Redwall

Redwall is a middle-grade fantasy novel by British author Brian Jacques. It is the first book in a series of the same name that spans 22 volumes. The initial book was originally published in 1986, while the final installment, entitled Rogue Crew, wasn’t published until 2011, after the author’s death. Redwall was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Aside from the Redwall Series proper, Jacques also published a three-book series called Tribes of Redwall and five other standalone novels set in the Redwall fictional universe. He is also known for the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman Series. In 2021, Netflix announced plans to create a feature film of the Redwall Series. Redwall is intended for middle-grade readers aged 10 to 13. It is categorized as Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Action & Adventure and Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction. This study guide and all its page citations are based on the Kindle edition of the novel.

The novel is set in a medieval English countryside populated entirely by non-human creatures. Redwall Abbey and the Church of St. Ninian are constructed to the scale of the mice who built them. The action primarily occurs during June in an unspecified year, while the book’s final chapter takes place exactly one year after the events in the novel. The story uses a limited third-person narrative technique. Events are described primarily from the perspective of Matthias the mouse warrior and Cluny the rat warlord, though multiple minor characters also disclose their thoughts and experiences to a lesser degree.

The story opens at the peaceful abbey of Redwall, where the inhabitants are preparing a feast to celebrate the golden jubilee of kindly Abbot Mortimer. Mortimer’s favorite novice is a clumsy young mouse named Matthias. Matthias confesses a desire to be like the heroic Martin the Warrior, who once defended the woodlanders against all their enemies. The abbot tells Matthias that there is no longer a need for a protector since the mice now live in peaceful times.

That peace is almost immediately disrupted by the appearance of Cluny the Scourge and his army of rats. Cluny wants to claim Redwall Abbey for himself. In the war that ensues, the novel examines the themes of the nature of heroism, the nature of villainy, and the relative merits of competition versus cooperation.

Plot Summary

Redwall opens with the residents of Redwall Abbey preparing a great feast in Abbot Mortimer’s honor. The Order of Redwall consists of individuals who dedicate their lives to taking care of the abbey and tending to the needs of the woodlanders who live in the Mossflower district. Redwall has been blessed with peace and prosperity for many years. When novice Matthias declares his admiration for Martin the Warrior, the abbot says that the Order of Redwall is devoted to peace now that the wild days are over.

He is proven wrong that very evening when a vicious rat warlord named Cluny the Scourge arrives in the vicinity with his band of cutthroats. The rats set up camp in the nearby church of St. Ninian, but Cluny covets the abbey for himself. He assumes that the mice in Redwall will meekly give him what he wants, as so many others have done in the past. Instead, when Cluny meets with the abbot to demand surrender, he is sent away. While in the abbey, Cluny sees the tapestry of Martin the Warrior. It unnerves him because he has seen a similar figure haunting his nightmares.

Hostilities begin when Cluny sends someone to steal the tapestry from the mice. He assumes this will demoralize them enough to give up. The theft has the opposite effect. The woodlanders prepare for war, and Matthias springs into action to recover Martin’s missing sword and reclaim the stolen tapestry. Cluny uses fear and greed to motivate his army to do his bidding. In contrast, the occupants of Redwall work together cooperatively to mount a strong defense.

While badgers, moles, hedgehogs, and mice find ingenious ways to repel Cluny’s attacks, Matthias goes on a quest to find Martin’s lost sword. In the process, he experiences a string of adventures that give him the skills he will need to become Redwall’s new champion. Matthias learns that a poisonous viper named Asmodeus possesses Martin’s sword. Throughout the story, the snake claims many victims who are unwise enough to stray near his den. Matthias and his shrew friends seek the viper out, and Matthias succeeds in killing him with Martin’s sword. Shortly afterward, Matthias learns that the abbey has been taken, so he leads a fresh band of allies to help him repel the invaders. Matthias confronts Cluny in a final sword fight in which the mouse kills the giant rat and drives his army away for good. The story ends happily with another feast a year later to celebrate the defeat of Cluny and the restoration of peace and prosperity to Redwall.