Thinking Redwall
Bi-Monthly
Animals in Redwall
June-July 2001
Why were so many different animals mentioned in the first book, Redwall?
In Redwall, Jacques wrote Methuselah saying, "piglets, an entire litter of them eaten alive by rats... sickness and disease spread through livestock herds by Cluny's army. There was even a report brought to me two years ago by a town dog: an army of rats stampeded a herd of cows through a village, causing chaos and much destruction." Later Jacques writes of a "solitary beaver."
Pigs? Dogs? Cows? Beavers? Why are they not in any other books? The truth is, Jacques didn't plan on writing more than one book, he didn't plan on creating a world all of its own. He wasn't exactly sure how other animals, or even people would fit into Redwall until he managed to pick out the animals he wanted in the world of Redwall.
With the exception of some creatures of an unknown specie like the Wearat, Vitch, or the monster of the great inland lake in Salamandastron, Jacques has stayed with the same group of goodbeasts and vermin since Mossflower. With Jacques adding in creatures where they fit, such as the monitors in Pearls of Lutra, you never know if your favorite animal will be in the next Redwall saga. One more thing, what is with the wolves? They are known to exist (the pelt Urgan Nagru wore in The Bellmaker was of a wolf) but yet no wolf has been a character a Redwall book to date.
Finally, without cows (abolished after Redwall) where does milk come from? Well that one has an odd answer. In many books a reference is made to "greensap milk," but can greensap milk make all the cheese too? And where does it come from exactly? Just another question from the world of Redwall...
Coming August-September: Loamhedge
References to the book Redwall are direct excerpts taken from the 10th Anniversary U.S. Edition Redwall, written by Brian Jacques and published by Ace Fantasy. Check page 27 of your Redwall book and see if the same animals are mentioned in your book (I suspect they are.)
Reference to the "wolf" pelt of Urgan Nagru are from the book The Bellmaker, U.S. Edition printed by Ace Fantasy.
References to "greensap milk" can be found in many of the Redwall books U.S. Editions printed by Ace Fantasy.