girl lying down by a river, on the first page of The Wee Free Men ". In his youth, Pratchett was "fascinated" by a nearby chalk pit , and like Tiffany knew how to read words before being able to pronounce them. The Wee Free Men features "a lot of [his] past" in its descriptions. A lot of Tiffany's understanding of
13140-446: The backs of four huge elephants , themselves standing on the back of a world turtle , named Great A'Tuin , as it slowly swims through space. The Disc is the setting for all forty-one Discworld novels; it was influenced by world religions which feature human worlds resting on turtles, as a setting to reflect situations on Earth, in a humorous way. The Discworld is peopled mostly by the three main races of; Men, Dwarves and Trolls. As
13286-471: The basis of many forms of magical power in Discworld physics. Pratchett characters who use or change stories include Lilith, Black Aliss, and Granny Weatherwax. The habit of many Discworlders to take metaphor literally has combined with the power of belief to produce some very odd areas on the Discworld. The Place Where The Sun Does Not Shine, for instance, is a deep crevasse in Lancre, incidentally located between A Rock and A Hard Place. The colour of magic on
13432-601: The best Discworld stuff in years". On the occasion of Pratchett's death in 2015, the Press Association listed Tiffany as Pratchett's seventh greatest character, highlighting her relationship with the Nac Mac Feegle. According to Pratchett, his portrayal of Tiffany led to him being made an honorary Brownie . Pratchett has called the Tiffany Aching books "very close to my heart", and has said they are
13578-447: The best candidate for the third member of the Lancre coven, soon arrive and complicate things further. In the end, Agnes realizes that her practical nature is unsuited the world of opera . She returns to Lancre and becomes the new Third Witch . In Carpe Jugulum , the arrangement of the coven had been upset by Granny Weatherwax 's sudden departure, although Agnes retained her role of Maiden. She, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick fended off
13724-399: The books are set. It is essentially the analogue of Europe, and contains among other things the Sto Plains and Ramtops, as well as the more Eastern European lands around Überwald. The Sto Plains are the rough analogue to Western Europe on the Discworld. They are a land of rich black loam, upon which rests a great squat forest of cabbages . In Soul Music , a footnote states various facts of
13870-597: The books he would like to be "remembered for". Witches (Discworld) A major subset of the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett involves the witches of Lancre . The three main witches introduced in 1988's Wyrd Sisters —crone Esme Weatherwax , mother Nanny Ogg and maiden Magrat Garlick —are a spoof on the Three Witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth , and a tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of
14016-417: The books that three witches are required for a coven. Two witches get on each other's nerves; the third one can get them to make up, so they can all get on the nerves of everyone else. If a coven has more than three members, they all get on each other's nerves. (It is also mentioned that the true collective noun for a group of witches is not "coven", but "argument".) Magrat Garlick (pronounced Magg-rat )
14162-487: The city appear to have undertaken an experiment in representative democracy , much to Lord Vetinari 's amusement. While no Discworld novels have been set in Pseudopolis, a number of characters have roots there. Eric Thursley lives/lived at 13 Midden Lane ( Faust Eric ). Charlie, a man with an extraordinary physical resemblance to Ankh-Morpork Patrician Havelock Vetinari , ran a clothes shop there ( The Truth ). Nobby Nobbs had an early career as an armourer in one of
14308-579: The clan of vampires, the de Magpyr, who threatened to take over Lancre, whilst at the same time fending off the rather forward romantic advances of the vampire clan's son, Vlad de Magpyr, who is fascinated with Agnes' dual mind, as it makes mind control over her difficult to impossible. Agnes makes a brief appearance in The Sea and Little Fishes , where her voice is complimented during the Lancre Witch Trials by Mistress Clarity Shimmy: " That's
14454-532: The climax of events in I Shall Wear Midnight , it is revealed that Tiffany, as the Witch of the Chalk, also has powers and authority not unlike a Justice of the peace ; she is able to perform binding marriage ceremonies, and judge and deal out punishment onto the deserving. Tiffany is the seventh of the Aching children, and the second youngest, the youngest child being her only brother, Wentworth. Both her parents are alive, but she attracts little attention around
14600-571: The climax of events in I Shall Wear Midnight , it is revealed that the local witch, as the witch of that area, also has powers and authority not unlike a Justice of the peace ; they are able to perform binding marriage ceremonies, as well as judge and deal out punishment onto the deserving. The main witches in the books are the Lancre Coven: Granny Weatherwax , Nanny Ogg , Magrat Garlick and later Agnes Nitt . A sub-series of young adult books introduced
14746-507: The coat of arms has a hippo on each side. Pseudopolis (its name translates to "false city") is first mentioned in the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic . That novel also refers to Psephopololis, which according to The Discworld Mapp is the same place. The city is not to be confused with Pseudopolis Yard, the headquarters of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch (a reference to Scotland Yard ). Pseudopolis possesses
14892-404: The creature that collected minds has left her with shadows of those memories, including a deceased, didactic wizard named Sensibility Bustle, who translates any foreign word inside her head upon hearing or seeing it. Tiffany is also able to hear "Spill Words", the words almost spoken but left unsaid, a skill she learnt from Mrs. Proust. This skill is often mistaken for the ability to read minds. At
15038-476: The eye of a godlike being. The Wintersmith continues its advances, even attempting to create a human body out of snow and miscellaneous elements using a recipe from a children's song. Tiffany, after some advice from Nanny Ogg about the power a young woman has over a suitor, manages to control the Wintersmith for a time. However, eventually he gains the upper hand and brings a record-breaking snow and cold to
15184-522: The fictional element chelonium, the properties of which are apparently known to them (they do tests to look for it in Roundworld [the Discworld analogue of Earth] in The Science of Discworld ), but not to readers. Magic is the principal force in the Discworld and operates in a similar vein to real-world elemental forces such as gravity and electromagnetism . The Disc's "standing magical field"
15330-401: The forest. A witch for whom the phrase "I've only got one pair of hands" was highly inappropriate, for she had one mind and two bodies. She formerly worked in a circus reading her own mind. The phrase is now only technically accurate, following the death of one body, although she can still use the other as a "phantom limb" of sorts. This has resulted in her gaining a huge amount of respect among
15476-508: The hiver by giving it what it truly wants: the ability to die. At the age of thirteen, while studying under Miss Treason , Tiffany accidentally attracts the romantic interests of the Wintersmith after unwittingly playing the role of the Summer Lady at the Autumn Morris Dance (the so-called Dark Morris). She is at first ambivalent towards the Wintersmith, unnerved by the attention, but also somewhat flattered that she has caught
15622-501: The house, because she does her job well, which means nobody ever has to come and fuss over her, which in turn means nobody ever pays a lot of attention to her. While she does not particularly like her brother, she sets out to rescue him because he is her brother. She is friends with several of the Nac Mac Feegle , including Rob Anybody (originally, but accidentally, her betrothed), Daft Wullie (somewhat clueless), William
15768-579: The inhabitants of a world where he forgot to include any. Since fingles do not exist on Earth, it is implied that Earth is the planet the Creator is referring to, and humanity is the species that is fundamentally incomplete because of their absence. Another is slood. First mentioned in The Last Continent , slood is a natural substance that could be discovered by intelligent beings, but that humans on Earth have been too unintelligent to find; it
15914-549: The local Lancre girls led by Lucy " Diamanda " Tockley who decided to become witches during the absence of the Coven in Genua. Along with Violet " Magenta " Frottidge and " Amanita " DeVice, Agnes had adopted a more witchy-sounding name " Perdita ". Faced with a disapproving Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, she reverted to her birth name when she approached them to learn true witchcraft after Diamanda's duel with Granny. Although she plays
16060-423: The local population, who had previously always suspected she was two people. An intelligent and well-meaning person, she spends much of her time explaining concepts such as bacteria to people who aren't going to believe her. Granny Weatherwax arranges for her to be Tiffany's first teacher because (as Granny Weatherwax will only admit under duress), Miss Level is the best of Ramtops witches when it comes to tending to
16206-425: The magical devices known as 'shambles', though unlike Granny, she later overcomes this obstacle. Tiffany has also demonstrated an affinity for using fire , which she considers a friend (most witches do not consider fire to have good associations for them in view of its history). In I Shall Wear Midnight it is revealed that in the future, Tiffany is able to exert a limited amount of influence over events throughout
16352-407: The main Discworld books featuring Tiffany Aching are: Tiffany is also the in-universe author of the tie-in book Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch by Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent, published in 2023 in part to celebrate twenty years of the character. It sounds amateurish to say that characters invent themselves, and in truth they don't. That's just a short-hand phrase. Of course
16498-457: The major novels featuring the witches are: The majority of Discworld Witches are seen in the Ramtops region of Discworld, and, barring the latest book in the Tiffany Aching series, the primary protagonists of the Witch books are from Lancre , a country in the Ramtops region. The Lancre Coven is, as mentioned above, the main group of witches in the Discworld novels, and the ones featured in
16644-508: The novels progress, other lesser known races are included, such as; dragons, elves, goblins and pixies. Pratchett first explored the idea of a disc-shaped world in the novel Strata (1981). Great A'Tuin is the Giant Star Turtle (of the fictional species Chelys galactica ) who travels through the Discworld universe's space , carrying four giant elephants (named Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon, and Jerakeen) who in turn carry
16790-660: The novels referred to as "The Witches series". They began as a parody of the Three Witches in Macbeth , and also as a reworking of the Maiden , Mother and Crone archetypes (the Triple Goddess ). It could also be said that they each represent a different stereotype of witches: Granny is the classic fairy tale witch, Nanny the village wise woman and Magrat the modern romantic Wiccan . It has been explained in
16936-407: The number seven in the real world (e.g. the Discworld week contains eight days, not seven). After The Colour of Magic , both the colour and the number eight no longer appear as dangerous. The Disc's magical field is centred on Cori Celesti. Everyday natural forces, such as light and magnetism , are muffled by the power of the Disc's magical field, and rather than a magnetised needle, navigators on
17082-583: The original Duke of Sto Helit, a thoroughly nasty man who staged a bid for the succession, thwarted only by Mort in Mort . At the end of Mort , Princess Keli became Queen. Politically, Sto Lat is the capital of a kingdom ruled by Queen Kelirehenna, which includes Sto Helit, Sto Kerrig, and the Eight Protectorates. Her authority is exercised through a Mayor. The kingdom was one of the first places outside Ankh-Morpork to adopt its own stampings for
17228-469: The populace at large. This leads some witches to become resentful of their charges, and to use their power against them. A witch who "goes to the bad" may initially not feel she is doing anything wrong, but will eventually lose it, resulting in abuses of magic that may lead to her own demise. Witches call this "cackling" and, to keep it at bay, they pay regular visits to one another to gossip and take tea, often travelling some considerable distance to do so. At
17374-434: The present (as Granny Weatherwax puts it, she has a " detached retina in her second sight "). Her mouth frequently appears out of sync with her words, and her footsteps often sound ten minutes before she actually makes them. Passing references to Old Mother Dismass are made in Maskerade and Wintersmith . Appears in Witches Abroad and "The Sea and Little Fishes" (where her given name is revealed as "Beryl"). The wife of
17520-400: The protagonist of Equal Rites , tells Tiffany in I Shall Wear Midnight that they become close friends. Eskarina uses her time travelling abilities to facilitate a meeting between Tiffany and her older self. Tim Martin of The Telegraph called Tiffany one of Pratchett's ten best Discworld characters, criticising I Shall Wear Midnight but calling the first three Aching novels "some of
17666-633: The reality of witching life, and her onetime coven subordinates agree to help her get on her feet. Roland comes to have great affection for Tiffany and takes the role of the mythic hero, attempting to rescue her from the Underworld and from the romantic attentions of the Wintersmith. Tiffany herself denies having any affection for Roland, but there are many signs that she does have feelings for him, even though she does not admit it until pressured to by Nanny Ogg . However, both eventually recognise that their both being different from everybody else did not mean they had anything in common, and Roland eventually married
17812-605: The region and all its inhabitants. On several occasions, Tiffany has induced in herself a state of total mental clarity, becoming completely aware of every sensation, life-form and object around her, including the land itself. It is also hinted at that the Chalk itself can, likewise, 'Borrow' the witch it 'Chose', having once temporarily spoken through Tiffany, telling her childhood friend, Roland, that she would marry him (and later performing an ancient marriage ceremony on Roland and his fiancée, Letitia). Tiffany has shown skill in many of
17958-475: The region: The cabbage has an almost mythic status among the people of the Sto Plains, and is an emblem of its largest and dominant city, Ankh-Morpork , which is located near the northeast of the coat of arms. Many young people who leave the farming areas of the Plains for life in the big city would happily never see a cabbage again. Although they have been an empire in the past, the Sto Plains currently exist as
18104-462: The right results, often without using magic at all to do so. In contrast to wizard magic, witch magic relies more on common sense, hard work, and a peculiar brand of psychology known as headology , most commonly employed by Granny Weatherwax, and more commonly used on people. Witch magic is less energy-intensive than wizard magic, which means that a witch can technically do more than an equally-powerful wizard. Also unlike wizards, witches do not make
18250-443: The same areas of magic as Granny Weatherwax (though generally to a lesser degree): she has precociously mastered the art of Borrowing (the art of stepping outside one's own self), though Tiffany did not recognise it at the time, and merely used it as a means of viewing herself when without a mirror. The resulting vacancy of her body was what attracted the hiver to possess her in A Hat Full of Sky . In Wintersmith she demonstrates
18396-511: The sick and elderly, and waiting upon the ungrateful, which Granny considers the soul and center of witchcraft. As Tiffany's teacher, she appears in A Hat Full of Sky . Perspicacia Tick is a " Witch Finder ", a travelling witch with the responsibility of finding young girls who have the potential to be witches. She makes a living as a teacher, a role which has given her a habit of correcting spelling, grammar and punctuation. Since she often finds herself in areas where witches are unwelcome, she has
18542-416: The sky are also worlds carried by giant turtles, and that when all the turtles meet they will mate passionately, for the first and only time; from that mating, it is hypothesised that new turtles would be born to carry a new pattern of worlds. Attempts by telepaths to learn more about Great A'Tuin's intents have not met with much success, mainly because they did not realise that its brain functions are on such
18688-469: The sun), and Scandinavia – the Hublanders share many features with Vikings . Polar bears are renamed "Hubland bears", while the Disc's equivalent of the aurora borealis (described as being produced by the Disc's magical field, rather than by magnetism) is known as the "Aurora Coriolis". The areas closer to the Rim are warmer and tropical, since the Disc's sun passes closer to them in its orbit. At
18834-404: The teaching profession themselves, or become governesses . Sto Lat, ruled by Queen Kelirehenna , is located about 20 miles (32 km) from Ankh-Morpork. According to the books, Sto Lat is a sizable walled town in the Sto Plains, although eclipsed enormously both in size and influence by the neighbouring city of Ankh-Morpork . Sto Lat is the nearest major city to Ankh-Morpork (approximately
18980-485: The time of Granny's death. Witch stationed in Sidling Without and who is good with pigs, as acknowledged by Esme Weatherwax. She is mentor to Petulia Gristle , good with animals, and is apparently a pig-borer, cow-shouter and all-round veterinary witch. (The terms "pig-borer" and "cow-shouter" are plays on horse whisperer . According to The Discworld Almanak , pig-boring is a humane form of slaughter in which
19126-439: The time with learning things." The school resembles a traditional English independent girls' school, with an academic curriculum and heavy emphasis on respectable and decent behaviour. Students at the school do not seem to be preparing for any particular profession. Susan Sto Helit describes it as "an education in, well, education" ( Hogfather ). It appears that those students who do not marry upon leaving school generally go into
19272-524: The time. It is also revealed that since the events of Carpe Jugulum Magrat and Verence have had two more children. In the Wyrd Sisters animated adaptation, Magrat is voiced by Jane Horrocks . In the BBC Radio 4 adaptation, she was played by Deborah Berlin. A fossil species of Mesozoic ginkgo has been named Ginkgoites garlickianus after Magrat Garlick. Agnes Nitt , daughter of Threepenny Nitt, first appears in Lords and Ladies as one of
19418-474: The timeline with the help of Eskarina Smith , the main character of Equal Rites . Tiffany is very skilled at making cheese; and owns one particular Blue Lancre, named Horace, which habitually eats mice. She has read the entire dictionary, although she sometimes has difficulty with pronunciation. Tiffany also has a talent with languages, a side effect of the encounter with the Hiver. The occupation of her mind by
19564-498: The universe what form it must take, in terms that the universe cannot ignore. This is very draining to magic users, due to Discworld science's Law of Conservation of Reality, which states that magic and mundane methods require the same energy expenditure. This is why most Discworld wizards store magic in a staff, which is a sort of capacitor for magical energy. On the Discworld, where magic has more in common with particle physics than Houdini , high-level background magic (most likely
19710-478: The volcanic geological processes on Discworld. When struck (such as with Old Tom), instead of producing a sound it briefly silences anything around it. Another is fingles, insinuated in Eric to be an important part of human psychology. Their absence, according to the Creator, can cause psychological problems. "On the surface they were all right, but deep down they knew something was missing", as he put it, referring to
19856-407: The way one thinks about the way one thinks), and Fourth Thoughts (the thoughts one thinks about the way one thinks about the way one thinks about the way one thinks). All these thoughts sometimes cause Tiffany to walk into door frames. Like her grandmother, she appears to have a symbiotic, spiritual link with the hill lands on which she lives, and as such has shown herself to be strongly protective of
20002-479: The way she is treated by the senior members of the Lancre coven and is supplanted by Agnes Nitt after the events of Maskerade . Her absence from Maskerade seemed to confirm that Magrat had retired from her career as a witch, but after Princess Esmerelda's birth she was forced to assume the Mother role in the coven when Granny Weatherwax decided to temporarily step down during the events of Carpe Jugulum . Nanny
20148-523: The wedding of Roland de Chumsfanleigh (the new Baron of the Chalk) and Letitia Keepsake (the daughter and only child of the Duchess and late Duke of Keepsake), and was flown down from Lancre by Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. In The Shepherd's Crown , she is one of the people across the Disc who feels Granny Weatherwax's death when she dies of old age; she and Verence were attending a conference in Genua at
20294-413: The world is based on Pratchett's own experiences. With Tiffany, Pratchett wanted to "restate" the purpose of magic on the Discworld and the relationship between wizards, witches and others. He included ideas of responsibility and "guarding your society" as he felt it drew closer to the reality of a witch – that is, "the village herbalist, the midwife, the person who knew things"; like a designated driver ,
20440-523: The young Sam Vimes ( Night Watch ). Quirm is the location of the Quirm College for Young Ladies (formerly attended by Susan Sto Helit ) and the birthplace of Leonard of Quirm (the Disc's Leonardo da Vinci ). It is a quiet and peaceful town, and for this reason is a popular holiday destination. It is also where Morporkians go when they retire (including Lord Vetinari 's aunt, Lady Roberta Meserole). In this regard, it relates to Ankh-Morpork as Eastbourne relates to London, or possibly as Spain relates to
20586-420: Was a witch from Lancre, the Ramtops . She appeared only in Mort , and was Mort 's first "collection" as Death 's apprentice. She had a grey cat. As with all Discworld magical practitioners, she knew in advance when her death would be and again would be personally visited by Death (or had a right to be anyway) so she had time to prepare. When Mort arrived she was an elderly lady with a hooked nose wearing
20732-443: Was burned. As a witch, Tiffany possesses First Sight, the ability to see "what is really there" (as opposed to second sight , which shows people what they think ought to be there). She also possesses Second Thoughts, which are defined as "the thoughts you think about the way you think". Whilst other witches are said to have this trait as well, Tiffany also recognizes some of her thoughts as Third Thoughts (the thoughts one thinks about
20878-424: Was frowned upon on the Chalk until Tiffany openly practised it. Granny Aching was a friend of the Chalk's Clan of Nac Mac Feegles (an army of tiny, tattoed in blue colour, rowdy, drunken and vaguely Scottish 'pictsies'), and they have befriended Tiffany as the new "hag o' the hills". As Tiffany filled in as their Kelda (Queen) for a short time, the Nac Mac Feegle continue to see her as their responsibility, and there
21024-516: Was none too pleased with this development, as Magrat being the Mother forced Nanny "to be the... Other One ". Despite her new (temporary) role, at the end of the novel, she was asked, and acquiesced, to make tea by Granny Weatherwax, a role usually performed by the Maiden (in this case, Agnes Nitt ). Magrat makes a brief appearance in I Shall Wear Midnight , alongside her husband Verence as guest to
21170-497: Was unable to spell the name properly when she wrote it down for the priest. In an effort to ensure the proper naming of her child, Magrat appended "Note Spelling" in the note she passed to the priest. This back-fired when he read out the complete sentence, and was mortified afterwards, but the deed had been done and no attempt to change it could be made. Magrat renounces witchcraft shortly before her marriage, partially to prepare for her duties as queen, but mostly out of frustration with
21316-452: Was well-provided for. Many witches, especially in the Ramtops, have steadings, geographical areas and populations that they are responsible for. It is unclear how steadings are defined; Tiffany has the entire Chalk as a steading, while other witches have only two or three villages. Steadings are not necessarily passed on to the apprentice of the witch who previously watched over the steading. However, steadings have some geographical bearing, as
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