The hats of the Discworld. - PPC Posting Board

Subject: The hats of the Discworld.
Author: Huinesoron
Posted on: 2017-04-24 13:44:00 UTC

(I guess spoilers for, uh, everything?)

So I'm rereading the Discworld series, and it sprung out at me that there are a lot of semi-sentient hats on the Disc.

The big two are the Archchancellor's Hat and the crown of Lancre, both of which are explicitly imbued with some of the personality of their previous bearers (the AC's Hat talks and all). But what about Rincewind's hat, which snaps him back to himself in an instant in Interesting Times? Or the Opera Ghost's mask, which has a similar effect?

Even right down to the end of the series, Pterry kept up the hat symbolism. The Shepherd's Crown features, apart from its titular talisman, Tiffany being 'crowned' by a halo of bees at one point. So I guess, really, this leads to three big questions:

1/ Are there any other explicitly-imbued hats lying around on the Disc, other than the AC's and that crown? I wouldn't be surprised if there were.

2/ What happens to Granny's hat? Does it go to Tiffany? Because if there's anyone who'd accidentally invest their headgear with part of their personality...

3/ In light of all this, do you think anyone has dared try Pterry's hat on since his death...?

hS

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The hats of the Discworld. by Huinesoron on 2017-04-24 13:44:00 UTC

My answers bear the usual YMMV disclaimer: by Scapegrace on 2017-04-26 10:08:00 UTC Reply

1/ Who cares? The whole point of the Discworld is that it isn't a fantasy about talking hats or magic swords or worlds that fly through space on the back of a turtle. It's about people, and who they are, and what they think. Not whether or not they can hold a two-way conversation with their own headgear (one-way conversations, of course, being much easier).

2/ This is answered at the end of The Wee Free Men, at least allegorically. Granny talks about Granny Aching making the sky her hat and the wind her coat; for me, this was an allegory for how pointy hats might be nice and distinctive, but what matters is the witch underneath. Granny Weatherwax was one of the best. Tiff Aching will be too. Neither of them needed Granny's hat to be so.

3/ Neil Gaiman was presented with it at Pterry's funeral, so if anyone has, it's him. Or his slightly irritating wife. Or possibly a pet, which is the kind of thing I think the dear departed would get behind.

[Raises hand] I care. by Huinesoron on 2017-04-26 10:46:00 UTC Reply

Hats can be people too, y'know? The Archchancellor's hat certainly is. Or don't you think 'Granny Weatherwax's snarky hat' is an interesting possibility for a character...?

hS

(Gneil has the hat. I hope he wears it a lot and we end up with a Pterry-Gneil hybrid hat. It will need its own silent letter!)

Honestly? Not especially. I think it's too obvious. by Scapegrace on 2017-04-26 14:40:00 UTC Reply

Ironically, Granny Weatherwax's hat might best serve as an antagonist, if you were absolutely hell-bent on having a talking hat as a character. Pterry's later works, as might be expected given the embuggerance, were heavily about passing the torch (Moist von Lipwig is being groomed for the Patricianship and nobody shall convince me otherwise); Granny Weatherwax's talking hat is a symbol of clinging to the past, wishing it was still her knocking about and not this Tiffany Whatshername girl. Especially if it became a symbol for the old ways amongst more reactionary crowds in witchcraft; of mindless subservience to tradition rather than respect for it. It'd almost be as bad as Mrs. Earwig's lot, though from the other way...