Ankh-Morpork
Encyclopedia
Ankh-Morpork is a fiction
al city-state
which prominently features in Terry Pratchett
's Discworld
series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis. Ankh-Morpork is also the mercantile capital of the Discworld
, and the books give a flavour of a nonetheless "working" quasi-medieval city, despite criticisms by many people (including its own inhabitants); even when it is under attack from a dragon
, the vegetable carts still have to come in. It is also home to Unseen University
, a centre of magical learning.
In The Art of Discworld
Pratchett explains that the city is similar to Tallinn
and central Prague
, but adds that it has elements of 18th century London
, 19th century Seattle and modern New York City
. He also states that since the creation of The Streets of Ankh-Morpork
, he has tried to ensure that the descriptions of character movements and locations in the books match the Ankh-Morpork map; this has allowed him, and fans of the series, to visualise the story more clearly. Ankh-Morpork is also referred to as "The Great [or Big] Wahoonie" on occasions, alluding to "The Great Wen
" (London), or to "The Big Apple" (New York). There are also strong parallels with the political structure, economy, social structure, topography and history of the city-state Florence
during the Renaissance.
) meets the Circle Sea (the Discworld's version of the Mediterranean
). This, naturally, puts it in an excellent trading position.
Lying approximately equidistant from the cold Hub and tropical Rim, Ankh-Morpork is in the Discworld's equivalent of the temperate
zone.
The name "Ankh-Morpork" refers to both the city itself, a walled city
about a mile (1.6 km) across, and the surrounding suburbs and farms of its fiefdom
.
The central city divides more or less into the more affluent Ankh and the poorer Morpork which includes the slum-like "Shades", which are separated by the River Ankh.
Ankh-Morpork is built on black loam, broadly, but is mostly built on itself; pragmatic citizens simply built on top of the existing buildings when the sediment grew too high as the river flooded, rather than excavate them out. There are many unknown basements, including an entire "cave network" below Ankh-Morpork made up of old streets and abandoned sewers (it has been continuously stated that anyone with a pickaxe and a good sense of direction could reach anywhere in Ankh-Morpork by knocking walls down in a straight line). Recently, the underground regions have been extended by the city's dwarf
population to get around unimpeded. It has recently been made municipal property.
Ankh-Morpork is also the city with most dwarfs on the whole disc outside of Überwald, largely considered the dwarfen homeland, with over 50,000 dwarfs living there (The Truth
, The Fifth Elephant
).
's Isle Of Dogs
. The naming of the river is an ironic pun, as the word 'Ankh' (☥) is the Ancient Egyptian symbol for life - therefore it is the River of Life, the antithesis of its actual appearance.
Even before it enters Ankh-Morpork, the River Ankh is full of silt
from the plains; by the time it gets to the seaward side of the city, "even an agnostic could walk across it" (although in The Truth
, Arnold Sideways plays it safe by distributing his weight over boards).
The citizens of the city are strangely proud of this fact, even going so far as to say that "it is easier to suffocate than drown in the Ankh." They also claim it to be the purest water on the Disc, as "Anything that's passed through so many kidneys has to be very pure indeed." (A reference to the saying that London tap-water is allegedly filtered by seven sets of kidneys). Owing to the build-up of centuries, the bed of the river is higher than some parts of the city. When winter snows swell the flow, the low-rent areas of Morpork flood. In spring some parts of the river catch fire, others sprout small trees and also the spray of the Ankh turns into a shade of green. Wading birds are apparently uncommon, as their legs would be eaten away by the pollution. Such fish as are known to exist are described as looking like vacuum cleaners, and explode when brought to clean water. There are a lot of microorganisms living in the river, which Mustrum Ridcully believed was proof that the water was safe to drink - as anything capable of supporting that much life had to be healthy.
Although some cities have been invaded by barbarians approaching by river, there is small danger of this with the Ankh, since any invasion fleet would have to be preceded by a gang of men wielding shovels. If this does happen, there is a magic horn in the Patrician's Palace which is said to blow itself.
In the times when the city catches fire, the river gates are closed, and the river rises and smothers the flames. This also has the unfortunate side effect of destroying any remaining buildings that the fire missed.
In both Men At Arms
and the computer game Discworld Noir
, the Ankh is described as "the only river in the world on which you could draw a chalk outline".
(an allusion to the myth of Romulus and Remus
, with a hippo replacing the original wolf). It is in memory of this that the hippo is the royal animal of Ankh. One legend has it that if danger ever threatens the city, the eight stone hippopotami guarding the Brass Bridge will come to life and run away. Another legend claims that many centuries ago, the Disc flooded. An ark was constructed
, containing two of every animal. When the accumulated dung of forty days and nights was dropped over the side, they called it Ankh-Morpork.
The original city was little more than a walled keep, surrounding the Tower of Art, a building of mysterious origin which may even predate the Disc itself.
At one point it had an empire, similar to the Roman Empire
, that covered half the continent including the neighbouring country of Klatch. These were the days of the "Pax Morporkia," another reference to Rome and their Pax Romana
.
The empire was largely the creation of General Tacticus (a pun
on both "tactics
" and the name of the real-world historian Tacitus
), the greatest military mind in history. Tacticus refused to accept that the Empire was growing too big to control, and was finally shipped off to be king of Genua. As king he decided that the greatest threat to Genua was the Empire, and declared war
on it (a probable reference to Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte
, who served under the Emperor Napoleon
but later, as King of Sweden
, allied with France's enemies and also a possible allusion to the American War of Independence, as Genua is to Ankh-Morpork what the United States
are to Great Britain
).
This was a Golden Age
, ruled by the Kings of Ankh, who are recalled in legend as wise, noble and fair. The line died out approximately 2000 years before the present, giving way to real kings who were realistically corrupt and perverse and ultimately leading to the collapse of the empire. (This could be seen as a parody of the fictional city of Minas Tirith
, which also had a "Golden Age" many years before, with Kings who were remembered as being noble and wise.)
Shortly before this, however, the mage Alberto Malich had founded Unseen University
(UU) in the Tower of Art, and Ankh-Morpork continued as a service town for the wizards.
Royalty became extremely debased and the later kings of Ankh-Morpork are recalled in history as power-mad and corrupt, or just mad; some are mentioned by name in Men at Arms
:
The last and worst - the euphemistically-remembered Lorenzo the Kind (the full extent of whose infamy is not explicitly revealed, save that he was said to be "very fond of children
," possessed "secret rooms" from which "bits" had to be cleaned, and had in his dungeons "machines for . . .") - was overthrown in the Ankh-Morpork Civil War of 1688 (dating from the founding of UU). The question of what to do with the deposed king (no judge would try him) was settled when he was executed by the then Commander of the City Watch, Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes. Known as "Old Stoneface," his regicide resulted in his being banned from bearing arms (These events parallel the English Civil War
of the 1640s, and the execution of Charles I
by Oliver Cromwell
). Afterwards "Old Stoneface" (an ancestor of the current City Watch Commander Samuel Vimes
and a play on Cromwell's nickname "Old Ironside") and his Ironheads (a play on "Ironsides
" and "Roundheads") attempted to introduce democracy
, but the people voted against it. After "Old Stoneface" himself was overthrown, Ankh-Morpork reverted to a non-hereditary oligarchic
system, where the leaders are still ruthless tyrants, but don't have the audacity to invoke divine right. It is, however, rumoured that the royal blood line of the Kings of Ankh has not in fact died out but instead continued, and that the true king, Carrot Ironfoundersson, walks the streets of the city on a nightly basis. The Patrician
rules the city, and operates a specialised form of "One Man, One Vote" democracy: the Patrician is the Man, and he has the Vote.
Past Patricians, many of them oppressive despots and fairly often mad, would include:
The reign of Winder was marked by a greater-than-norm amount of oppression and political violence, as detailed in Night Watch, causing a popular revolt centred in Treacle Mine Road. The City Guilds had him assassinated and replaced with Lord Snapcase, who himself turned out to be a greater tyrant and was eventually replaced with Havelock Vetinari: ironically, the very assassin who'd killed Winder.
When Vetinari inherited the city, it was a corrupt, crumbling medieval city, as shown in The Colour of Magic
. This was gradually turned around, first with an overhaul of the Guild system - such as legalising the Guild of Thieves and leaving them responsible for stopping 'unlicensed' thefts - and then by opening the city to immigration. dwarfs, trolls, gnomes, humans from across the Disc, and even the undead
emigrated in large numbers, making Ankh-Morpork a truly multicultural
society, with both the advantages and problems that suggests. (The current Patrician's own, typically pragmatic, view on multiculturalism is "Alloys are stronger.") With the new stability and skill base, the city has become the mercantile and political capital
of the Discworld, so much so that the Sto Plains operates under a new Pax Morporkia, which operates not on the principle of "If you fight, we will kill you," but on the principle of "If you fight, we will call in your mortgages."
Mime artists are strictly forbidden. Anyone caught practising the art is hung upside-down in a scorpion pit, upon the walls of which is written: "Learn the words." This is the only overt sign of tyranny under Vetinari.
Ankh-Morpork has evolved in the series. While it still has corruption (mostly organised in guilds
) but is far from crumbling by Going Postal
and has become a high-tech (for the Disc) city-state bordering on almost steampunk
levels of technology. The city is indeed the 2nd most developed nation of the disc after the Agatean Empire.
Ankh-Morpork has seen the appearance of
Crime is kept in check by the Watch and the guilds, mainly the Thieves' Guild; in the novel Jingo
a character casually notes the Thieves' Guild weathervane is an actual unofficial and currently deceased thief. Lord Vetinari has a firm grip on the city (or seems to). The wizards of UU no longer murder each other intentionally. The city is now a highly-advanced metropolis rather than the fading, broken-down city of The Colour of Magic
. It is implied that the Axle discovered in Thud!
will revolutionise both municipal transportation (with many references which parallel the London Underground
including the minesign symbol for a mine) and machinery, and Moist von Lipwig
's invention of the banknote
in Making Money
.
Power is, to some degree, shared with the many Guilds (see above) and the surviving nobility. They form a sort of advisory city council, but the Patrician has the only vote at meetings. This may be the same as the "council of aldermen
" referred to briefly in Sourcery
, and called the city council in "Guards Guards", but never mentioned since.
The current office-holder is the Medici
-inspired Lord Havelock Vetinari
, a former student at the Assassin
s' Guild.
The nearest surviving relative of the former royal family
seems to be Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson, technically a human, but fundamentally a dwarf (or vice-versa depending on point-of-view). However, he has gone to some effort to keep his royal connections as quiet as possible. The origin of Corporal Cecil Wormsborough St. John (Nobby) Nobbs remains shrouded in mystery. At one point he was identified as being a descendant of de Nobbes, the Earl of Ankh (and therefore the next in line), but this was (probably) a deliberate deception.
The Patrician has almost absolute power over the affairs of the city and works together with the leaders of the city's Guilds
, who elect him through the Guild Council, as shown in The Truth
. In an analogy of Renaissance Florence
, Ankh-Morpork is an oligarchy
. Eligible for election are members of rich and influential families.
Vetinari appears rather more permanent than most patricians, largely due to his Machiavelli
an ("for a given value of Machiavelli", according to Terry Pratchett) machinations. He has arranged the politics of the city in such a way that to remove him from office would cause chaos among the Guilds and nobility. He firmly believes that what people really want is stability, and that is what he provides.
It should be pointed out that traditionally the relationship between the city and Unseen University is one of mutual cooperation, in which it is stated that the University agrees to do anything asked of them and the city promises to never ask, and it is possibly the only place where the Patrician's influence is reduced. For example, the city has never taxed the university ("A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices
"). According to Interesting Times
, the Patrician can, in theory, have the Archchancellor summoned and, indeed, have him executed; however, the Archchancellor could turn the Patrician into a small reptile and, indeed, start bouncing around the room on a pogo stick.
. There are hundreds of guilds, for every conceivable profession, from clowns to butchers, and each has its own strictly maintained laws and trading practices. Many guilds have assumed roles which in real-world cities would be assumed by government agencies.
is considered the top educational establishment on the Disc and, whether one intends to be an assassin or not, is considered the school of choice for young aristocrats such as the future Lord Vetinari. It is possible to attend the Assassins' Guild simply for the learning and not the slaying; though many of course choose to do both. Many children from poorer backgrounds are educated at dame schools, similar to the institutions in Victorian England of the same name; Sideney (in Hogfather
) and Samuel Vimes
(in Thud!
) were educated at dame schools. Others attend boarding schools outside Ankh-Morpork, such as the Quirm College for Young Ladies. A Teachers' Guild exists, but appears to be of low status—in Guards! Guards!
Vimes' seating position in the coronation scene is described as "in the lowest tier…between the Master of the Fellowship of Beggars and the head of the Teachers' Guild". This is most probably a joke based on the international belief that teachers are lowly ranked and paid.
Ankh-Morpork's main institution of higher education is Unseen University
, the principal school of wizardry on the Disc.
At its most basic level, law in Ankh-Morpork operates on the principle that a grocer is free to mix soil in his coffee, and also to be vivisected by any customer who happens to find out. Other than that, options are slim. In cases of personal grievance, one might make an appeal to the Guild of Lawyers, providing, of course, one is wealthy enough to pay (The Lawyers' Guild consider this a very reasonable arrangement, as the poor are inveterately criminal anyway). Barring that, the only course of action in criminal cases is a direct appeal to the Patrician
, which frequently works, as he sees such a result as highly instructive.
Despite evidence to the contrary, murder is not a commonplace occurrence in Ankh-Morpork, there are, of course, assassinations, but as these are guild sanctioned they are not deemed to be against the law. Ankh-Morpork does, however, have an extraordinarily high suicide rate, due mainly to the city's view on what constitutes as suicide. For example, walking alone through the night-time alleyways of the Shades is suicide, as is asking for a short in a dwarf bar. It is very easy to commit suicide in Ankh-Morpork if you are not careful.
Outside the guilds, most law enforcement is undertaken by the Watch
, under the leadership of Sam Vimes.
has begun to reassert the power of the state by reintroducing formerly decrepit government agencies such as the City Watch, the Post Office, and most recently, the Royal Mint
.
Over the course of time, the Watch has grown under the leadership of Commander Samuel Vimes to the most modern police force on the Disc. Which still employs the three men in question.
The amount of undelivered mail was dramatically increased by the Sorting Engine, created by Bloody Stupid Johnson. This machine was intended to speed up postal delivery, but instead began to produce mail, first from the future (which was fine, because that was seen as really improving delivery times) and then from alternate universes. The reason for this was that Johnson disapproved of pi
, and had therefore based the engine around a non-Euclidean wheel, on which the radius divided into the circumference exactly three times, thereby creating an area of dimensional instability. It was impossible to deliver all the letters, and most of them couldn't be delivered, as they hadn't been sent in this universe.
The Post Office was reduced to a massive building crammed floor to ceiling with undelivered letters and staffed solely by geriatric Junior Postman Groat, along with his pin-collecting companion Stanley. By the time of Going Postal it had long been forgotten, the building daubed with graffiti, the mail coaches appropriated for passenger travel by the coachmen and its services rendered apparently useless by the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company. Lord Vetinari then appointed Moist von Lipwig
, a former con-man, to restore the Post Office as a means of curtailing the power of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company. With Lipwig as Postmaster-General, the Post Office was restored to something approaching its former glory. Lipwig invented the postage stamp
, giving a new hobby to young men like Stanley who were formerly obsessed with pin collecting. With the craze of variously-priced, flavoured stamps taking off, Lipwig went on to restore mail coach services to the towns of Sto Lat and Genua. As the clacks lines became less reliable, the Post Office became stiff competition for semaphore. Ultimately, Lipwig succeeded in bringing down Reacher Gilt, chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, by using a well placed lie and thus restored the Post Office's supremacy in delivering Morporkian messages. Lord Vetinari then handed the Grand Trunk company over to Moist, who planned to give it back to the Dearheart family, from whom it was unjustly taken.
The motto of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office is displayed on the front of the building, and for some years read "NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR GL OM OF NI T CAN STAY THESE MES ENGERS ABO T THEIR DUTY." Following Mr Lipwig's appointment, the missing letters were located on and, by the use of a promise not to bring any charges and the use of no violence at all by an 8 feet (2.4 m) golem wielding a huge crowbar, recovered from the frontage of the hairdresser's 'HUGOS', allowing the motto to be restored to its correct spelling. By a strange coincidence, the motto is very similar to the motto of another Post Office
in the Multiverse. During the Post Office's decline, a list of things that would, in fact, stay these messengers, was displayed on a notice board below the motto. The most notable is Mrs. Cake, listed twice. Mrs. Cake is not to be asked about.
The AM$ is reputedly the hardest
currency outside of the Agatean Empire. A dollar coin is Sequin (coin)
sized, and although theoretically made of gold the metal has been adulterated so many times that, according to The Discworld Companion
:
Ankh-Morpork being an extremely rich city state, the AM$ is the currency of choice amongst the lands around the Circle Sea; although other city states have their own currencies they maintain strong links with the dollar, as Ankh-Morpork is the only place which has anything worth buying.
In Making Money
, Moist von Lipwig
introduces paper currency and puts the city on the golem
standard.
but with the tagline "Where everybody knows your shape". Susan Sto Helit
is a noted frequenter of Biers. The more typical clientele occasionally loudly demand to know what she thinks she's doing there. They seldom do so twice. The barman of Biers is named Igor, though he doesn't appear to be an Igor
. It's best to eye what he serves carefully; as Pratchett noted in Hogfather
, "When Igor the barman was asked for a Bloody Mary, he didn't mix a metaphor."
The Dwarf Bread Museum which, as its name suggests, is a building where certain articles of the (in)famous dwarf bread are kept; usually specimens of a cultural or historical importance. First mentioned in Men at Arms
; more prominently featured in The Fifth Elephant
as the building from which the Scone of Stone (a reference to the Stone of Scone
) is stolen.
The Dysk, a theatre staging "usurper-killing-a-king dramas". A reference to the Globe Theatre
.
The Mended Drum, formerly the Broken Drum (old motto: "You can't beat it") until it burned down in the city's first attempt at insurance fraud, is the city's principal inn. Located on Filigree Street, it is a rowdy, cloudy, crowded, smelly and utterly disreputable establishment, and therefore the ideal haunt for the Disc's plethora of hero
es. It is a favourite watering hole for the students of Unseen University
, and regular haunt of the Librarian. It is also a favoured locale for those wishing to discuss business of a clandestine nature. The Broken Drum is the setting for the first meeting between the central characters Rincewind
and Twoflower in the first Discworld novel, Colour of Magic. When Ankh-Morpork became more civilized in the later books, The Mended Drum was the last bastion of lawlessness although the bar fights have become a team sport, with teams getting points for performing classic brawling techniques. Limbs are still chopped off, but they are tattooed to ensure that Igor
sews them back correctly. Curiously, this romantic disreputable place is what Twoflower sought naively in Colour of Magic.
The Shades, Ankh-Morpork's slum district, comprise the oldest region of the city. The moral equivalent of a black hole. A pretty nasty place, all told (a horse in the Shades is often called "lunch", and nothing is seen as more suspicious than fresh paint).
Cockbill Street, located in the Shades, is the poorest area of the city. Despite this, people on Cockbill Street are so proud that they refuse to acknowledge this, believing eating comes second to keeping up appearances and leading to the saying that what you mostly ate on Cockbill Street "was your pride". Samuel Vimes
was raised here. The residents go through life trying mostly to go unnoticed, this is best evidenced by the fact that Captain Carrot, who otherwise is on first-name terms with the entire population of the city, does not know any of the residents, to Samuel Vimes' amazement.
The Isle of Gods, an area almost encircled by the river Ankh containing the Watch-house, the theatres, the prison and the publishers. A reference to the Isle of Dogs
area of London.
Pseudopolis Yard, the headquarters of the City Watch
. Owned by Lady Sybil Ramkin (later Lady Vimes) and donated by her when the Dragon-King burned down the Watch House. A reference to Scotland Yard
.
Unseen University
(UU) is in many ways the city's core. Centred around the 800-foot Tower of Art, the tallest building on the Disc, it serves as the Sto Plains' (and possibly the entire Discworld's) premier magic academy. The city originally grew out of the need to service and maintain the University. The Shades technically fall under its dominion, and much of its income is derived from rents there.
and a toasting-fork symbolising "something or other" (compare Britannia
, Columbia
, Marianne
).
are also symbols of the city, and flank its coat of arms. There are also statues of hippos on the Brass Bridge; it is said that should danger threaten the city, they will run away.
of Ankh-Morpork; it is a parody of the song 'Rule, Britannia!
'. The use of 'ner ner ner' as official lyrics (see below) is also heavily reminiscent of the English football anthem, 'Vindaloo
'.
It was not written by a native Ankh-Morporkian, but by the visiting vampire Count
Henrik Shline von Überwald (born 1703, died 1782, also died 1784, 1788, 1791, 1802, 1804, 1807, 1808, 1821, 1830, 1861, finally staked 1872). His inspiration came from his observations that Ankh-Morpork's chief means of defence was not warfare but corruption, bribery and mercantile tactics, since most of the weapons used against the city were actually made there in the first place.
The anthem is particularly noteworthy for being the only one that has a second verse officially consisting of incoherent muttering. Count von Überwald had also observed that any group of people singing their country's national anthem never remembers how the second verse goes anyway, so he decided to make things easier for Ankh-Morpork. The anthem's sentiments are of course summarised in the new Pax Morporkia: "If you fight, we'll call in your mortgages. And incidentally that's my pike you're pointing at me. I paid for that shield you're holding. And take my helmet off when you speak to me, you horrible little debtor."
On formal occasions, the anthem is supposed to be performed by a large soprano
singer wearing a sheet and holding a torch in one hand and a fork in the other.
The lyrics of the anthem are as follows:
The final part of the anthem is usually sung much louder than the rest of the second verse, since the singers want to show they know the words...
The anthem was actually written in 1999 by Pratchett (words) and Carl Davis
(music), for the BBC Radio 3
programme The Music Machine. It was performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
and the soprano was Claire Rutter
. It was also performed at that year's Proms
by the Prommers' Orchestra and Chorus.
with the town of Wincanton
in Somerset
, in the south-west United Kingdom
on the spherical planet
Earth
(known in the Discworld books as Roundworld) on 7 December 2002. The town is home to a Discworld shop called "The Cunning Artificer" which is named after a street in Ankh-Morpork.
However due to legal reasons, the twinning was not officially displayed on the road sign. Fans however have added stick-on notices to some of the signs. This has now been changed and a new town sign prominently declaring the twinning with Ankh-Morpork and other Roundworld places has been erected. This sign was designed by the Cunning Artificer himself, Bernard Pearson. Several streets in a new housing development in Wincanton have been named after Ankh-Morpork Streets, including Peach Pie Street and Treacle Mine Road.
The word "Morpork" is from a type of Australasian owl called the Morepork, which can be seen holding the Ankh on the coat of arms.
's fictional city Lankhmar
(although Pratchett has said "I didn't -- at least consciously, I suppose I must say -- create Ankh-Morpork as a takeoff of Lankhmar").
Many of Pratchett's books reference the game Dungeons & Dragons
. Ankh-Morpork bears a strong resemblance to and may in part be based on Ankhapur Lake of Steam
(sometimes called 'The City of Thieves') one of the primary cities in Dungeons & Dragons' Forgotten Realms
campaign setting.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
which prominently features in Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
's Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
series of fantasy novels. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brouhaha on a fairly regular basis. Ankh-Morpork is also the mercantile capital of the Discworld
Discworld (world)
The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld fantasy novels. It consists of a large disc resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle, named Great A'Tuin as it slowly swims...
, and the books give a flavour of a nonetheless "working" quasi-medieval city, despite criticisms by many people (including its own inhabitants); even when it is under attack from a dragon
European dragon
European dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe.In European folklore, a dragon is a serpentine legendary creature. The Latin word draco, as in constellation Draco, comes directly from Greek δράκων,...
, the vegetable carts still have to come in. It is also home to Unseen University
Unseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
, a centre of magical learning.
In The Art of Discworld
The Art of Discworld
The Art of Discworld is a descriptive book of the world of the Discworld as portrayed in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It showcases the art of Paul Kidby with descriptions of characters and locations by Pratchett and some details of the development of the art by Kidby himself.The book...
Pratchett explains that the city is similar to Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
and central Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, but adds that it has elements of 18th century London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 19th century Seattle and modern New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He also states that since the creation of The Streets of Ankh-Morpork
The Streets of Ankh-Morpork
The Streets of Ankh-Morpork is an atlas of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in Discworld, a fantasy series by English author Terry Pratchett. The final, artwork-grade map was drawn by Stephen Player, who also drew the artwork for a later publication, The Discworld Mapp....
, he has tried to ensure that the descriptions of character movements and locations in the books match the Ankh-Morpork map; this has allowed him, and fans of the series, to visualise the story more clearly. Ankh-Morpork is also referred to as "The Great [or Big] Wahoonie" on occasions, alluding to "The Great Wen
The Great Wen
The Great Wen is a disparaging nickname for London. The term was coined in the 1820s by William Cobbett, the radical pamphleteer and champion of rural England. Cobbett saw the rapidly growing city as a pathological swelling on the face of the nation...
" (London), or to "The Big Apple" (New York). There are also strong parallels with the political structure, economy, social structure, topography and history of the city-state Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
during the Renaissance.
Geography
Ankh-Morpork lies on the River Ankh (the most polluted waterway on the Discworld and reputedly solid enough to walk on), where the fertile loam of the Sto Plains (similar to Western EuropeWestern Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
) meets the Circle Sea (the Discworld's version of the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
). This, naturally, puts it in an excellent trading position.
Lying approximately equidistant from the cold Hub and tropical Rim, Ankh-Morpork is in the Discworld's equivalent of the temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
zone.
The name "Ankh-Morpork" refers to both the city itself, a walled city
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
about a mile (1.6 km) across, and the surrounding suburbs and farms of its fiefdom
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
.
The central city divides more or less into the more affluent Ankh and the poorer Morpork which includes the slum-like "Shades", which are separated by the River Ankh.
Ankh-Morpork is built on black loam, broadly, but is mostly built on itself; pragmatic citizens simply built on top of the existing buildings when the sediment grew too high as the river flooded, rather than excavate them out. There are many unknown basements, including an entire "cave network" below Ankh-Morpork made up of old streets and abandoned sewers (it has been continuously stated that anyone with a pickaxe and a good sense of direction could reach anywhere in Ankh-Morpork by knocking walls down in a straight line). Recently, the underground regions have been extended by the city's dwarf
Dwarfs (Discworld)
Sam leighton is dwarf kingDwarfs in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are similar to the Dwarves of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, to which they largely started out as a homage, and dwarves in other fantasy novels. They are short, stocky, bearded metal-workers, generally seen wearing chain mail...
population to get around unimpeded. It has recently been made municipal property.
Ankh-Morpork is also the city with most dwarfs on the whole disc outside of Überwald, largely considered the dwarfen homeland, with over 50,000 dwarfs living there (The Truth
The Truth (novel)
The Truth is the twenty-fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 2000.The book features the coming of movable type to Ankh-Morpork, and the founding of the Discworld's first newspaper by William de Worde, as he invents investigative journalism with the help of his reporter Sacharissa...
, The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
).
The River Ankh
The Ankh is basically a parody of the Thames during the 18th and 19th century, as both were unhealthy and polluted. Such parody is also evident in maps of Ankh-Morpork, which clearly show the River Ankh with the famous Thames meander around LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Isle Of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
. The naming of the river is an ironic pun, as the word 'Ankh' (☥) is the Ancient Egyptian symbol for life - therefore it is the River of Life, the antithesis of its actual appearance.
Even before it enters Ankh-Morpork, the River Ankh is full of silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
from the plains; by the time it gets to the seaward side of the city, "even an agnostic could walk across it" (although in The Truth
The Truth (novel)
The Truth is the twenty-fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 2000.The book features the coming of movable type to Ankh-Morpork, and the founding of the Discworld's first newspaper by William de Worde, as he invents investigative journalism with the help of his reporter Sacharissa...
, Arnold Sideways plays it safe by distributing his weight over boards).
The citizens of the city are strangely proud of this fact, even going so far as to say that "it is easier to suffocate than drown in the Ankh." They also claim it to be the purest water on the Disc, as "Anything that's passed through so many kidneys has to be very pure indeed." (A reference to the saying that London tap-water is allegedly filtered by seven sets of kidneys). Owing to the build-up of centuries, the bed of the river is higher than some parts of the city. When winter snows swell the flow, the low-rent areas of Morpork flood. In spring some parts of the river catch fire, others sprout small trees and also the spray of the Ankh turns into a shade of green. Wading birds are apparently uncommon, as their legs would be eaten away by the pollution. Such fish as are known to exist are described as looking like vacuum cleaners, and explode when brought to clean water. There are a lot of microorganisms living in the river, which Mustrum Ridcully believed was proof that the water was safe to drink - as anything capable of supporting that much life had to be healthy.
Although some cities have been invaded by barbarians approaching by river, there is small danger of this with the Ankh, since any invasion fleet would have to be preceded by a gang of men wielding shovels. If this does happen, there is a magic horn in the Patrician's Palace which is said to blow itself.
In the times when the city catches fire, the river gates are closed, and the river rises and smothers the flames. This also has the unfortunate side effect of destroying any remaining buildings that the fire missed.
In both Men At Arms
Men at Arms
Men at Arms is the 15th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett first published in 1993. It is the second novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch on the Discworld. Lance-constable Angua von Überwald, later in the series promoted to the rank of Sergeant, is introduced in this book...
and the computer game Discworld Noir
Discworld Noir
Discworld Noir is a computer game based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld comic fantasy novels, and unlike the previous Discworld games is both an example and parody of the noir genre. The game was developed by Perfect Entertainment and published by GT Interactive. It was originally released in 1999...
, the Ankh is described as "the only river in the world on which you could draw a chalk outline".
History
According to legend, the first city of Ankh-Morpork was founded thousands of years ago by twin brothers who were raised by a hippopotamusHippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
(an allusion to the myth of Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
, with a hippo replacing the original wolf). It is in memory of this that the hippo is the royal animal of Ankh. One legend has it that if danger ever threatens the city, the eight stone hippopotami guarding the Brass Bridge will come to life and run away. Another legend claims that many centuries ago, the Disc flooded. An ark was constructed
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
, containing two of every animal. When the accumulated dung of forty days and nights was dropped over the side, they called it Ankh-Morpork.
The original city was little more than a walled keep, surrounding the Tower of Art, a building of mysterious origin which may even predate the Disc itself.
At one point it had an empire, similar to the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, that covered half the continent including the neighbouring country of Klatch. These were the days of the "Pax Morporkia," another reference to Rome and their Pax Romana
Pax Romana
Pax Romana was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Since it was established by Caesar Augustus it is sometimes called Pax Augusta...
.
The empire was largely the creation of General Tacticus (a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on both "tactics
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
" and the name of the real-world historian Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
), the greatest military mind in history. Tacticus refused to accept that the Empire was growing too big to control, and was finally shipped off to be king of Genua. As king he decided that the greatest threat to Genua was the Empire, and declared war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
on it (a probable reference to Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
, who served under the Emperor Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
but later, as King of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, allied with France's enemies and also a possible allusion to the American War of Independence, as Genua is to Ankh-Morpork what the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
are to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
).
This was a Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
, ruled by the Kings of Ankh, who are recalled in legend as wise, noble and fair. The line died out approximately 2000 years before the present, giving way to real kings who were realistically corrupt and perverse and ultimately leading to the collapse of the empire. (This could be seen as a parody of the fictional city of Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
, which also had a "Golden Age" many years before, with Kings who were remembered as being noble and wise.)
Shortly before this, however, the mage Alberto Malich had founded Unseen University
Unseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
(UU) in the Tower of Art, and Ankh-Morpork continued as a service town for the wizards.
Royalty became extremely debased and the later kings of Ankh-Morpork are recalled in history as power-mad and corrupt, or just mad; some are mentioned by name in Men at Arms
Men at Arms
Men at Arms is the 15th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett first published in 1993. It is the second novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch on the Discworld. Lance-constable Angua von Überwald, later in the series promoted to the rank of Sergeant, is introduced in this book...
:
- Queen Alguinna IV
- King Artorollo (a contemporary of Alberto Malich)
- King Cirone IV
- Queen Coanna
- King Loyala the Aaargh (Had a 1.13 second rule from coronation to assassination) - The Discworld CompanionThe Discworld CompanionThe Discworld Companion is an encyclopaedia of the Discworld fictional universe created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs.The book compiles a precise definition of words, lives of historical people, geography of places and events that have appeared in at least one Discworld novel, map, diary,...
- King Ludwig the Tree (Known to issue royal proclamations on the need to develop a new type of frog and similar important matters, and also responsible for the city motto Quanti Canicula Ille In Fenestra) - The Discworld CompanionThe Discworld CompanionThe Discworld Companion is an encyclopaedia of the Discworld fictional universe created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs.The book compiles a precise definition of words, lives of historical people, geography of places and events that have appeared in at least one Discworld novel, map, diary,...
- King Paragore
- King Tyrril (ruled circa AM 907)
- King Veltrick III
- Webblethorpe the Unconscious
The last and worst - the euphemistically-remembered Lorenzo the Kind (the full extent of whose infamy is not explicitly revealed, save that he was said to be "very fond of children
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
," possessed "secret rooms" from which "bits" had to be cleaned, and had in his dungeons "machines for . . .") - was overthrown in the Ankh-Morpork Civil War of 1688 (dating from the founding of UU). The question of what to do with the deposed king (no judge would try him) was settled when he was executed by the then Commander of the City Watch, Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes. Known as "Old Stoneface," his regicide resulted in his being banned from bearing arms (These events parallel the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
of the 1640s, and the execution of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
). Afterwards "Old Stoneface" (an ancestor of the current City Watch Commander Samuel Vimes
Samuel Vimes
Samuel "Sam" Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. As of his latest promotion, his full name and title is; "'His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh; Commander Sir Samuel Vimes": When serving as Ambassador for Ankh-Morpork, he is also referred to simply as...
and a play on Cromwell's nickname "Old Ironside") and his Ironheads (a play on "Ironsides
Ironside (cavalry)
The Ironsides were troopers in the Parliamentarian cavalry formed by English political leader Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century, during the English Civil War. The name came from "Old Ironsides", one of Cromwell's nicknames...
" and "Roundheads") attempted to introduce democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, but the people voted against it. After "Old Stoneface" himself was overthrown, Ankh-Morpork reverted to a non-hereditary oligarchic
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
system, where the leaders are still ruthless tyrants, but don't have the audacity to invoke divine right. It is, however, rumoured that the royal blood line of the Kings of Ankh has not in fact died out but instead continued, and that the true king, Carrot Ironfoundersson, walks the streets of the city on a nightly basis. The Patrician
Havelock Vetinari
Havelock Vetinari, Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, is the fictional ruler of the city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, a series of over thirty books describing a parallel universe whose main world has reflections of - even more or less subtle jokes about - our...
rules the city, and operates a specialised form of "One Man, One Vote" democracy: the Patrician is the Man, and he has the Vote.
Past Patricians, many of them oppressive despots and fairly often mad, would include:
- Deranged Lord Harmoni
- Laughing Lord Scapula
- Frenzied Earl Hargath
- Nersh the Lunatic
- Giggling Lord Smince
- Homicidal Lord Winder
- Mad Lord Snapcase
The reign of Winder was marked by a greater-than-norm amount of oppression and political violence, as detailed in Night Watch, causing a popular revolt centred in Treacle Mine Road. The City Guilds had him assassinated and replaced with Lord Snapcase, who himself turned out to be a greater tyrant and was eventually replaced with Havelock Vetinari: ironically, the very assassin who'd killed Winder.
When Vetinari inherited the city, it was a corrupt, crumbling medieval city, as shown in The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."...
. This was gradually turned around, first with an overhaul of the Guild system - such as legalising the Guild of Thieves and leaving them responsible for stopping 'unlicensed' thefts - and then by opening the city to immigration. dwarfs, trolls, gnomes, humans from across the Disc, and even the undead
Undead (Discworld)
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, the undead are seen less as monsters, and more as characters with unusual cultural quirks. They even have their own bar in Ankh-Morpork....
emigrated in large numbers, making Ankh-Morpork a truly multicultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
society, with both the advantages and problems that suggests. (The current Patrician's own, typically pragmatic, view on multiculturalism is "Alloys are stronger.") With the new stability and skill base, the city has become the mercantile and political capital
Political capital
Political capital is primarily based on a public figure's favorable image among the populace and among other important factors in or out of the government. Political capital is essentially the opinion of another person, group of people, or nation about you, your organization, or your government...
of the Discworld, so much so that the Sto Plains operates under a new Pax Morporkia, which operates not on the principle of "If you fight, we will kill you," but on the principle of "If you fight, we will call in your mortgages."
Mime artists are strictly forbidden. Anyone caught practising the art is hung upside-down in a scorpion pit, upon the walls of which is written: "Learn the words." This is the only overt sign of tyranny under Vetinari.
Ankh-Morpork has evolved in the series. While it still has corruption (mostly organised in guilds
Guilds of Ankh-Morpork
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels, there are almost 300 Guilds in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Thieves' Guild Diary and the Death's Domain map all quote Guild publications. Guilds known include:...
) but is far from crumbling by Going Postal
Going Postal
Going Postal is Terry Pratchett's 33rd Discworld novel, released in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, Going Postal is divided into chapters, a feature previously seen only in Pratchett's children's books and the Science of Discworld series...
and has become a high-tech (for the Disc) city-state bordering on almost steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
levels of technology. The city is indeed the 2nd most developed nation of the disc after the Agatean Empire.
Ankh-Morpork has seen the appearance of
- Fire insurance (this may cause more harm than good as people burn down their own houses), first seen in The Colour of MagicThe Colour of MagicThe Colour of Magic is a 1983 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."...
. - A competent police force, first seen in Guards! Guards!Guards! Guards!Guards! Guards! is the eighth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the City Watch. The first Discworld computer game borrowed heavily from Guards! Guards! in terms of plot.-Plot:...
and developing steadily thereafter. - The clacks, a semaphore system used to send what amount to telegrams (see Semaphore line), first seen in The Fifth ElephantThe Fifth ElephantThe Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
. - A real newspaper, first seen in The TruthThe Truth (novel)The Truth is the twenty-fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 2000.The book features the coming of movable type to Ankh-Morpork, and the founding of the Discworld's first newspaper by William de Worde, as he invents investigative journalism with the help of his reporter Sacharissa...
. - The Post Office, or rather its resurgence, along with the first stamps, first seen in Going PostalGoing PostalGoing Postal is Terry Pratchett's 33rd Discworld novel, released in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, Going Postal is divided into chapters, a feature previously seen only in Pratchett's children's books and the Science of Discworld series...
. - StampsPostage stampA postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
and paper moneyPaper MoneyPaper Money is the second album by the band Montrose. It was released in 1974 and was the band's last album to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist.-History:...
as introduced by Moist von LipwigMoist von LipwigMoist von Lipwig is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. He is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal and Making Money.-Background and execution:Little is known about Moist von Lipwig's past...
in Going PostalGoing PostalGoing Postal is Terry Pratchett's 33rd Discworld novel, released in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, Going Postal is divided into chapters, a feature previously seen only in Pratchett's children's books and the Science of Discworld series...
and Making MoneyMaking MoneyMaking Money is a Terry Pratchett novel in the Discworld series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and specifically the introduction of paper money to the city...
respectively.
Crime is kept in check by the Watch and the guilds, mainly the Thieves' Guild; in the novel Jingo
Jingo (novel)
Jingo is the 21st novel by Terry Pratchett, one of his Discworld series. It was published in 1997. The rising of a previously submerged island and the subconstituent sovereignty dispute were inspired by the real-life island of Ferdinandea.-Plot:...
a character casually notes the Thieves' Guild weathervane is an actual unofficial and currently deceased thief. Lord Vetinari has a firm grip on the city (or seems to). The wizards of UU no longer murder each other intentionally. The city is now a highly-advanced metropolis rather than the fading, broken-down city of The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."...
. It is implied that the Axle discovered in Thud!
Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
will revolutionise both municipal transportation (with many references which parallel the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
including the minesign symbol for a mine) and machinery, and Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. He is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal and Making Money.-Background and execution:Little is known about Moist von Lipwig's past...
's invention of the banknote
Banknote
A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender. In addition to coins, banknotes make up the cash or bearer forms of all modern fiat money...
in Making Money
Making Money
Making Money is a Terry Pratchett novel in the Discworld series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and specifically the introduction of paper money to the city...
.
City Leadership
The succession of the Patrician occurs normally by either assassination or revolution. Patricians have been known to resign, but this is very much the exception.Power is, to some degree, shared with the many Guilds (see above) and the surviving nobility. They form a sort of advisory city council, but the Patrician has the only vote at meetings. This may be the same as the "council of aldermen
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
" referred to briefly in Sourcery
Sourcery
Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1988. On the Discworld, sourcerers - wizards who are sources of magic, and thus immensely more powerful than normal wizards – were the main cause of the great mage wars that left areas of the disc uninhabitable. Men born the...
, and called the city council in "Guards Guards", but never mentioned since.
The current office-holder is the Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...
-inspired Lord Havelock Vetinari
Havelock Vetinari
Havelock Vetinari, Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, is the fictional ruler of the city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, a series of over thirty books describing a parallel universe whose main world has reflections of - even more or less subtle jokes about - our...
, a former student at the Assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s' Guild.
The nearest surviving relative of the former royal family
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
seems to be Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson, technically a human, but fundamentally a dwarf (or vice-versa depending on point-of-view). However, he has gone to some effort to keep his royal connections as quiet as possible. The origin of Corporal Cecil Wormsborough St. John (Nobby) Nobbs remains shrouded in mystery. At one point he was identified as being a descendant of de Nobbes, the Earl of Ankh (and therefore the next in line), but this was (probably) a deliberate deception.
The Patrician has almost absolute power over the affairs of the city and works together with the leaders of the city's Guilds
Guilds of Ankh-Morpork
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels, there are almost 300 Guilds in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Thieves' Guild Diary and the Death's Domain map all quote Guild publications. Guilds known include:...
, who elect him through the Guild Council, as shown in The Truth
The Truth (novel)
The Truth is the twenty-fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 2000.The book features the coming of movable type to Ankh-Morpork, and the founding of the Discworld's first newspaper by William de Worde, as he invents investigative journalism with the help of his reporter Sacharissa...
. In an analogy of Renaissance Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Ankh-Morpork is an oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
. Eligible for election are members of rich and influential families.
Vetinari appears rather more permanent than most patricians, largely due to his Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
an ("for a given value of Machiavelli", according to Terry Pratchett) machinations. He has arranged the politics of the city in such a way that to remove him from office would cause chaos among the Guilds and nobility. He firmly believes that what people really want is stability, and that is what he provides.
Current "important" city figures
Although Vetinari is the absolute leader of the city, he has been able to give some people the illusion that they have some power:- Mustrum Ridcully, archchancellor of the wizard college Unseen UniversityUnseen UniversityThe Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
. - His Grace, Sir Samuel Vimes, Duke of Ankh, Commander of the City Watch. (Also ex-blackboard monitor (Mentioned in The Fifth Elephant, Thud!)).
- Lord Downey, head of the Assassins' GuildAnkh-Morpork Assassins' GuildThe Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild is a fictional school for professional killers in Terry Pratchett's long-running Discworld series of fantasy novels...
. - Mr Boggis, head of the Guild of Thieves, Cutpurses, Housebreakers, and Allied Trades.
- Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson, Captain of the City Watch.
- Moist von LipwigMoist von LipwigMoist von Lipwig is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. He is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal and Making Money.-Background and execution:Little is known about Moist von Lipwig's past...
, former con-man, now Postmaster, Head of the Mint, owner of the Chairman of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork. - Rosie Palm, head of the Guild of SeamstressesGuilds of Ankh-MorporkIn Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels, there are almost 300 Guilds in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Thieves' Guild Diary and the Death's Domain map all quote Guild publications. Guilds known include:...
. - Queen Molly, head of the Beggars' Guild.
- Hughnon Ridcully, Chief Priest of Blind Io and de facto leader of the city's varied clergy as well as brother to the aforesaid Mustrum Ridcully.
- Lord Rust, a military leader whose pompous attitude usually leads him to bungle whatever situation he is placed into as in JingoJingo (novel)Jingo is the 21st novel by Terry Pratchett, one of his Discworld series. It was published in 1997. The rising of a previously submerged island and the subconstituent sovereignty dispute were inspired by the real-life island of Ferdinandea.-Plot:...
and Night Watch as well as Monstrous RegimentMonstrous Regiment (novel)Monstrous Regiment is the 31st novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It takes its name from the anti-Catholic 16th century tract by John Knox, the full title of which is The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regimen of Women....
. Generally opposes and is opposed by Samuel VimesSamuel VimesSamuel "Sam" Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. As of his latest promotion, his full name and title is; "'His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh; Commander Sir Samuel Vimes": When serving as Ambassador for Ankh-Morpork, he is also referred to simply as...
. - Lord Selachii and Lord Venturi have slightly smaller roles than Lord Rust and are usually depicted in similar scenarios to Lord Rust.
- Mr Slant, the undeadUndeadUndead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
head of the Lawyer's GuildGuilds of Ankh-MorporkIn Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels, there are almost 300 Guilds in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Thieves' Guild Diary and the Death's Domain map all quote Guild publications. Guilds known include:...
. - Leonard of Quirm, the Disc's premier engineer and creator of inventions which act as a catalyst in some novels, e.g. Men at ArmsMen at ArmsMen at Arms is the 15th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett first published in 1993. It is the second novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch on the Discworld. Lance-constable Angua von Überwald, later in the series promoted to the rank of Sergeant, is introduced in this book...
and The Last HeroThe Last HeroThe Last Hero is a short novel, the twenty-seventh of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. It was published in 2001 in a larger format than the other Discworld novels and illustrated on every page by Paul Kidby.-Plot summary:...
.
It should be pointed out that traditionally the relationship between the city and Unseen University is one of mutual cooperation, in which it is stated that the University agrees to do anything asked of them and the city promises to never ask, and it is possibly the only place where the Patrician's influence is reduced. For example, the city has never taxed the university ("A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices
A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices
A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices is a Discworld short story by Terry Pratchett. The story describes the reaction of the wizards of the Unseen University to a proposal from the Patrician to introduce regulation of university education. It references the government inspector A. E...
"). According to Interesting Times
Interesting Times
Interesting Times is the seventeenth novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.The opening lines explain that the title refers to the phrase "may you live in interesting times".-Plot summary:...
, the Patrician can, in theory, have the Archchancellor summoned and, indeed, have him executed; however, the Archchancellor could turn the Patrician into a small reptile and, indeed, start bouncing around the room on a pogo stick.
Institutions
The primary engines of Ankh-Morpork's economy are the guildsGuilds of Ankh-Morpork
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels, there are almost 300 Guilds in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Thieves' Guild Diary and the Death's Domain map all quote Guild publications. Guilds known include:...
. There are hundreds of guilds, for every conceivable profession, from clowns to butchers, and each has its own strictly maintained laws and trading practices. Many guilds have assumed roles which in real-world cities would be assumed by government agencies.
Education
As Ankh-Morpork does not appear to have anything approaching a state education system, the primary means of education is the vocational training imparted by the guilds to their young members. Foundlings are, for instance, often dropped at the doorsteps of guilds in the hopes of their learning a useful trade. The Assassins' GuildAnkh-Morpork Assassins' Guild
The Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild is a fictional school for professional killers in Terry Pratchett's long-running Discworld series of fantasy novels...
is considered the top educational establishment on the Disc and, whether one intends to be an assassin or not, is considered the school of choice for young aristocrats such as the future Lord Vetinari. It is possible to attend the Assassins' Guild simply for the learning and not the slaying; though many of course choose to do both. Many children from poorer backgrounds are educated at dame schools, similar to the institutions in Victorian England of the same name; Sideney (in Hogfather
Hogfather
Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, and a 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee.The Hogfather is also a character in the book, representing something akin to Father Christmas. He grants children's wishes on Hogswatchnight and brings them presents...
) and Samuel Vimes
Samuel Vimes
Samuel "Sam" Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. As of his latest promotion, his full name and title is; "'His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh; Commander Sir Samuel Vimes": When serving as Ambassador for Ankh-Morpork, he is also referred to simply as...
(in Thud!
Thud!
Thud! is Terry Pratchett's 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America on September 13, 2005, the United Kingdom on 1 October 2005. Thud! was released in the U.S. three weeks before it was released in Pratchett's native UK, to coincide with a United States signing tour...
) were educated at dame schools. Others attend boarding schools outside Ankh-Morpork, such as the Quirm College for Young Ladies. A Teachers' Guild exists, but appears to be of low status—in Guards! Guards!
Guards! Guards!
Guards! Guards! is the eighth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the City Watch. The first Discworld computer game borrowed heavily from Guards! Guards! in terms of plot.-Plot:...
Vimes' seating position in the coronation scene is described as "in the lowest tier…between the Master of the Fellowship of Beggars and the head of the Teachers' Guild". This is most probably a joke based on the international belief that teachers are lowly ranked and paid.
Ankh-Morpork's main institution of higher education is Unseen University
Unseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
, the principal school of wizardry on the Disc.
Law Enforcement
The laws and protections offered by the guilds are the city's main form of personal security. The most obvious example of this is the Thieves' Guild, which, by regulating the crime trade, acts as the city's main law enforcement agency; however, many of the guilds also have private enforcers, such as the Agony Aunts for the Seamstresses' Guild and the Bloody Fools for the Fools' Guild.At its most basic level, law in Ankh-Morpork operates on the principle that a grocer is free to mix soil in his coffee, and also to be vivisected by any customer who happens to find out. Other than that, options are slim. In cases of personal grievance, one might make an appeal to the Guild of Lawyers, providing, of course, one is wealthy enough to pay (The Lawyers' Guild consider this a very reasonable arrangement, as the poor are inveterately criminal anyway). Barring that, the only course of action in criminal cases is a direct appeal to the Patrician
Havelock Vetinari
Havelock Vetinari, Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, is the fictional ruler of the city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, a series of over thirty books describing a parallel universe whose main world has reflections of - even more or less subtle jokes about - our...
, which frequently works, as he sees such a result as highly instructive.
Despite evidence to the contrary, murder is not a commonplace occurrence in Ankh-Morpork, there are, of course, assassinations, but as these are guild sanctioned they are not deemed to be against the law. Ankh-Morpork does, however, have an extraordinarily high suicide rate, due mainly to the city's view on what constitutes as suicide. For example, walking alone through the night-time alleyways of the Shades is suicide, as is asking for a short in a dwarf bar. It is very easy to commit suicide in Ankh-Morpork if you are not careful.
Outside the guilds, most law enforcement is undertaken by the Watch
Ankh-Morpork City Watch
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force within the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett. It is based in the city-state of Ankh-Morpork on the Discworld. The Watch was originally two units, the Day Watch and the Night Watch which were combined after the events of Men at Arms...
, under the leadership of Sam Vimes.
Government revival
Recently, Lord VetinariHavelock Vetinari
Havelock Vetinari, Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, is the fictional ruler of the city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, a series of over thirty books describing a parallel universe whose main world has reflections of - even more or less subtle jokes about - our...
has begun to reassert the power of the state by reintroducing formerly decrepit government agencies such as the City Watch, the Post Office, and most recently, the Royal Mint
Making Money
Making Money is a Terry Pratchett novel in the Discworld series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and specifically the introduction of paper money to the city...
.
City Watch
The City Watch is one of the greatest success stories. In the beginning, it consisted of the Day Watch, popinjays headed by Captain "Mayonnaise" Quirke (rich, thick, oily, and smelling slightly of eggs) and the Night Watch, three unemployable men; then-Captain Vimes, who was a drunk, Sergeant Colon, whose idea of major crime would be the theft of a bridge and Corporal Nobbs, who has a certificate to prove that he's human. The addition of Lance-Constable Carrot was the catalyst for their reformation over the course of the novel Guards! Guards!Guards! Guards!
Guards! Guards! is the eighth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the City Watch. The first Discworld computer game borrowed heavily from Guards! Guards! in terms of plot.-Plot:...
Over the course of time, the Watch has grown under the leadership of Commander Samuel Vimes to the most modern police force on the Disc. Which still employs the three men in question.
Post Office
The Ankh-Morpork Post Office, which was once a vibrant, relevant institution complete with gleaming wooden counters and polished brass, staffed by postmen in spiffy blue uniforms, languished and almost died, according to Mr Tolliver Groat (Junior Postman, later Senior Postman and Postal Inspector), when postmen began to leave half a sack of post behind in order to get home on time. The next day they left another half sack, reasoning they could do it on their day off, by which point too much mail had built up and so much was still left behind. However this was only a minor part of the problem.The amount of undelivered mail was dramatically increased by the Sorting Engine, created by Bloody Stupid Johnson. This machine was intended to speed up postal delivery, but instead began to produce mail, first from the future (which was fine, because that was seen as really improving delivery times) and then from alternate universes. The reason for this was that Johnson disapproved of pi
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...
, and had therefore based the engine around a non-Euclidean wheel, on which the radius divided into the circumference exactly three times, thereby creating an area of dimensional instability. It was impossible to deliver all the letters, and most of them couldn't be delivered, as they hadn't been sent in this universe.
The Post Office was reduced to a massive building crammed floor to ceiling with undelivered letters and staffed solely by geriatric Junior Postman Groat, along with his pin-collecting companion Stanley. By the time of Going Postal it had long been forgotten, the building daubed with graffiti, the mail coaches appropriated for passenger travel by the coachmen and its services rendered apparently useless by the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company. Lord Vetinari then appointed Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. He is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal and Making Money.-Background and execution:Little is known about Moist von Lipwig's past...
, a former con-man, to restore the Post Office as a means of curtailing the power of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company. With Lipwig as Postmaster-General, the Post Office was restored to something approaching its former glory. Lipwig invented the postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
, giving a new hobby to young men like Stanley who were formerly obsessed with pin collecting. With the craze of variously-priced, flavoured stamps taking off, Lipwig went on to restore mail coach services to the towns of Sto Lat and Genua. As the clacks lines became less reliable, the Post Office became stiff competition for semaphore. Ultimately, Lipwig succeeded in bringing down Reacher Gilt, chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, by using a well placed lie and thus restored the Post Office's supremacy in delivering Morporkian messages. Lord Vetinari then handed the Grand Trunk company over to Moist, who planned to give it back to the Dearheart family, from whom it was unjustly taken.
The motto of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office is displayed on the front of the building, and for some years read "NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR GL OM OF NI T CAN STAY THESE MES ENGERS ABO T THEIR DUTY." Following Mr Lipwig's appointment, the missing letters were located on and, by the use of a promise not to bring any charges and the use of no violence at all by an 8 feet (2.4 m) golem wielding a huge crowbar, recovered from the frontage of the hairdresser's 'HUGOS', allowing the motto to be restored to its correct spelling. By a strange coincidence, the motto is very similar to the motto of another Post Office
United States Postal Service creed
The United States Postal Service has no official creed or motto.Often falsely cited as such, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is an inscription on the James Farley Post Office in New York City, derived from...
in the Multiverse. During the Post Office's decline, a list of things that would, in fact, stay these messengers, was displayed on a notice board below the motto. The most notable is Mrs. Cake, listed twice. Mrs. Cake is not to be asked about.
Currency
The AM$ (Ankh-Morpork dollar) is equal to 100 pennies (pence). Under Ankh-Morporkian tradition, ten pence can be referred to as a shilling, twenty-five pence as half a ton, and fifty pence as a nob/a ton/half a bar/a knocker.The AM$ is reputedly the hardest
Hard currency
Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
currency outside of the Agatean Empire. A dollar coin is Sequin (coin)
Sequin (coin)
The sequin is a gold coin weighing of .986 gold, minted by the Republic of Venice from the 13th century onwards.The design of the Venetian gold ducat, or zecchino, remained unchanged for over 500 years, from its introduction in 1284 to the takeover of Venice by Napoleon in 1797...
sized, and although theoretically made of gold the metal has been adulterated so many times that, according to The Discworld Companion
The Discworld Companion
The Discworld Companion is an encyclopaedia of the Discworld fictional universe created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs.The book compiles a precise definition of words, lives of historical people, geography of places and events that have appeared in at least one Discworld novel, map, diary,...
:
"There is more gold in an equivalent weight of seawater. In a sense, then, Ankh-Morpork is on the gold standardGold standardThe gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...
in all respects except the one of actually having any gold to speak of"
Ankh-Morpork being an extremely rich city state, the AM$ is the currency of choice amongst the lands around the Circle Sea; although other city states have their own currencies they maintain strong links with the dollar, as Ankh-Morpork is the only place which has anything worth buying.
In Making Money
Making Money
Making Money is a Terry Pratchett novel in the Discworld series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and specifically the introduction of paper money to the city...
, Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. He is the protagonist of the novels Going Postal and Making Money.-Background and execution:Little is known about Moist von Lipwig's past...
introduces paper currency and puts the city on the golem
Golems (Discworld)
Golems in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series are derived from golems in Jewish mythology; early forms of a clay robot, supposedly awakened by a spell or priestly words to do people's bidding....
standard.
Notable locations
Biers is a pub frequented by creatures of the night, usually lumped together as "undead", though they can include werewolves and bogeymen. Difficult to find, unless you happen to be "the right sort." It is often compared to CheersCheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
but with the tagline "Where everybody knows your shape". Susan Sto Helit
Susan Sto Helit
Susan Sto Helit , once referred to as Susan Death, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. She is the "granddaughter" of Death, the Disc's Grim Reaper, and, as such, has "inherited" a number of his abilities...
is a noted frequenter of Biers. The more typical clientele occasionally loudly demand to know what she thinks she's doing there. They seldom do so twice. The barman of Biers is named Igor, though he doesn't appear to be an Igor
Igor (Discworld)
The Igors are a recurring set of characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels. They are members of a clan of servants from the region of Überwald, all of which are named Igor.-Origins:...
. It's best to eye what he serves carefully; as Pratchett noted in Hogfather
Hogfather
Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, and a 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee.The Hogfather is also a character in the book, representing something akin to Father Christmas. He grants children's wishes on Hogswatchnight and brings them presents...
, "When Igor the barman was asked for a Bloody Mary, he didn't mix a metaphor."
The Dwarf Bread Museum which, as its name suggests, is a building where certain articles of the (in)famous dwarf bread are kept; usually specimens of a cultural or historical importance. First mentioned in Men at Arms
Men at Arms
Men at Arms is the 15th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett first published in 1993. It is the second novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch on the Discworld. Lance-constable Angua von Überwald, later in the series promoted to the rank of Sergeant, is introduced in this book...
; more prominently featured in The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.-Plot summary:...
as the building from which the Scone of Stone (a reference to the Stone of Scone
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
) is stolen.
The Dysk, a theatre staging "usurper-killing-a-king dramas". A reference to the Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
.
The Mended Drum, formerly the Broken Drum (old motto: "You can't beat it") until it burned down in the city's first attempt at insurance fraud, is the city's principal inn. Located on Filigree Street, it is a rowdy, cloudy, crowded, smelly and utterly disreputable establishment, and therefore the ideal haunt for the Disc's plethora of hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
es. It is a favourite watering hole for the students of Unseen University
Unseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
, and regular haunt of the Librarian. It is also a favoured locale for those wishing to discuss business of a clandestine nature. The Broken Drum is the setting for the first meeting between the central characters Rincewind
Rincewind
Rincewind is a fictional character appearing in several of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. He is a failed student at the Unseen University for wizards in Ankh-Morpork, and is often described by scholars as "the magical equivalent to the number zero". He spends just about all of his time...
and Twoflower in the first Discworld novel, Colour of Magic. When Ankh-Morpork became more civilized in the later books, The Mended Drum was the last bastion of lawlessness although the bar fights have become a team sport, with teams getting points for performing classic brawling techniques. Limbs are still chopped off, but they are tattooed to ensure that Igor
Igor (Discworld)
The Igors are a recurring set of characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of novels. They are members of a clan of servants from the region of Überwald, all of which are named Igor.-Origins:...
sews them back correctly. Curiously, this romantic disreputable place is what Twoflower sought naively in Colour of Magic.
The Shades, Ankh-Morpork's slum district, comprise the oldest region of the city. The moral equivalent of a black hole. A pretty nasty place, all told (a horse in the Shades is often called "lunch", and nothing is seen as more suspicious than fresh paint).
Cockbill Street, located in the Shades, is the poorest area of the city. Despite this, people on Cockbill Street are so proud that they refuse to acknowledge this, believing eating comes second to keeping up appearances and leading to the saying that what you mostly ate on Cockbill Street "was your pride". Samuel Vimes
Samuel Vimes
Samuel "Sam" Vimes is a fictional policeman from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. As of his latest promotion, his full name and title is; "'His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh; Commander Sir Samuel Vimes": When serving as Ambassador for Ankh-Morpork, he is also referred to simply as...
was raised here. The residents go through life trying mostly to go unnoticed, this is best evidenced by the fact that Captain Carrot, who otherwise is on first-name terms with the entire population of the city, does not know any of the residents, to Samuel Vimes' amazement.
The Isle of Gods, an area almost encircled by the river Ankh containing the Watch-house, the theatres, the prison and the publishers. A reference to the Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
area of London.
Pseudopolis Yard, the headquarters of the City Watch
Ankh-Morpork City Watch
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force within the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett. It is based in the city-state of Ankh-Morpork on the Discworld. The Watch was originally two units, the Day Watch and the Night Watch which were combined after the events of Men at Arms...
. Owned by Lady Sybil Ramkin (later Lady Vimes) and donated by her when the Dragon-King burned down the Watch House. A reference to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
.
Unseen University
Unseen University
The Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of fantasy novels. Located in the city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College...
(UU) is in many ways the city's core. Centred around the 800-foot Tower of Art, the tallest building on the Disc, it serves as the Sto Plains' (and possibly the entire Discworld's) premier magic academy. The city originally grew out of the need to service and maintain the University. The Shades technically fall under its dominion, and much of its income is derived from rents there.
Morporkia
Morporkia is a female personification of the city, or possibly only of Morpork. She wears a cabbage-spangled cloak and an old-fashioned helmet, carrying a shield with the civic coat of armsHeraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
and a toasting-fork symbolising "something or other" (compare Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
, Columbia
Historical Columbia
Columbia is an historical and poetic name for America – and the early United States of America in particular, for which it is also the name of its female personification...
, Marianne
Marianne
Marianne is a national emblem of France and an allegory of Liberty and Reason. She represents the state and values of France, differently from another French cultural symbol, the "Coq Gaulois" which represents France as a nation and its history, land, culture, and variety of sport disciplines in...
).
Hippopotami
A pair of hippopotamiHippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
are also symbols of the city, and flank its coat of arms. There are also statues of hippos on the Brass Bridge; it is said that should danger threaten the city, they will run away.
Anthem
We Can Rule You Wholesale is the national anthemNational anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of Ankh-Morpork; it is a parody of the song 'Rule, Britannia!
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740...
'. The use of 'ner ner ner' as official lyrics (see below) is also heavily reminiscent of the English football anthem, 'Vindaloo
Vindaloo (song)
"Vindaloo" is a song by British band Fat Les. The music was written by Blur bassist Alex James and the lyrics were written by comedian Keith Allen. It was released as a single in 1998 and recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The song was originally written as a parody of football chants, but was...
'.
It was not written by a native Ankh-Morporkian, but by the visiting vampire Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
Henrik Shline von Überwald (born 1703, died 1782, also died 1784, 1788, 1791, 1802, 1804, 1807, 1808, 1821, 1830, 1861, finally staked 1872). His inspiration came from his observations that Ankh-Morpork's chief means of defence was not warfare but corruption, bribery and mercantile tactics, since most of the weapons used against the city were actually made there in the first place.
The anthem is particularly noteworthy for being the only one that has a second verse officially consisting of incoherent muttering. Count von Überwald had also observed that any group of people singing their country's national anthem never remembers how the second verse goes anyway, so he decided to make things easier for Ankh-Morpork. The anthem's sentiments are of course summarised in the new Pax Morporkia: "If you fight, we'll call in your mortgages. And incidentally that's my pike you're pointing at me. I paid for that shield you're holding. And take my helmet off when you speak to me, you horrible little debtor."
On formal occasions, the anthem is supposed to be performed by a large soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
singer wearing a sheet and holding a torch in one hand and a fork in the other.
The lyrics of the anthem are as follows:
"When dragons belch and hipposHippopotamusThe hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
flee
My thoughts, Ankh-Morpork, are of thee
Let others boast of martial dash
For we have boldly fought with cash
We own all your helmetHelmetA helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...
s, we own all your shoeShoeA shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...
s.
We own all your generalGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
s - touch us and you'll lose.
Morporkia! Morporkia!
Morporkia owns the day!
We can rule you wholesale
Touch us and you'll pay.
We bankruptBankruptcyBankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
all invaders,
We sell them souvenirSouvenirA souvenir , memento, keepsake or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. The term souvenir brings to mind the mass-produced kitsch that is the main commodity of souvenir and gift shops in many tourist traps around the world...
s,
We ner ner ner ner ner ner by the ears,
Er ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner,
Ner ner ner ner ner ner, ner ner ner ner ner,
Ner your gleaming swords, we mortgaged to the hilt.
Morporkia! Morporkia!
Ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner ner
We can rule you wholesale
CreditCredit (finance)Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
where it's due."
The final part of the anthem is usually sung much louder than the rest of the second verse, since the singers want to show they know the words...
The anthem was actually written in 1999 by Pratchett (words) and Carl Davis
Carl Davis
Carl Davis CBE is an American born conductor and composer who has made his home in the UK since 1961. In 1970 he married the English actress Jean Boht....
(music), for the BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
programme The Music Machine. It was performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
and the soprano was Claire Rutter
Claire Rutter
Claire Rutter is an English operatic soprano.-Biography:Claire Rutter studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and at the National Opera Studio. Her title role performances have included those in Tosca, La Traviata and Aida at English National Opera...
. It was also performed at that year's Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
by the Prommers' Orchestra and Chorus.
Public holidays
| Date | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 Ick | Hogswatch Day (New Year New Year The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner.... , Christmas Christmas Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days... ) |
| 28 April | The Creator's Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels... birthday (in reality Terry Pratchett Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels... 's birthday) |
| 1 May | May Day May Day May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures.... (also called May Blossom Day) |
| 25 May | The Twenty-Fifth Of May (commemorates the last Ankh-Morpork revolution, but only if you participated) |
| 6 Grune | Patrician's Day (in reality Stephen Briggs Stephen Briggs Stephen Briggs is a British writer of subsidiary works and merchandise surrounding Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy Discworld. The Streets of Ankh-Morpork, the first Discworld map, was co-designed by Briggs and Pratchett and painted by Stephen Player in 1993... ' birthday) |
| The first Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after the last half moon in Sektober | Soul Cake Days |
| 31 December | Hogswatch Eve |
| 32 December | Hogswatchnight |
Real-world connections
Ankh-Morpork was twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the town of Wincanton
Wincanton
Wincanton is a small town in south Somerset, southwest England. The town lies on the A303 road, the main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, in the south-west United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on the spherical planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
(known in the Discworld books as Roundworld) on 7 December 2002. The town is home to a Discworld shop called "The Cunning Artificer" which is named after a street in Ankh-Morpork.
However due to legal reasons, the twinning was not officially displayed on the road sign. Fans however have added stick-on notices to some of the signs. This has now been changed and a new town sign prominently declaring the twinning with Ankh-Morpork and other Roundworld places has been erected. This sign was designed by the Cunning Artificer himself, Bernard Pearson. Several streets in a new housing development in Wincanton have been named after Ankh-Morpork Streets, including Peach Pie Street and Treacle Mine Road.
Fiction connections
Many details of Ankh-Morpork appear to have been inspired by Fritz LeiberFritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
's fictional city Lankhmar
Lankhmar
Lankhmar is a fictional city in the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two anti-heroes....
(although Pratchett has said "I didn't -- at least consciously, I suppose I must say -- create Ankh-Morpork as a takeoff of Lankhmar").
Many of Pratchett's books reference the game Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
. Ankh-Morpork bears a strong resemblance to and may in part be based on Ankhapur Lake of Steam
Lake of Steam
Lake of Steam is a region in the fictional continent of Faerûn in the setting Forgotten Realms. Despite its name, Lake of Steam is a quasi-inner sea connected to the Shining Sea in much the same way as the Black Sea is to the Mediterranean Sea is on Earth...
(sometimes called 'The City of Thieves') one of the primary cities in Dungeons & Dragons' Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
campaign setting.
External links
- Discworld & Pratchett Wiki
- The L-Space Web, possibly the definitive Discworld web site
- Ankh-Morpork Anthem, performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.