#3 'Equal Rites': Gender Roles Quiz

Answer: He didn't check whether the baby was a boy.

On the Discworld, eight was a magical number. As a result, the eighth son of an eighth son usually turned out to be a wizard. Drum Billet, knowing he was coming to the end of his life, was on his way to the blacksmith's house in a village with an inappropriate name.

The blacksmith's wife was in labour with her eighth child. Upon the birth of the baby, Drum Billet passed on his magical staff without checking that the baby was a boy. Traditionally, girls couldn't be wizards; it was against the lore.

Answer: Borrowing

Borrowing was special witch magic. Granny Weatherwax could share the mind of another animal and had taught Esk how to do it, too. According to Granny, wizard magic was about power and control, which is why a wizard would be unable to Borrow an animal's mind. You could not control a creature, you could only suggest things that they might want to do. Granny sometimes used Borrowing to watch what was happening in the village and surrounding forest.

When it grew too dark to read, she would Borrow an owl and read at night.

Answer: She was "skilled in diurse arts of the howse".

Granny Weatherwax - not too familiar with wizard magic - wrote to Unseen University, saying that Esk would make a good wizard and praised her domestic skills. The wizard Treatle later told Granny that he had ignored the letter. He thought it was a joke.

There had never been a female wizard before, but Granny's failure to mention Esk's magical abilities can't have helped! Before she sent the letter, Esk had shown an ability to Borrow and could generate fireballs.

Answer: Esk

Granny felt she had no choice but to give Esk the wizard's staff that technically belonged to her. But the old witch was still not convinced that a girl could become a wizard. Granny said that women couldn't be blacksmiths - a point which Esk (the daughter of a blacksith) disagreed with. Granny then argued that men couldn't be witches because male and female magic were different:

"'Their magic's all numbers and angles and edges and what the stars are doing, as if that really mattered. It's all power. It's all-' Granny paused, and dredged up her favourite word to describe all she despised in wizardry, '-jommetry.'"

Answer: A gypsy

Granny Weatherwax was escorting Esk to Ankh-Morpork when the girl ran away. Esk ended up on a gypsy's boat and was discovered shortly after she woke up. The gypsy said that if Esk were a boy, he would assume that she was going out into the world to seek her fortune. When Esk asked if girls could seek their fortune, he replied, "I think they're supposed to seek a boy with a fortune."

Answer: Simon

Simon had displayed a talent and passion for magic, particularly the theoretical side. Even though he was yet to start at the university, he had been working on a new form of magic. Treatle was accompanying Simon to Ankh-Morpork when they met Esk. The old wizard was very dismissive of Esk's ambition to become a wizard.

Answer: Nothing

Nothing happened. Esk could feel the magic inside her but it wouldn't come out. The wizards laughed at her (one of them gave her a sweet) and she ran out of the room. Granny Weatherwax found a different way for Esk to get into the university. She convinced Mrs Whitlow to hire Esk as a cleaner.

Answer: Esk entered the Dungeon Dimensions alone.

While Granny was engaged in a magical duel with Cutangle, Esk tried to recover Simon's mind. She asked for help from some nearby student wizards, but they were all reluctant to help. She walked into a blue light and somehow her consciousness became separated from her body.

The spirit Esk found the spirit Simon surrounded by tiny worlds in crystal boxes. Simon was holding a tiny version of the Discworld and Things from the Dungeon Dimension were watching him closely.

Answer: Granny Weatherwax and Archchancellor Cutangle

The staff had purposely hit Simon on the head, so Esk threw it in the River Ankh. Simon's mind was trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions, and although Esk had gone to rescue him, neither of them knew how to get back. Granny went out to look for Esk's staff. They found it in the centre of a frozen sea. The staff reflected where Esk was: she was in a cold place, so the staff was radiating coldness.

The City Watch and Tiffany Aching do not feature in 'Equal Rites'.

Answer: Yes

When Esk returned from the Dungeon Dimensions, Granny returned her staff to her. Archchancellor Cutangle also gave Esk a pointy wizard's hat, which turned out to be a disappointing item after all. Esk was allowed to train at the university. During their time there, she and Simon developed a new kind of magic together, though few people actually understood it.