# Discworld question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 22, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365 "2004-07-22T16:16:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/1 "2004-07-22T16:16:52Z")
Last night, while reading Mort, I came across a sentence that described a sunset. This got me thinking: Doesn’t Discoworld rest on four elephants, which in turn are on top of a giant turtle? So where do the sunrises and sunsets come from? A God? A sun that the turtle swims around? Or is there a small sun that revolves around Discworld? Does Terry Pratchett ever explain this in any of his books?
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### Author:  [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/2 "2004-07-22T16:21:34Z")
The Sun moves around, occasoinally passing under an elephants leg.
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### Author:  [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/3 "2004-07-22T16:24:57Z")
I see.
Thank you 🙂 .
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/4 "2004-07-22T16:34:02Z")
PTerry describes the cosmography of the Discworld in a number of his novels. specially evocotive was his description of the hatching of The Great A’Tuin’s eggs…from which emerged tiny WorldTurtles, complete with Discs and suns. This was in _Sourcery_, I believe.
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### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/5 "2004-07-22T17:33:17Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> PTerry describes the cosmography of the Discworld in a number of his novels. specially evocotive was his description of the hatching of The Great A’Tuin’s eggs…from which emerged tiny WorldTurtles, complete with Discs and suns. This was in _Sourcery_, I believe.
_The Light Fantastic_, actually. The Disc’s sun is a ball about 10 miles across that orbits the disc, occasionally requiring an elephant to lift it’s leg so it can pass.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/6 "2004-07-22T17:36:39Z")
Also the light from the discworld sun operates by different physics than roundworld suns. It’s slower, for one thing, and tends to build up in valleys.
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### Author:  [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/7 "2004-07-22T17:41:25Z")
> [@JoeSki](#):
>
> Last night, while reading Mort, I came across a sentence that described a sunset. This got me thinking: Doesn’t Discoworld rest on four elephants, which in turn are on top of a giant turtle? So where do the sunrises and sunsets come from? A God? A sun that the turtle swims around? Or is there a small sun that revolves around Discworld? Does Terry Pratchett ever explain this in any of his books?
I remember a mention in one of the books about how the elephants occasionally have to move/lift a leg to allow the sunlet to pass. The illustrated short story “The Last Hero” has some excellent visuals, I recommend it highly for the art. The story itself is a little lacking, but not bad.
And then there’s the description on how a flat surface can have time zones. Light speed around the Discworld is very slow (the phrase I remember is “throw a punch and your fist gets shorter”), so it takes a few hours for the daylight to cross the world after sunrise.
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### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/8 "2004-07-22T18:45:09Z")
As long as we’re talking Discworld astronomy, it’s worth noting that **The Last Hero** establishes that the Disc’s moon is covered with luminescent plants, which is where the moon’s glow comes from. Since, of course, it can’t always properly reflect the light from the Sun when it’s located inconveniently under the Disc.
And to disagree with **sciguy** slightly, I thought **The Last Hero** was very solid in both story and art. The only objection I had was the plot seemed to go out of its way to try to shoehorn in as many characters as possible – I almost expected the Witches to make a cameo at one point.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/9 "2004-07-22T19:20:44Z")
> [@rjung](#):
>
> And to disagree with **sciguy** slightly, I thought **The Last Hero** was very solid in both story and art. The only objection I had was the plot seemed to go out of its way to try to shoehorn in as many characters as possible – I almost expected the Witches to make a cameo at one point.
It also brought together characters (Rincewind and Carrot) who don’t often interact in the books.
And it contains my favorite line in all of pTerrry’s books:
_My god, it’s full of elephants._
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### Author:  [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/10 "2004-07-25T05:02:44Z")
Does anybody know where I can find some good graphic depictions (illustrations, that is 😉 ) of the Discworld online? I just finished _The Colour of Magic_ the other night - my first taste of Pratchett. 🙂 My last order from the book store should be in this week - _The Light Fantastic_ and _Sourcery_. Can’t wait! Also, does Twoflower appear in any other books besides _The Colour of Magic_, _The Light Fantastic_ and _Interesting Times?_ Thanks ahead!
Anyhoo…
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/11 "2004-07-25T14:57:16Z")
If you can locate the diskworld DVDs, you can watch the sun orbit the disk, complete with elephant leg movement. Very cute. The cartoons themselves are quite well written and voiced (Cristopher Lee is DEATH.)-- But the animation itself is bad. Really, really, poor. The extras include a interview with Pratchett. The openings, however, are done with halfway decent 3D computer animation.
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### Author:  [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/12 "2004-07-26T01:16:37Z")
> [@Beauty Personified](#):
>
> Does anybody know where I can find some good graphic depictions (illustrations, that is 😉 ) of the Discworld online? \
You should visit [L-Space](http://www.ie.lspace.org/) . It has links to all sorts of Pratchett-related sites, and many of the illustrations by Josh Kirby and Paul Kidby. Great place!
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### Author:  [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-question/256365/13 "2004-07-26T02:33:58Z")
Thanks for even further clarification on my question Dopers.
Your answers are appreciated 🙂 .
Anyone know if the Discworld game for the PS1 is any good?