I would have preferred it if the author had just said "this is what I based things off of", but instead the pretending that Discworld was just another piece of general mythos grew kind of irritating. It was interesting to learn some of the roots ( )

I do not want scholarly DiscWorld. ( )

Some of the most unique and magical beings on the Discworld are born from stories and belief alone. Here Gods walk the Disc, along with trolls, vampires, witches and many other creatures of human imagination. In this alternate universe stories, superstitions and the supernatural are all warped and re-imagined into a reality both humorous and flat, as just about everything on this flat world has its roots on the round world of Earth. For on the Discworld magic is real and all things that have been imagined have been given life.

The Folklore Of Discworld and the folklore of our world are almost identical but for a few differences, the most obvious of which being that in our world folklore is just that, folk tales and legends, but in the Discworld folklore has become much more, it has become reality, albeit a twisted reality. Here the fairy tales, myths and legends that are ingrained within our collective consciousness are collected, manipulated and explained through the combined efforts of Terry Pratchett's unique wit and Jacqueline Simpson's folklore knowledge creating a book both informative and funny. ( )

A fun diversion. Terry Pratchett is always a good bet. This is a comparison of discworld and real-world folklore done in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. It's quite informative and contains relevant quotes from discworld books.

If you're a fan and are looking for a gentle, humorous read to fill in-between books then this is ideal. ( )

I wavered between 3-4 stars on this one, but I'm nothing if not a bit generous when it deserves it.

My main concern was that this was another book cashing in on the huge popularity of Pratchett, and it is, but it didn't dim my enjoyment.

I love folklore and myth and this one is full of a bunch of mirroring of both, breaking down examples of how Pratchett twists and captures the spirit of so many legends... (mostly English or within that scope, which is also large). Is it good? Sure, if you like a refresher on myth and more local sources of custom, magical thinking, and fairy tales. :)

I do. And so I thought it was quite good. I did learn a few new things, too, but mostly it was comparative religion and callbacks to the standards. :) Not bad, but it still reads like a popular literary analysis textbook. :)

Do I recommend it? Absolutely, if you're a huge fan of Pratchett! :) Gives you a new dimension with which to read the books! :)
( )

This is an entertaining quick trip back to the Discworld with lots of references back to other parts of the multiverse, with emphasis on Earth. It's fascinating how much straight leakage there is between worlds! ( )

An interesting look at the folklore underlying the Discworld series of books. Worth a read to get a glimpse into the traditions and characters underlying the stories. ( )

This felt like a book without an audience. You need to be very familiar with the discworld to get the most out of those sections but if you are there will be nothing new. On the other hand if you have any interest in historical folk tales you wont get much out of the book either as there isn't much time or depth spent on the original tales. The book overstays it's welcome and seems a bit pointless overall. ( )

I was expecting something like the Science of Discworl, but this was even more entertainingly informative. It goes through the different legends and folk practices of the Disc, and talks about similar things that are found in our world. There's no plot, it's more of an ethnography and etymology. I know a fair bit about Earth folklore, but Pratchett has a different and deeper background. All the English mythology and urban legends that I just have never encountered are woven into the fabric of Discworld. And this book, with help from a real folklore expert, explains all the "real legends" I missed in my reading. Also, the conversation with Pratchett himself at the end of the audiobook was excellent. So brilliant. ( )

I'm a fan of both Terry Pratchett and folklore. I definitely learnt some things, but also knew quite a lot of it already, which perhaps reflects the four star rating rather than the five one might otherwise expect given my stated interests.

You don't need to have read all the discworld novels to get this book, but you do need to be a discworld reader or a large chunk of it will be lost on you. This book is a reference list that explains how earth's folklore (primarily British, but not exclusively so) has influenced the stories, and it comes with a really good index at the back. So you could have it on the side when reading through the various discworld books to look up the bits you weren't sure of. However, it works best on the novels set outside Ankh-Morpork. From memory the most referenced are Pyramids, Sourcery, Hogfather, Lords and Ladies, Soul Music, Monstrous Regiment and the Tiffany Aching books.

Another word on spoilers. Although there are a good number of quoted sections and explanations of references I don't think any of these directly related to the main plots of the stories. However, you might want to read the actual Discworld books before reading this one. You'll enjoy it all the more for being familiar with the stories. ( )

I found this fun and light, though I must admit it would be much less appealing if I weren't already a Discworld fan. I also had thought this would have focused more on the stories unique to Pratchett's world, rather than discussing the similarities between Discworld gods, heroes, monsters, etc. and their Earthly counterparts. Since I also like mythology, I didn't mind that, and only wish there hadn't been quite so much discussion of narrativium and particles of inspiration sleeting through the multiverse. Still worth the read, especially as a library e-book. ( )

Relates the folklore of Discworld to that of various societies on Earth in an amusing fashion. Mainly for fans. Stands up well to rereading. ( )

I was most interested in this because of a scene in Lords and Ladies where Nanny dings a bell and awakens a warrior. Who could that be? I spent the early part of the book wondering if he would ever get around to explaining that. And he did! The audibook ended with a discussion between the authors that was interesting and had the added attraction of Pratchett singing a couple of folksongs ... one of which I was able to chime in with: Pleasant and Delightful. So, in a way I got to sing with Terry Pratchett! Woot!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book “The Folklore of Discworld”. I bought it only as a reference book to dip into from time to time. Having started, I read it from cover to cover and found it entertaining and informative. A really good read for discworld fans. ( )

Definitely some interesting tidbits in this book that is really a set of essays. However, it lacks cohesion and proceeds from topic to topic. It is an interesting book but would have benefited from more cohesion. A fun take on the Discworld and folklore written in an interesting way. ( )

Did you know there were so many different versions of these "well known and commonplace" folklores? ( )

This book tries to be two things at once and fails at both.

On one hand it tries to be light and funny fare, and while it is indeed light and reads quickly, it is overly repetitive, rarely funny and fails to hold my interest.

On the other hand this book also tries to be a comprehensive overview of the folkloristic, mythological and cultural references in the Discworld books, but due to its structure and its constant switching between Discworld quotes and real-world counterpart it is annoying to use as a reference book.

So to conclude: although it contains some lines that will make you chuckle and some interesting facts you probably weren't aware of,The Folklore of Discworld, on the whole, is just not very interesting, nor very funny and therefore probably not worth your time unless you absolutely want to read everything written about Discworld. ( )

This I quite liked. I thought that it would either be a dry and dull record of the real folklore behind Terry's world, or an entirely silly mix of tales made up to explain certain happenings in the Discworld universe.
Instead, I found a pleasant blend of the two that somehow erased dull and dry and silly from the vocabulary. Easy to follow though I've only read the first four novels, and the lore behind the folk, both his and ours, is an interesting read. ( )

A wonderful look at the folklore of Terry Pratchett's Discworld and the related/similar folklore of our world. Fascinating but light reading.

This is an exellent, exellent reference book for the 'things that everyone knows' that crop up on the Discworld (and have strange parallels in different parts of the trouseres of space-time continuum, like, say, on Earth). Mirthfully the authors trace escaped particles of narrativum across the universes and observe their astonishing effects.

I have been looking for a book like this for years, and much regret buying some that were not co-authored by the man himself. It is charming to note the difference in writing styles of the authors and I caught myself grinning occasionally, thinking 'this is pure Pratchett'.

In 16 chapters different species, regions or character groups of the Diskworld are examined and their folk-loric or legendary background traced back to it's roots and presented for easy reference. A lot of chapters are sub-divided; for example the Chapter 'Beasties' has the sub-chapters 'Dragons', 'Basilisk and Chimera', 'Sphinx', 'Phoenix', 'Salamander', 'Unicorn' and 'The Luggage'.
But it is easy to find specific persons or places or events using the magnificent Index, and the Bibliography is mouth-watering and very tempting.

I am very happy I found this. ( )

A fascinating book although rather repetitive. One for Discworld fans only I think. ( )

I enjoyed this more than the science of discworld books( mainly because I understood more) and I think that it's a worthwhile addition to any discworld collection. ( )

I was so excited when I saw mention of this book and anxiously brought a copy as soon as it was out. And after a week I've finally read the first chapter. And I can't be bothered reading any more.

This is so far from the style of the Science of Discworld books. In Science, the authors clearly love what they're doing and want to spread the information to the public and have fun doing so. Terry's storyline holds it together and Ian and Jack are thoroughly entertaining in explaining the scientific concepts managing to instill awe and wonder as well as convey the information.

Folklore is just flat. There is no narrative holing to together. Simpson cannot pass on the fun that shoulod be apparent in folklore. Folklore exist because it's been passed down. Valuable lessons are taught in oral tradtions which need to be "fun" and convey feelings, excitement and fear in order to highlight the lessons. This feels like a cross between an encyclopedia and an academic essay. This feeling especially comes across when you read about the Gods of Djelibeybi with the phrase "At one point the author of Pyramids..." - you mean Terry Pratchett, the co-author of this volume and well known to pretty much anyone reading Folklore.

It is inconsistent in style - some bits saying how our folklore has affected the Disc, others suggesting that the Disc has affected our folklore. I can only surmise that this is an attempt to be humourous and quirky, but it fails because of the previously mentioned feel of academic paper.

I'm sure there must be some interesting stuff in here. The introduction was certainly interesting, but I just can't be bothered to read the rest of it to find it. Ultimately this book is a major disappointment on many levels. ( )

This is theoretically a reference book rather than something to read all the way through, apparently, which probably explains the slight repetitiveness of some parts. Other than that, I found it really interesting - the folklore of the real world as much as the Discworld parts, especially the stuff about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I met Jacqueline at the Discworld Convention, too, since she was the head of my guild, and she's a lovely woman. You should read this book just for the description of how she and Terry met.
One thing that I disagreed with was the theory on the sea troll who appears in one of the first two Discworld books. He's called Tethys, which the book says is a reference to Thetis, some kind of sea nymph type from Ancient Greek myth. Personally I would have thought it was more likely that Tethys was names for... Tethys? Who was in fact an Ancient Greek sea goddess, and Wikipedia informs me also the grandmother of Thetis. (Yes, I mostly knew the name Tethys because of the prehistoric ocean, but still.)
Otherwise, great book. ( )