Redwall
From Free net encyclopedia
Redwall is a series of fantasy novels by Brian Jacques, the first of which was released in 1986. The books are primarily aimed at children, but have fans of all ages. There is an animated TV series based on the books, the first season of which was released in 1999. It was later followed by two more seasons, based on the books Mattimeo and Martin the Warrior. Production for that series is assumed to be finished, but if there is a fourth season, it will likely be based on Mossflower.
The book series does not chronicle any one particular timeframe. Rather, it is set in many different periods in the history of Redwall Abbey. Some of the books focus on characters who, in other volumes, are historical figures (e.g., Martin the Warrior's father, Luke, in The Legend of Luke). Typically, those books are set before the founding of Redwall Abbey.
To learn about Redwall's presence on the internet, see the Redwall Online Community.
Contents |
General description
The characters in the books are all animals of some sort, most of whom are capable of speech which Jacques renders as various dialects of English. With a few rare exceptions such as the monitor lizards from The Pearls of Lutra, and the Jerbilrats of Loamhedge, the animals in the Redwall books are native to Brian Jacques' home nation of Britain. Also notable are Brian's use of the less common animals; ones such as golden hamsters, found namely in The Taggerung and Triss, and the solitary beaver from Redwall.
Despite the fact that Redwall is a fantasy series, it contains no elements of magic — although in some books certain creatures are called "seers" and possess to varying degrees the ability to predict future events, and while some of these "seers" turn out to be frauds, others such as the fox Seers of The Taggerung and Lord Brocktree, are quite real and play a key part in the turning of events in the book. Books in the series often contain one or more "monsters", but these are not mythical creatures, rather being some type of ferocious predator. These have included snakes (from Redwall and Triss), large carnivorous fish such as pikes (from Marlfox and Mossflower), and a giant sea serpent (from Salamandastron). Also present is the sword of Martin the Warrior, which is believed by many creatures to be magical. This sword is forged from a meteorite's metal, and possesses qualities similar to that of mithril in other fantasy series.
A typical book in the Redwall series details a particular period in the history of Redwall Abbey. In all but a few cases, the book is about the inhabitants of Redwall and the surrounding Mossflower Woods. Usually, there are at least two different stories going on — for example, a typical book may contain a small expedition somewhere, and a large group of Redwallers at home fending off a vermin horde. Because of the widely spaced storylines (chronologically speaking), very few creatures are mentioned in more than one or two books except in a passing historical sense; one notable exception is Martin the Warrior, who appears in all books that take place after Martin the Warrior (including The Legend of Luke), even if only in spirit form or a more notable historical mention than with other characters. Also, Martin's sword appears in all of the books except Lord Brocktree.
Other recurring elements and characters in the Redwall series include a Badger Lord or Badger Mother; "Dibbuns" (the Redwall name for baby woodlanders); the Skipper of Otters; a Foremole; and a Logalog (leader of shrews).
Criticism
The books have been criticized in some quarters for allegedly promoting an overly simplistic view of race and ethnicity. Critics point out that the "good" and "bad" animal characters are drawn exclusively along species lines, so mice, squirrels, badgers, hares, hedgehogs and otters are exclusively "good" whereas rats, foxes, stoats, ferrets, or other vermin are exclusively "bad," though there are exceptions to the rule (Romsca the ferret and Blaggut the searat both redeemed themselves) Blaggut killed his own captain, Slipp. Then, he became one of Redwall's friends as a carpenter. Wildcats are sometimes featured, sometimes as the villain, such as Tsarmina from Mossflower and Ungatt Trunn from Lord Brocktree, other times as benevolent characters like Squire Julian Gingivere from Redwall and Gingivere Greeneyes from Mossflower. (Interestingly, one must note that all the wildcats seen thus far are related. Gingivere and Tsarmina are brother and sister, it's made fairly clear in Mossflower that Squire Julian is Gingivere Greeneyes's descendant, and dialogue in Lord Brocktree reveals that Ungatt Trunn is Tsarmina and Gingivere's uncle. The two exceptions so far are Riggu Felis, the villain of High Rhulain (book) and sandingomm) These criticisms have been advanced as a concern, as the books are primarily read by children and young people. There is also a "class" element involved in these criticisms, with the denizens of Redwall being either educated, aristocratic animals such as badgers, or rustic, simple creatures such as moles. This contrasts with the "vermin" who are almost exclusively portrayed as a greedy, stupid, and violent rabble commanded by a charismatic evil leader. These narrative structures do resemble in many ways the British class system, with the "upper class" animals governing the "working class" ones, and the Abbey remaining an ever present and strong symbol of religious authority. It is likely that Jacques, who once worked as a truck driver and a docker in Liverpool, is very aware of class in his books.
Militarism is a strong theme in the books. The Abbey is under constant attack from envious foes, and virtually every species of animal represented has some military skill. For example, squirrels are expert archers and slingers, otters are skilled and aggressive fighters, favouring slings and javelins, and are good sailors, mice are suppliers and sometimes they are soldiers, badgers act as Generals and moles provide combat engineer support by undermining enemy building foundations and so on. The most explicitly militaristic species are hares, who appear to be more or less born into military service and awarded ranks such as Sergeant, Lieutenant and Captain. Other militaristic elements are the sparrows who act as a rudimentary air force and the shrews who have their own armed force structure called the Guosim (Guerrilla Union of Shrews in Mossflower) or in the book Salamandastron, it is called Guossom. The shrews live outside the walls of Redwall in the forest, and are allied to the Abbey, retaining a strict hierarchy and generally appearing as akin to human guerrillas. Often, a single predatory animal will come to aid Redwall in its endless battles. Such creatures have included a red kite, a cat, and a family of snowy owls. However it is the mice who endure as the "warrior" caste of Redwall, and Martin remains the spiritual leader of the woodlanders.
There has been some controversy over the use of the word "Abbey". There is no indication that the animals have any actual religion. Though they will occasionally pray at their feasts, it is not to a deity but rather to nature as a whole. There has been mention made of some sort of "afterlife" called the Dark Forest or Hellsteeth, but it appears to be the final destination for both "good" and "bad" creatures. Martin The Warrior once came perilously close to death and was observed to be "At the gates of Dark Forest" in Mossflower. Rats and other vermin often use Hell's teeth instead.
Finally, the Stormtrooper effect is prominent in the books. Usually, there are battles in which the "good" protagonists are able to kill or defeat large numbers of "bad" animals with minimal loss of life. The effect was not so pronounced in the very earliest books in the series (such as Redwall and Mossflower). In later books, it was not uncommon for a few good beasts to kill hundreds of vermin while only losing one or two of their own soldiers, whose deaths were always intensely publicised, even if the creature in question hadn't been mentioned until its demise. An example can be found in the death of the mouse Juniper in Martin the Warrior. Also, many have found it rather far-fetched that the 'peaceful Abbeybeasts' can take down hundreds of trained killers, as seen above. Major exceptions include the battles from Lord Brocktree, Redwall, the Bellmaker and The Long Patrol, which feature major casualties suffered on both sides and the Legend of Luke which features the wholesale massacre of several good guys at the hands of better equipped and prepared pirate force which surprises them. However, this Stormtrooper effect has been partly explained away to an extent by the formidable walls of Redwall and the prevalence of commando style skirmish and ambush by the "good guys" to inflict greater losses, particularly with the Guosim, who are professional guerrillas by choice and appear to be avid duellists (in Marlfox in particular Logalog uses the threat of a duel to keep a rebellious antagonist from his ranks in control, but is eventually killed by him). Otters and squirrels also appear to consider warfare skills important for cultural reasons as apposed to the “peaceful” Redwallers, and are particularly keen of fighting from the undergrowth with slings/javelins and bows respectively, as opposed to their enemies close combat styles of fighting. Other tricks have included the flooding of a castle (Mossflower), theft of enemy food supplies (Lord Brocktree, Legend of Luke) and psychological warfare (Legend of Luke). When this can not explain the huge vermin casualties inflicted by Redwallers there is almost always some paranormal explanation. For example the guiding spirit of Martin the Warrior appears to confer his years of swordsmanship practice instantly, and his sword is said to be magical by the superstitious. In Battles where Salamanderstron or the Long Patrol are involved the elite training and elaborate command structure and better equipment of the Long Patrol, plus the fact their leaders are professional warrior badgers, who are often berserkers when gripped by the "Bloodwrath" may explain the massive enemy losses. Another possible reason for this lone ninja effect where a few heroes can defeat thousands of enemies could just be that this is what the target audience, children, prefer.
There are a large number of fans "concerned" about the repetition of the series. While the early books are creative, new, and well written, it seems that many of the later books all follow the same structure, cashing in on previously established plotlines: a rebellious youth defeats a villain that wishes to destroy/conquer Redwall; a group of warriors go to retrieve someone/something that will help someone/Redwall while vermin attack their home as they are away; escaped slaves flee to safety where they attempt to find help, return home, and conquer their previous vermin masters. Opposition to this viewpoint claim that most literature falls into the same, repetitive cycles, and that Brian Jacques is no different than many other series of an equal number.
Books of the Redwall series
Ordering
There have been eighteen books published as of September, 2005, listed here in chronological order by publication. The most recent book, High Rhulain , was released on Sep. 22, 2005 (according to Amazon.com.)
The books were not written in the order that the stories take place in the Redwall universe. Within the fictional world of Redwall, the stories take place in the following order:
| Publication | Chronological |
|---|---|
|
The first four books take place before the construction of Redwall Abbey, while the fifth takes place during the construction. Some of the books also include sub-stories that take place at other times, such as Martin the Warrior including opening and closing chapters that take place between Mariel of Redwall and The Bellmaker, and the end of Mossflower overlaps with book one and the start of book two of Outcast of Redwall.
Other Redwall-related books
- The Great Redwall Feast 1996 (picture book)
- Redwall Map & Riddler 1998
- A Redwall Winter's Tale 2001 (picture book)
- Tribes of Redwall Badgers 2002
- Tribes of Redwall Otters 2002
- Tribes of Redwall Mice 2003
- The Redwall Cookbook 2005
External links
- The official Redwall site
- The Redwall Wiki A collaborative Redwall information resource. Very definitive.
- The Redwall Encyclopedia reference of Redwall names and places. Slightly outdated.
- The Docks A large discussion forum and roleplaying game based on the Redwall series.de:Redwall