Home > Golems (Discworld)
Golems on Terry Pratchett's Discworld are derived from golems in Jewish mythology; early forms of clay robot, who were supposedly awakened by a spell or priestly words to do people's bidding. Pratchett's golems emphasise the similarity between golems and robots, especially Asimovian robots. Their "Chem" (the magic writing in their heads), is restricts their behaviour, and is described in similar terms to the Three Laws of Robotics.
Like Hex, they are not alive, but act as though they are. They see themselves as posessions, and, while they desire freedom, think they must get this freedom by buying each other. (A previous attempt to get freedom by creating a king having proven unsuccessful and dangerous). Recently the Golem Trust has been established to facilitate this. Technically it's a charity, but it refuses to accept donations, because the golems are clear they must be freed by their own work.
Older golems have names, often somewhat Yiddish sounding, such as Dorfl, Menshugah and Klutz. More recently built golems simply have descriptions such as Pump or Hammer.
The making of them is currently illegal due to ethical problems to do with creation. However many still exist, and destroying them is also ethically tricky. Golems are distrusted by many on the Discworld, particularly the undead, who dislike the fact they are (generally) more accepted, despite being less human. Traditionally they get "all the messy jobs". Free golems have, apparently spontaneously, formed the Ankh-Morpork volunteer fire brigade.
Discworld peoples
