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The Folklore of Discworld | 
 enlarge | Authors: Terry Pratchett, Jacqueline Simpson
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £7.89
You Save: £10.10 (56%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 1778
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4
ISBN: 0385611005
EAN: 9780385611008
ASIN: 0385611005
Publication Date: September 11, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 A wonderful book to enhance your Discworld experience January 7, 2009
As a fairly long - term fan of the Discworld series, I found this book entrancing. I enjoy reading books on folklore and traditions, so this was right up my street, combining both interests. Sometimes I've read a Discworld passage and chuckled knowingly as to where Terry got THAT idea from - the gonnagles, Bel-Shamharoth, the Necrotelicomnicon for example. Some were ideas where nearly everyone can share the joke - Quoth The Raven, Cohen the Barbarian. I didn't know about Black Annis, though, the inspiration for Black Aliss, or that a stone in Rheims cathedral is said to have the marks of Christ's buttocks.
The book is full of interesting pieces, where Dr Jacqueline Simpson's deeply scholarly knowledge has explained some fact or told a story of which you were almost certainly previously unaware. If you are a person who has stumbled across this whilst looking for resources on folklore in general, it might be well worthwhile looking out for some of Dr Simpson's previous books - I certainly intend to. As for Sir Terry himself - this book is a worthy addition to the Discworld canon. I loved it.
 Fascinating November 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
While I was never a fan of the Science of Discworld series, I picked this one up since it seemed to approach things from an interesting new angle. I'm certainly not disappointed - there is a whole gamut of folklore covered within, showing the links and relationships between Discworld and the Earth. It's very well written, and flows like fine honey!
However...
There isn't an awful lot of 'meat' to a lot of the content. It's very much a case of 'Here's a thing from Discworld, and here's it's real world equivalent.', and then after a paragraph or so it moved on to the next thing. I would have liked it to be a bit more in-depth, but there is a bibliography provided at the end that helps flesh out the detail.
I wholeheartedly recommend it, though.
worthy of the discworld series November 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
There have been a number of books recently that have tried to be guides to the discworld series, most of which have been truly awful. This and the "unauthorised" Turtle Moves are two of the best I have seen.
As suggested by the title the books looks at the lore and legend which are used in the discworld stories and their links to earth lore and legend.
I found it gripping from beginning to end, and there were points that I really wished the author had expanded on further. If I have one problem with the book it is that it is far too short. Maybe it should have been in 2 volumes rather than the one book.
This is a book that has been produced for the growing US market, and it shows. Every chapter has a beautifully drawn interpretation at the beginning. It only goes to show that when something is produced for the US market they put a little more effort and thought into it.
Outstanding book, a must for Discworld fans everywhere.
Nineteen versions?? October 20, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Folklore, ancient or modern, is one of the major foundation stones of the Discworld books. Human nature being another, one assumes. Discworld folklore is a trivia test among Discworld fans who will slyly ask one another [generally over a pint], if they can identify the origins of a certain figure or idea. With some slight discrepancies between UK and North American versions, such exchanges can become, well, spirited. "Elves or elfs?" is always good for starting an evening.
Pratchett and Simpson sort all this out - and much else besides - in this delightful work on matters folklorish. Typically, the prompt for the book was Pratchett chanting as he signed a previous release: "How many versions of the Magpie Song do you know?" A distinguished-looking lady gave the query a moment's thought and responded "about nineteen" Thus began the wonderful collaboration leading to FoD. It's typical also of the theme of the book. Discworld and Roundworld [Earth] are linked by the universal presence of narrativium, which Dimitri Mendeleev inexplicably omitted from the Periodic Table. Pratchett knows all about narrativium, carefully explaining how it drifts between universes, carrying ideas or stimulating new ones. Folklore on the Discworld compared to that of Earth may demonstrate strong similarities, or just vague likenesses that have been severely modified. The process is unhelpful, the authors note, in determining which world is the source of the story, which is sometimes a let-down.
The book's organisation is appropriate for what it must cover - it begins with the entire universe. From there it works its way through Dwarfs and Elves, giving us an interesting account of how the Elves, feared and despised on Discworld for their dark and evil ways, have somehow become transformed in modern times into charming little creatures who make toys for children. Drifting through space, narrativium must form some bizarre isotopes. The two witch types - those from Lancre and the Witches of the Chalk Downs are described. The Nac Mac Feegle are given a full chapter, which might be viewed as insufficient as you read it. Granny Aching truly deserves a book of her own. The chapter on Heroes is extensive, justifiably, when you discover the variety of Heroes Pratchett has introduced to us. Finally, almost as icing on a delicious cake, the authors provide a "Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading". Plan your book budget carefully.
For those in North America who think this book might be too limited in scope to be worth the investment, think carefully of your own family ancestry. While much of the material is limited to the British Isles, no small part is derived from the rest of Europe and elsewhere. Those tales and legends your ancestors took on board ship to cross the Atlantic didn't go over the rail with breakfast at the first roll of the vessels on the high seas. Those stories survived to take root here and sprout new versions of themselves in the new environment. Go through this book and see if you can't find a few you recognise. Besides the bloody elves and the obese bloke with the demented laugh. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
 A comprehensive overview of the stories and traditions that helped create Discworld October 6, 2008
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is a great well of knowledge of the sources that helped inspire many of the Discworld characters, motifs and situations. It's really wonderful to have so much secondary information on the series in one book, an encyclopedia-esque store of the kind of cultural tidbits that are fascinating in their own right as well as in relation to to Discworld. However the writing style, while clear, is a bit dull and sometimes the line between human mythology and its Discworld counterpart is not exactly clear all the time, at least to me. I was also disappointed by a reference made to the Robin of Sherwood TV series in which the author dismisses a great reimagining of the classic folktale with some pedantic complaints about its apparently archaic use of the Herne the Hunted story. Nevertheless Ms Simpson is very knowledgeable and the book is comprehensive and very informative. A great way to dip one's toes in the pools of folklore. I can't wait to read some of the texts she and Terry have listed in the references.
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