Wintersmith
Chapters - Terry Pratchett, Paul Kidby
Chapter 1: The Big Snow
A devastating blizzard - the work of the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) - strikes the Chalk in what should be springtime. [Rob Anybody](/characters/bursanaqxomp09zdj7amku0u) and [Daft Wullie](/characters/ebttxnj9bu0v5sqftt1zb6td) emerge from the snow-buried Feegle mound, recognising that the Wintersmith has found the big wee hag again. Rob decides it is time to fetch 'the Hero' and sends the clan to dig a path to the Underworld, while [Jeannie](/characters/NEW_jeannie) watches anxiously from the mound.
At the Aching farmhouse, [Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) faces her father and the other shepherds, who beg her to use magic to save the lambs dying under fifteen feet of snow. Though terrified, she draws heat from a bonfire and melts a tunnel through the drifts, rescuing ewes, lambs and her little brother Wentworth, who had gone missing in his red coat. The fire consumes everything the men can feed it - wood, furniture, even her father's coat - but the flames die before she can finish, and Tiffany looks up into the eyes of the Wintersmith. The narrator reveals that none of this has happened yet; it all began last autumn, on the day with a cat in it.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Kelda Jeannie
Chapter 2: Miss Treason
[Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC), training under [Miss Treason](/characters/NEW_miss_treason) in the mountain forests, visits [Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0), who teaches her the art of moving heat by freezing her tea solid. On Tiffany's return, Miss Treason takes her to witness the Dark Morris - the autumn dance that welcomes winter. Tiffany is forbidden from joining in, but the drumbeat fills her bones and she leaps into the dance, occupying the space of the seventh dancer. For one spinning moment she is lifted off the ground as a voice asks 'Who are you?' - and then six heavy men crash into her.
Meanwhile, [Miss Tick](/characters/eumb3er4euz4ytajxsp12mff) is ducked in a river by villagers in Dogbend, escaping thanks to a book on witch-hunting she secretly wrote herself. Back at the cottage, Miss Treason discovers [Rob Anybody](/characters/bursanaqxomp09zdj7amku0u), [Daft Wullie](/characters/ebttxnj9bu0v5sqftt1zb6td), [Billy Bigchin](/characters/NEW_billy_bigchin) and [Big Yan](/characters/u8fu3gd4juf75n2msrcnzftv) sneaking through her cellar. The Feegles explain they are under a geas to protect Tiffany, and reveal that [Jeannie](/characters/NEW_jeannie) has been having prophetic dreams of the hills all frozen, a crown of ice, a green tree, and a cheese that walks like a man. The Wintersmith begins searching for Tiffany, sending frost creeping across the bedroom windows until Miss Treason drives it back with fire.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Miss Tick, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Awf'ly Wee Billy Bigchin, Kelda Jeannie, Miss Treason, The Wintersmith
Chapter 3: The Secret of Boffo
Bruised from the dance, [Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) learns from [Billy Bigchin](/characters/NEW_billy_bigchin) and [Miss Treason](/characters/NEW_miss_treason) that the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) is an elemental spirit who makes winters. Defying Miss Treason's warnings, Tiffany storms outside and calls out to the Wintersmith, who appears as a shape outlined in falling snow with purple-grey eyes. He returns her silver horse necklace, which had come off during the dance. The cold of his touch burns a white scar into her palm before the Feegles carry her back inside.
Tiffany confronts Miss Treason about 'boffo' - the secret that the old witch's terrifying skulls, cobwebs and reputation are all purchased from a joke shop catalogue. Miss Treason admits it freely, explaining that she chose fear because her people would never love her for telling them the truth. The Feegles steal Tiffany's diary and read her letters from [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b), prompting a furious row. Meanwhile, [Miss Tick](/characters/eumb3er4euz4ytajxsp12mff) hitches a ride on the mail coach to Lancre, and [Horace](/characters/NEW_horace) the self-aware Lancre Blue cheese escapes his cage and eats butter. The Feegles inspect Tiffany's snowflakes and Billy realises the Wintersmith is thinking a great deal about the big wee hag.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Miss Tick, Awf'ly Wee Billy Bigchin, Miss Treason, Horace the Cheese·Mentioned: Roland de Chumsfanleigh
Chapter 4: Snowflakes
[Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0) catches snowflakes on a shovel and discovers every single one is shaped like [Tiffany Aching](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC). She discusses the situation with [Miss Tick](/characters/eumb3er4euz4ytajxsp12mff), arguing that Tiffany has danced her way into the oldest story - ice and fire, summer and winter - and must find her own way through. Granny recognises that Tiffany's connection to the Chalk gave her feet the rhythm of the dance.
At the cottage, Tiffany discovers the Tiffany-shaped snowflakes for herself and is mortified. [Miss Treason](/characters/NEW_miss_treason) announces she has received her Call - she will die Friday morning at half past six. Far away, [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b) barricades himself in the castle's Heron Tower against his scheming aunts Danuta and Araminta, hiding family silver and his mother's jewel box. At the coven meeting, Tiffany confides in [Petulia](/characters/NEW_petulia), who sensibly observes that the Wintersmith is behaving like a boy - blushing, grunting, and doing silly things. [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) bosses the other girls with wizard-style magic while the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) watches from the clearing's edge, growing new legs and walking unsteadily towards the rose garden.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Miss Tick, Roland de Chumsfanleigh, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Miss Treason, Horace the Cheese
Chapter 5: Miss Treason's Big Day
Ice roses bloom in [Miss Treason's](/characters/NEW_miss_treason) garden and the [Wintersmith's](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) voice speaks through [Tiffany's](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) own mouth, calling her 'sheep girl'. [Petulia](/characters/NEW_petulia) arrives early and they hear the wind whisper Tiffany's name. Witches gather for Miss Treason's going-away funeral while she is still alive, including [Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0), [Mrs Earwig](/characters/NEW_mrs_earwig), [Nanny Ogg](/characters/zq9xvwvln25zae3ongrh4ljh), [Miss Tick](/characters/eumb3er4euz4ytajxsp12mff) and [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma). Granny suggests Tiffany should inherit the cottage, causing a political stir, but ultimately Annagramma is chosen as the older, more experienced candidate.
That night Miss Treason teaches Tiffany poker and shares her final wisdom, then walks out to her dug grave the next morning to settle disputes even as she dies. Her clock stops mid-sentence. [Death](/characters/dvcmiQ20VrvBDPYd1KYbORPU) arrives and Miss Treason walks with him through the Door, complaining about the lack of mustard in the afterlife. [Billy Bigchin](/characters/NEW_billy_bigchin) plays a lament on his mousepipes. Tiffany fills in the grave, hiding the Boffo skulls inside, and becomes part of Miss Treason's legend.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick, Death, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Awf'ly Wee Billy Bigchin, Miss Treason, Mrs Earwig, Horace the Cheese
Chapter 6: Feet and Sprouts
[Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) packs her few belongings - Miss Treason's dark cloak, the Boffo catalogue, Chaffinch's Mythology, and the unexpurgated dictionary. [Horace](/characters/NEW_horace) the cheese follows her. The [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) appears in the clearing, now more solid and almost handsome, and grabs her wrist demanding she dance. When Tiffany slaps him, [Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0) steps through his body from behind, dispersing him into mist.
Granny insists Tiffany surrender the silver horse necklace to break the Wintersmith's connection. Reluctantly Tiffany agrees, and they throw it off the Lancre bridge into the thundering falls. [Mrs Earwig](/characters/NEW_mrs_earwig) and [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) arrive to claim the cottage, and there is a formal, icy exchange of courtesies between Granny and Mrs Earwig. Tiffany is sent to stay with [Nanny Ogg](/characters/zq9xvwvln25zae3ongrh4ljh) at Tir Nani Ogg. The Feegles follow on foot, with Horace dropping on [Rob Anybody's](/characters/bursanaqxomp09zdj7amku0u) head from a tree. That first night at Nanny's, Tiffany has a vivid dream of a ship sailing towards an iceberg shaped like her; the Feegles arrive as dream-pirates and help steer, but the ship is damaged. She wakes to find bruised fingers from the dream wheel. Nanny reveals Tiffany has Ped Fecundis - fertile feet - as floorboards sprout leaves when she walks on them barefoot.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Miss Treason, Mrs Earwig, Horace the Cheese
Chapter 7: On with the Dance
[Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0), [Nanny Ogg](/characters/zq9xvwvln25zae3ongrh4ljh) and [Miss Tick](/characters/eumb3er4euz4ytajxsp12mff) explain to [Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) that the dance mixed her up with the Summer Lady. The Story is reshaping her: flowers grow where she walks, and the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) believes she is the Summer Lady walking boldly through his winter. Tiffany must be a summer in winter until winter ends. Nanny tests her feet in a tray of soil and grows onions instantly.
The Feegles, led by [Rob Anybody](/characters/bursanaqxomp09zdj7amku0u), visit a travelling library disguised as one tall figure and obtain a romance novel for Tiffany. Nanny takes Tiffany on her rounds, visiting the sick and teaching her the everyday witchcraft of gossip, tea, and changing how people think. [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) arrives in a panic - her steading is falling apart. Tiffany helps her lay out a dead man and sit up with the corpse overnight, during which the Wintersmith whispers to Tiffany about making himself a man. The next morning Tiffany bullies Annagramma into accepting breakfast from the poor family, teaches her about customs, and helps deliver Mrs Owslick's baby. That night, Tiffany reads Passion's Plaything (the Feegles' library find) under the covers. [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b) writes to her about a ball where he danced with a girl called Iodine and saw her water-colours, which makes Tiffany furious. The goddess Anoia appears in Nanny's kitchen, warns Tiffany that all the gods are watching, and mentions a 'thingy' that will turn up.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan·Mentioned: Roland de Chumsfanleigh
Chapter 8: The Horn of Plenty
[Nanny Ogg](/characters/zq9xvwvln25zae3ongrh4ljh) gives [Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) advice on handling the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) - be kind but firm, act like a queen, don't say yes or no. Tiffany confronts [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) again and rallies the coven to help her: [Petulia](/characters/NEW_petulia) agrees first, then the others follow. Tiffany commands the Wintersmith on a hilltop, speaking partly as herself and partly as the Summer Lady, ordering him to stop the icebergs and frost-writing but permitting the snowflakes.
The Cornucopia - the Horn of Plenty, badge of office of the Summer Lady - falls from the sky and crashes into Nanny's cabbage patch. Tiffany discovers it responds to commands in ancient Greek (translated by the fragment of Dr Bustle's mind still in her head) and produces ham sandwiches, then hundreds of them. The kitten You wanders inside and the Feegles go in after her; when Nanny blows into the small end, both are blasted out. Overnight the Cornucopia learns from You's meeping and produces five hundred chickens. Meanwhile the Wintersmith gathers the ingredients of the old rhyme 'These Are the Things That Make a Man' - lime, sulphur, potash - stealing them from people across the Disc.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Nanny Ogg, Esmerelda Weatherwax, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie
Chapter 9: Green Shoots
[Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) practises with the Cornucopia in the snowy woods and breathes warmth on a patch of soil, causing an acorn to sprout. [Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0) secretly builds a wall of snow and leaves around the tiny oak shoot to protect it. The brutal winter deepens: trees explode from frozen sap, wells freeze solid, tunnels are cut between cottages, and wolves enter the snow tunnels. Tiffany runs the Cornucopia day and night to feed people while helping [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) learn real witchcraft - teaching her placebo root, midwifery and how to listen to people.
The [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) finds the last ingredient - iron, a nail from an old shack - and assembles himself a human body. He rides a snow-white horse, sings opera, and revels in having senses for the first time. At the coaching inn, he eats cold sausage and asks for 'the pointy humans who fly through the sky'. Tiffany, exhausted and barely sleeping, is woken by Granny, who shows her the oak sapling - now with green leaves in the midst of winter - and tells her to go home to the Chalk. At Miss Treason's cottage, [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) has sent off for the full Boffo catalogue; when the Wintersmith arrives and seizes Tiffany's hand, Annagramma bursts out in a Wicked Witch DeLuxe mask, screams at him, and throws a fireball that melts his leg. The snowman body collapses, and Annagramma pushes Tiffany onto a broomstick to flee.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Miss Treason, Horace the Cheese
Chapter 10: Going Home
[Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0), watching through a saucer of ink, sends the Feegles on two tasks: find the Summer Lady in the Underworld, and recruit [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b) as the Hero for the quest. She tests [Rob Anybody's](/characters/bursanaqxomp09zdj7amku0u) heroism by making him spell 'marmalade' under pressure - he manages MRAMLAD before [Billy Bigchin](/characters/NEW_billy_bigchin) helps. She declares that Roland must enter the Underworld to rescue the Summer Lady, as the story demands a human Hero.
[Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) flies through the blizzard on Annagramma's broomstick, pursued by the voice of the Summer Lady taunting her. She shelters in Mrs Umbridge's barn at Twoshirts and finds delayed letters from home, including a box of water-colour paints from Roland. She flies home to the Chalk, hangs up her pointy hat, and helps set up lambing pens. The Feegles sail over the Lancre falls on a log, with [Daft Wullie](/characters/ebttxnj9bu0v5sqftt1zb6td) and [Horace](/characters/NEW_horace) the cheese aboard, singing a chaotic version of 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat'. Tiffany spends a peaceful day on the Chalk painting water-colours with Roland's gift, feeling the land beneath her boots again.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Esmerelda Weatherwax, Rob Anybody, Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick, Roland de Chumsfanleigh, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Hamish the Pictsie, Awf'ly Wee Billy Bigchin, Horace the Cheese
Chapter 11: Even Turquoise
[Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) arrives at Mrs Umbridge's barn at Twoshirts, collects delayed mail from home, and discovers the box of water-colour paints [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b) sent her - complete with expensive turquoise. Deeply moved, she flies home to the Chalk and spends a peaceful day painting the winter landscape and helping with lambing preparations.
The Feegles arrive at the castle on the Chalk and wake Roland with a trumpet blast. They explain he must rescue a lady from the Underworld. Roland recognises this as the myth of Orpheo and Euniphon. He trains to fight by sparring against a suit of armour filled with Feegles, improving rapidly despite his heavy sword. He stands up to his scheming Aunt Danuta, threatening to tell his father about money being stolen from the strongroom. Meanwhile Tiffany's brother Wentworth catches a huge pike from the river. That night, gutting the fish, Tiffany finds the silver horse necklace in the pike's belly - and feels the Wintersmith's shock of recognition as Tiffany-shaped snowflakes pour down. He has found her.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Roland de Chumsfanleigh, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan
Chapter 12: The Pike
The Feegles commandeer a rowing boat and a mail coach to reach the Chalk. At the castle, [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b) continues training against the Feegle-filled armour, eventually splitting the suit in half with a clean sword blow. He visits his dying father daily. [Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC) scrubs the farmhouse floor to ground herself, knowing the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) will come now that the silver horse has found her.
Wentworth catches a twenty-three-pound pike, and that night Tiffany finds the silver horse necklace in the fish's belly. As Tiffany-shaped snowflakes pour down, she tells her father they must see to the flock. The chapter ends with the crisis from Chapter 1 about to unfold - the lambs dying under the dreadful snow, the bonfire consuming everything, and Tiffany facing the Wintersmith as the fire goes out.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Roland de Chumsfanleigh, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Horace the Cheese
Chapter 13: The Crown of Ice
The narrative catches up with the flash-forward from Chapter 1. After the fire goes out and the [Wintersmith](/characters/NEW_wintersmith) takes [Tiffany](/characters/Sax3ZEYd5zyLO1RTmpVpO2EC), she wakes imprisoned in a vast palace of ice on the Chalk downs. She finds a glittering crown that floats in the air and a dress of dancing Hublights that wraps itself around her. The Wintersmith shows her his vision: the Chalk will keep its summer while the rest of the world freezes forever in a beautiful, deathless winter populated by snow people.
Meanwhile, [Roland](/characters/uw8jka0xq4euqlm3tfqfrv4b) enters the Underworld through a chalk tunnel, guided by the Feegles. He navigates past bogles - scribbling orange creatures that feed on memories - and crosses the dark river by paying the ferryman. In a deep cave he finds the Summer Lady asleep on a stone slab, looking like Tiffany but with golden snake-like eyes. He kisses her cheek, takes her hand and fights his way back through swarms of bogles using an imaginary sword forged from memory and anger, inspired by [Daft Wullie's](/characters/ebttxnj9bu0v5sqftt1zb6td) cry to 'make his aunties proud'.
Atop the ice palace, Tiffany tells the Wintersmith the last three lines of the rhyme he could never find: 'Strength enough to build a home, Time enough to hold a child, Love enough to break a heart.' She explains that iron enough to make a nail does not make a snowman human. Then she pulls the Wintersmith towards her, draws down the heat of the sun, and kisses him. The entire palace explodes into steam. When the warm rain clears, the Summer Lady appears - looking like Tiffany but with snake eyes - reclaims the Cornucopia, and shows Tiffany a vision of the burning heart of summer before departing. Roland arrives with the Feegles, still wearing his ridiculous chainmail. Tiffany laughs.
Two weeks later, Tiffany returns to Lancre. [Annagramma](/characters/NEW_annagramma) is thriving with her Boffo cauldron and the villagers' respect. [Granny Weatherwax](/characters/aCESLHsnGFfS5pJ5OdgwKkN0) shows Tiffany the oak sapling, now five feet high. Tiffany confronts Granny about having manipulated everything, but Granny calmly changes the subject to the silver horse, now back around Tiffany's neck, and a ring Tiffany had made from the Wintersmith's nail. At the spring Morris dance, the Fool with purple-grey eyes asks for a copper - Tiffany drops the iron ring into his hat and receives a slightly chilly kiss on the cheek. Back in the mound, [Rob Anybody](/characters/bursanaqxomp09zdj7amku0u) reads Where's Mah Coo? to his clan, then tackles Principles of Modern Accountancy, putting lots of dragons in it.
POV: Tiffany Aching·On page: Roland de Chumsfanleigh, Rob Anybody, Daft Wullie, Big Yan, Esmerelda Weatherwax, Hamish the Pictsie, The Wintersmith·Mentioned: Nanny Ogg, Miss Tick