Discworld (world)
The Discworld is the setting for all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels. It consists of a flat disc (complete with edge-of-the-world drop-off and consequent waterfall) resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle as it slowly swims through space. It is heavily influenced by magic and, while having similarities to (and parodies of) planet Earth, it conforms to its own laws of physics. These themselves, however, are often bent by magic and other influences.
The idea of a turtle-carrying-elephant-carrying world is Indo-European; see for instance Chukwa, and also references in The King and I and Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
One of Pratchett's earlier novels, Strata, also features a disc-shaped world, but a different one. A similar concept is Larry Niven's Ringworld.
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Great A'Tuin, the star turtle
Main article: Great A'Tuin
Great A'Tuin is the giant star turtle who travels through space, carrying the four giant elephants (named Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon, and Jerakeen) who in turn carry the Discworld. A member of the species Chelys galactica, A'Tuin is the only turtle ever to feature on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Its shell is frosted with frozen methane, pitted with meteor craters, and scoured by asteroidal dust.
Great A'Tuin's sex is unknown, but is the subject of much speculation by some of the Disc's finest scientific minds – in an analogy to astrophysicists, specialists in this field are called astrochelonians. The sex of the World Turtle is pivotal in proving or disproving a number of conflicting theories about the destination of Great A'Tuin's journey through the cosmos. If (as one popular theory states) Great A'Tuin is moving to his (or her) mating grounds, then at the point of mating might the civilisations of the Disc be crushed or simply slide off? 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 on such a slow timescale.
Following the events in The Light Fantastic, Great A'Tuin attended the hatching of eight baby turtles, each with four baby elephants and a tiny Discworld of their own. They have since gone off on their own journeys.
Orbiting A'Tuin are a tiny sun and moon, both about 1 mile in diameter. The moon is slightly closer to the Disc than the sun, and is covered, on one half, with silvery glowing plants, which feed the lunar dragons. The other half is burnt black by the sun. The moon rotates, and completes 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.
A'Tuin is also orbited by a number of small "planets" made from the droppings of the elephants by giant dung beetles.
Calendar
Main article: Discworld calendar
Eight is a significant number on the Discworld. There are eight colours in the visible spectrum (the eighth being Octarine, the "colour of magic"), and eight days in a week (the eighth being Octeday). There are also, due to the peculiar astronomical arrangements, eight seasons (and 800 days) in a year, although most Discworlders consider four seasons make a year, whatever astronomers say. The Discworld calendar has 13 months.
Geography
Directions within 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 and widdershins (relation to the direction of the disc's spin).
There are five main continents on the Discworld. The one on which most of the books is set is unnamed, it is essentially the equivalent of Eurasia, and contains the Sto Plains and Ramtops, as well as the more Eastern European lands around Überwald.
See also: List of Discworld locations
Sto Plains
Sto Plains is a rich country, covered by neat little kingdoms, along the banks of the River Ankh. It could be thought of as being similar to Germany prior to the unification of the states into the German Empire (with no overall authority).
The most famous city on the Disc, Ankh-Morpork, site of the Unseen University and setting of many Discworld novels, is the primary city of the Sto Plains. The kingdoms of the Sto Plains include Sto Lat, ruled by Queen Kelirehenna, and includes the duchy of Sto Helit. Other known locations are the city-states of Pseudopolis and Quirm. It also includes Sto Kerrig, although not much information is known about it.
Hubward of the Sto Plains are the Ramtops, incredibly high mountains which are dotted with tiny kingdoms such as Lancre. It is rich with magic and most of Discworld's great witches and wizards were born there. The Ramtops and other Hubland mountains are also home to many monasteries and barbarian tribes. At the very Hub is Cori Celesti, a massive mountain upon the peak of which rests "Dunmanifestin", home of the Discworld's gods.
Überwald is a country on the other side of the Ramtops from Lancre and Ankh-Morpork. Although it has a large human population, they play a secondary role in the region's history. It is ruled by its dwarfs, vampires and werewolves.
Borogravia is a small and extremely war-intensive country which closely resembles Yugoslavia. It is located Rimwards of Überwald, on the Disc's unnamed main continent.
Continents
The other continents and geographic areas are the Counterweight Continent, which has a decidedly Oriental feel; Klatch, which generally reflects the culture of Northern Africa and the Middle East, but also contains elements of India (and is often, from an Ankh-Morpork point of view, just "generically foreign"); and XXXX (commonly referred to as "Fourecks"), which is clearly influenced by Australian culture (seen in The Last Continent).
The Counterweight Continent is situated on the far side of the Discworld from the Unnamed Continent and Klatch. It is smaller than these other two landmasses but acts as a counterweight because its crust is made up largely of gold and octiron, both dense, heavy metals.
Klatch is both a country and a continent. The country is a large multi-ethnic empire rimwards to turnwise of the Circle Sea. Its capital is Al Khali, and it includes outlying regions such as Hersheba and Syrrit. The continent consists of that part of the Disc's super-continent that is rimwards of the Circle Sea. This encompasses a much larger area.
Circle Sea
The Circle Sea is an almost landlocked body of water approximately halfway between the Hub and the Rim, opening at the Turnwise side into the Rim Ocean. Its principal trading ports are Ankh-Morpork, on the Sto Plains coast, and Al Khali and Ephebe on the Rimwards side.
Many nations surrounding the circle sea are similar to nations around the Mediterranean, for instance:
- Ankh-Morpork reflects the medieval trading republics of Europe such as Venice or Genoa. There are also details likening it to Rome as a historical seat of empire; both cities would have declined were it not for the presense of a large institution which enabled it to sustain its influence - the Catholic church in the case of Rome and Unseen University in the case of Ankh Morpork. It also has elements of the cities of Seattle, New York, London and virtually every other large city of any influence during its peak. Terry has been quoted as likening the look of the city to Mediaeval Tallinn.
- Ephebe is the natural analogue of Ancient Greece, more particularly a single Greek City State in the republican tradition.
- Djelibeybi, featured extensively in Pyramids is clearly an analogue to Ancient Egypt. The state included pyramids, a Nile like river, and a profusion of deities.
- Klatch appears to belong to a different cultural group to Ankh Morpork. It resembles mediaeval Arabic states, and has a political system similar to the Ottoman Empire
- Omnia appears to be geographically similar to Algeria or Libya. However its politics are similar to Medieval Spain during the time of the Spanish inquisition or indeed a generic theocracy.
- Tsort hasn't been featured too much with in the novels, however all references will have shown it as an analogue to Troy, with the Discworld Helen of Troy being Eleanor of Tsort.
From the novels Small Gods and Pyramids the location of certain nations surrounding the circle sea can be determined; Djelibeybi separates Tsort and Ephebe, and Ephebe borders (an undetermined border in uninhabitable desert) Omnia.
Magic
Main article: Magic (Discworld)
Populace
See the Discworld characters and minor Discworld characters articles for a list of characters from the novels, including the gods.
The Discworld is populated by numerous classic fantasy and mythological races as well as humans. While humans are typically the main inhabitants of the major cities there are many other races that have left their traditional domain and integrated with other, sometimes hostile, species. Pratchett has different characteristics for some of these races when compared to other noted authors.
- Dwarfs (other definitions)
- Trolls (other definitions)
- Golems (other definitions)
- Gnomes (other definitions)
- Undead (other definitions)
- Elves (other definitions)
- Werewolves (other definitions)
- The Nac Mac Feegle
As well as these races witches and wizards are also very common on the Discworld.
Communication and travel
Since their development around the time of The Fifth Elephant clacks towers have been one of the principal means of communication around the Disc. This massive network of semaphore towers stretches out across the Unnamed Continent and allows a message to be sent from Ankh-Morpork to Genua in a few hours where it would take a few days by coach.
The Post Office, detailed alongside the clacks towers in Going Postal, went through a time of disrepair before Moist von Lipwig turned it into a successful enterprise. The use of mail coaches allows letters to be delivered around the Unnamed Continent, with different cities and organisations having their own set of stamps.
Extensive travel is rare on the Discworld, with many people living in one area for their entire lives. While the city of Ankh Morpork attracts many immigrants, these seldom return home and instead send letters, and possibly money, back to their relatives. Much of the travel that does occur takes place by coach, although services can be somewhat sporadic and unpredictable, especially in less populated areas. Travel by river boat is also known.
The Disc's non-human races frequently have their own unique methods of travels. For instance, dwarves have vast underground networks of navigable tunnels, gnomes can fly on the backs of birds, and banshees can fly unaided. Some of the human inhabitants of the Disc, notably witches, can also fly using broomsticks. These allow skilful operators to fly high enough to clear mountains, and, in one quite-likely unrepeatable event, overtake the night.
See also
| The Discworld | |
|---|---|
| Characters: |
Albert - Angua - Carrot Ironfoundersson - Cohen the Barbarian - Fred Colon - Death - Detritus - Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler - Gaspode - Greebo - Igor - Bloody Stupid Johnson - Leonard of Quirm - The Librarian - Lu-Tze - The Luggage - Mort - C.W.St J. Nobbs - Susan Sto Helit - Rincewind - Twoflower - Havelock Vetinari - Samuel Vimes - The Witches - Discworld gods - Other characters |
| Locations: |
Ankh-Morpork - Agatean Empire - Borogravia - Death's Domain - Dungeon Dimensions - Ephebe - Genua - Klatch - Lancre - Muntab - Quirm - Sto Lat - Überwald - Unseen University - XXXX - more... |
| Other: |
Calendar - City Watch - Clacks - Guilds - Magic - Post Office - Stealth Chess - Minor Discworld concepts |