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She is a very powerful witch, and is reckoned to be more powerful than the most well-known witch on the Discworld, [[Black Aliss]]. Granny says in ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'' that she "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". The witches of the Lancre coven reflect the roles of [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Maiden, Mother, and Crone]], with Granny being most associated with the Crone (tactfully referred to as "the other one").
 
Due to her prowess, Granny Weatherwax is [[Primus inter pares|first among equals]] of the Ramtops witches: "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 King of Lancre addresses her as "''[[wiktionary:doyenne|Doyenne]] of Witches''" ("''Senior Lady of Witches''"). Granny Weatherwax's reputation extends to other species: 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 Feegles|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.
 
==Family and Background==
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Magical ability runs in the Weatherwax family; a distant cousin, the wizard Galder Weatherwax, is Archchancellor of [[Unseen University]] at the time of ''[[The Light Fantastic]]''. When Esme was a child, her older sister [[Witches (Discworld)#Lily Weatherwax|Lily]] began misusing magic and behaving in a "wanton" and "wilful" manner. Lily left home as a teenager and never returned to Lancre.
 
By the time Esme reached her teens, she was determined to become a witch. She occasionally struggles with temptation to become a "wicked witch", but also feels obligated to be "the good one" to balance her sister. In ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'' she reveals that she was not chosen as an apprentice by an established witch, but "camped on old Nanny Gripes' garden until she promised to tell me everything she knew. Hah. That took her a week {{em|and}} I had the afternoons free... No {{em|I}} chose..."). As a young woman, Esme was involved in a summer-long romance with student wizard [[Mustrum Ridcully]], but ultimately they were both committed to their respective paths of witchcraft and wizardry. Esme eventually became the witch for village of Bad Ass and the Kingdom of Lancre as a whole.
 
Granny, as she comes to be known, is in her 70s or 80s during the events of ''[[Wyrd Sisters]]'', ''[[Witches Abroad]]'', ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'', ''[[Maskerade]]'' and ''[[Carpe Jugulum]]''. She dies quietly at home in the final Discworld novel, ''[[The Shepherd's Crown]]''. When [[Death (Discworld)|Death]] comes for her, he tells 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.
 
==Appearance==
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==Powers==
{{anchor|I ATENT DEAD}}Granny is adept at 'Borrowing', the art of overlaying her mind on the mind of another creature so that she can see through its eyes and steer its actions. She can sense the moods of plants, animals, and even places such as the Kingdom of Lancre and Unseen University. While Borrowing, her body falls into a deathlike trance; it is revealed in ''Lords And Ladies'' that in order to prevent embarrassing accidents, she has taken to wearing a placard reading "I ATE'NT DEAD" {{sic}} when she does so.
 
Although capable of powerful magic, Granny Weatherwax prefers to avoid using it. She often relies on ''headology'', a sort of folk-[[psychology]] that makes use of the [[placebo]] and [[nocebo]] effects. For instance, although Granny is capable of placing curses upon people who anger her, she will instead simply allow them to ''believe'' that she has cursed them. This causes the "cursed" person to worry and attribute any misfortune they experience to the "curse". Nanny Ogg has implied that this avoidance of magic prevents Granny from being tempted into becoming a very successful "bad" witch. In ''The Sea and Little Fishes'', Nanny Ogg attribute's Granny's magical abilities more to hard work than innate talent.
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==Bibliography==
Granny Weatherwax is one of Terry Pratchett's most prolific recurring characters. She has starred in six Discworld novels (''[[Equal Rites]]'', ''[[Wyrd Sisters]]'', ''[[Witches Abroad]]'', ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'', ''[[Maskerade]]'' and ''[[Carpe Jugulum]]''), has appeared briefly in ''[[Wee Free Men]]'', acted as a significant supporting character in ''[[A Hat Full of Sky]]'', ''[[Wintersmith]]'', and ''[[I Shall Wear Midnight]]'', and was referenced in three other ''Discworld'' books (by name in ''[[Mort]]'', and anonymously in ''[[Thief of Time]]'' as well as ''[[Going Postal]]''). She also appeared in the short story ''[[The Sea and Little Fishes]]'' and in ''[[The Science of Discworld II: The Globe]]''. She dies of old age at the beginning of ''[[The Shepherd's Crown]]'', although [[Neil Gaiman]], a friend of Pratchett's, has stated that Pratchett intended to imply that Granny had temporarily put her consciousness into You the cat, to delay her death and later go with Death on her own volition instead of being taken.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/terry-pratchett-wanted-different-ending-shepherds-crown/|title=Neil Gaiman reveals the real ending Terry Pratchett wanted for The Shepherd's Crown|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=28 August 2015|last1=Vincent|first1=Alice}}</ref>
 
[[A. S. Byatt]] considered that Granny "became more and more complex" as she appeared in more novels,<ref name=GraunByatt>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/27/the-shepherds-crown-terry-pratchett-review-discworld The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett review – the much-loved author’s last Discworld novel ], by [[A. S. Byatt]], in ''[[the Guardian]]''; published August 27, 2015; retrieved August 14, 2017</ref> while ''[[National Public Radio]]'' considered her an "iconic" character and "one of [Pratchett]'s clear favorites".<ref name=NPR>[https://www.npr.org/2015/09/02/435543508/the-shepherds-crown-tells-terry-pratchetts-fans-how-to-mourn-him 'The Shepherd's Crown' Tells Terry Pratchett Fans How To Mourn Him], by Tasha Robinson, at [[National Public Radio]]; published September 2, 2015; retrieved August 14, 2017</ref>
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