Talk:Death's Scythe

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Personally, I prefer to have a small number of long and detailed articles instead to have large number of articles which only include a couple of sentences. In my opinion Death's Scythe should be a section in the Death article. 08:59, 4 July 2006 User:Jogibaer

Agreed --Sanity 12:28, 4 July 2006 (CEST)
I like it seperated. There is a lot of information that can be added to the Scythe article that would just be too much detail for the Death article and make it unnecessary long and hard to find the information you are looking for. --Death 17:07, 4 July 2006 (CEST)

A'Tuin

So what do you think he will use for A'Tuin when the time comes? I mean the Turtle must die sometime. (unsigned comment by 99.238.107.110, 11 December 2008.)

Re the edit of 02 Jun: Death's Domain definitely has a particularly large and fine lifetimer for a turtle. I don't recall the elephants, but I'd go along with the original contributor. --Old Dickens 21:48, 2 June 2009 (UTC) On second thought, it seems like an opinion in contradiction of the text. I suggest reverting it. --Old Dickens 23:23, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't think that A'Tuin is even in Death's jurisdiction. It has been mentioned that Azreal is the death of universes. If A'Tuin died wouldn't discworld fall down (it has been described that on discworld gravity just pulls things down) so the world would end. Wouldn't that be the death of a universe?

Possible addition to Death's Scythe

In Reaper Man, thinking he might fight back against the New Death, Death (Bill Door) sharpens a scythe blade. First on a grindstone, then on an oilstone, then on a steel. It was too blunt. Miss Flitworth supplied, from her rag bag, satin, then silk, finest white silk, never worn (from her wedding dress). It was still blunt. Then it was sharpened on cobweb. Then on the breeze at dawn. Finally, on the light of the new day.{Corgi PB p. 149) Later he took the whole scythe to the village forge, and paid Ned Simnel, who was constructing the Combination Harvester, a farthing to destroy it for him in the forge furnace. “I want it killed”, he said.

There doesn't seem to be any mention of the replacement scythe. Can you edit it in as well as you wrote it? It's not strictly necessary to ask before adding bits; gods know most people don't even discuss before more drastic edits. (And since you are discussing, why not sign in?) --Old Dickens 22:52, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

The Edge

I don't see much contrast with Roundworld physics. Oxygen and nitrogen molecules don't do chain reactions here, either. --Old Dickens 21:20, 12 August 2009 (UTC)


The combination scythe in comic art

The idea that in an over populated world, Death would be forced to mechanise to keep up, has been explored in 20th century comic art. An episode of the hippy epic The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers casts Fat Freddie as Death, who drives a combination harvester/JCB digger so as to reap and bury as quickly as he can. The FFFBs' alternative world-view is referenced by TP in the early pages of Making Money (see Annotations page), so there is no doubt that the author is familiar with Shelton & Mavrides' comic strip.

The idea of Death driving a combine harvester was also explored by American satire/humour magazine MAD, during the Vietnam war. In this case, MAD's titular creation, the gormlessly grinning Alfred E. Neuman, played Death.--AgProv 11:17, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

The Sword

But it is made clear, in Mort, Wyrd Sisters and a couple of other places, that Death's sword is reserved as the privilege for royalty. --AgProv 09:18, 11 March 2010 (UTC)