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Esmerelda "Esme" Weatherwax (also Granny Weatherwax or Mistress Weatherwax) is a fictional character from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. She is a witch and member of the Lancre coven. She is the self-appointed guardian of her small country, and frequently defends it against supernatural powers. She is one of the ''Discworld'' series's main protagonists, having major roles in seven novels. She is a very powerful witch, and is reckoned to be more powerful than the most well-known witch on the Discworld, Black Aliss (real name: Aliss Demurrage), who is responsible for any number of witcheries in fairy tales, such as putting a castle to sleep and getting pushed into her own oven by naughty children. It does seem that her teacher's teacher's teacher's teacher was Black Aliss. ("''I learned my craft from Nanny Gripes, who learned it from Goody Heggety, who got it from Nanna Plumb, who was taught it by Black Aliss...''" – Granny, in ''Lords and Ladies''). From the triple nature of a coven (maiden, mother, and crone), it has been suggested that she embodies all three, although the crone is the most obvious. In any case, this appellation is tactfully avoided in her presence. Granny Weatherwax's prowess and reputation has led to her being recognized as the leader (or prima inter pares) of the community of Witches in the Ramtops: "''Witches are not by nature gregarious, at least with other witches, and they certainly don't have leaders. Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn't have''." In ''Wyrd Sisters'', the ghost of the late Lancre King, Verence I, addressed Granny Weatherwax as "''Doyenne of Witches''" ("''Senior Witch of Witches''"). Granny Weatherwax's reputation even extends beyond species barriers – the Trolls of the Ramtops call her "''Aaoograha hoa''" ("''She Who Must Be Avoided''"; mentioned in ''Maskerade''), the Dwarf call her "''K'ez'rek d'b'duz''" ("''Go Around the Other Side of the Mountain''"; also mentioned in ''Maskerade''), and the Nac Mac Feegle call her "''The Hag O' Hags''" ("''The High Witch''"). Granny also has a reputation for trickery and pushiness among younger witches, although this is either short-lived or unmentioned for obvious reasons. ==Backhistory== According to ''Witches Abroad'', Esme "Granny" Weatherwax was born the younger of two daughters. While it hasn't been mentioned if her mother was a Witch or not, Granny mentions that her father was a hunter, who once taught Granny that "''a bad hunter chases, a good hunter waits''" (''Lords and Ladies''). While Granny was practically still just a bairn, her teenaged, older sister, Lily, was getting into increasingly frequent rows with her parents over Lily's behavior, as Granny reveals to Nanny Ogg in ''Witches Abroad'', Lily was wanton, using magic for it and not just ordinary magic, "''she was wilful''", as Granny describes it, able to remember her sister's and mother's rows even at that young age, that Lily was vain and prideful, ("''always looking in mirrors... Prideful as a cat, she was. Prefer to look in a mirror than out of a window, she would''"), and that "''young men's fathers used to come round to complain''", culminating in Lily being kicked out of the household at the age of 13 years. After Granny had grown-up, she was adamant on becoming a Witch; as she reveals in ''Lords and Ladies'', magic didn't choose her, she chose it, ("''I never stood in front of no-one... I camped on old Nanny Gripes' garden until she promised to tell me everything she knew. Hah. That took her a week ''and'' I had the afternoons free... No ''I'' chose...''"). Granny would go on to become a fully-fledged Witch, and at some point took responsibility for her own steading, the village of Bad Ass and the Kingdom of Lancre as a whole. Granny Weatherwax, as she would later come to be known as, also nursed her ailing mother until the time of her death (what became of her father has never been mentioned). While still a young woman, Granny was involved in a summer-long romance with then-aspiring Wizard, Mustrum Ridcully, but ultimately they were both committed to their respective paths of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Granny is estimated to be in her seventies during the events of ''Wyrd Sisters'', ''Witches Abroad'', ''Lords and Ladies'', ''Maskerade'' & ''Carpe Jugulum'', the same age as Nanny Ogg, (having grown up with her). Yet, by the standards of Mistress Treason, she is still considered a girl (''Wintersmith''). Granny Weatherwax passes away early in the events of ''The Shepherd's Crown'', now in her 80's; where, after experiencing The Call, she tidys-up her cottage, prepares her own wicker casket, and sets her last will and testament down in writing (confirming instructions she had already confided to Nanny Ogg), before laying herself to rest in her own bed one last time. When Death comes for her, he asks her if she was content with her life, with Granny confirming that she was satisfied to have lived the way she did and kept her part of the world safe, Death in turn assuring her that her candle will continue to flicker long after her passing and that she has left the world in a better condition than it was when she entered it. Her death is felt across the Disc; Nanny Ogg and Tiffany Aching arrive first to lay her to rest in the forest at a site pre-chosen by Granny-herself, and Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully visits briefly to pay his last respects. Over the course of the events of ''The Shepherd's Crown'', Tiffany Aching, who Granny has named her beneficiary, overstretches herself trying to witch two steadings and live-up to Granny's reputation as the new 'Witch of Witches', but eventually comes to accept the need to do things her way rather than simply make herself do everything Granny did. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Granny Weatherwax」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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