Mossflower is a fantasy novel by
Brian JacquesJames Brian Jacques is an English author, best known for his Redwall series of novels, as well as the Tribes of Redwall and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series...
, published in 1988. It is the second book published in the
RedwallRedwall is a series of fantasy novels by Brian Jacques. It is the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, the name of the Abbey featured in the book, and the name of an animated TV series based on three of the novels , which first aired in 1999...
series, though the third chronologically.
Mossflower tells the story of Martin the Warrior, who finds himself trespassing on the land of Verdauga Greeneyes as Verdauga lies sick and near death. With his last strength, Verdauga struggles to make a decision on who should replace him as ruler of Mossflower Woods.
Mossflower is a fantasy novel by
Brian JacquesJames Brian Jacques is an English author, best known for his Redwall series of novels, as well as the Tribes of Redwall and Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series...
, published in 1988. It is the second book published in the
RedwallRedwall is a series of fantasy novels by Brian Jacques. It is the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, the name of the Abbey featured in the book, and the name of an animated TV series based on three of the novels , which first aired in 1999...
series, though the third chronologically.
Plot introduction
Mossflower tells the story of Martin the Warrior, who finds himself trespassing on the land of Verdauga Greeneyes as Verdauga lies sick and near death. With his last strength, Verdauga struggles to make a decision on who should replace him as ruler of Mossflower Woods. His daughter,Tsarmina has a fox healer named Fortunata give her brother Gingivere herbs to unwittingly poison Verdauga; when Verdauga dies her brother is framed. As Martin, Gnoff, and Dinny the mole join together in a quest to Salamandastron, a fiery mountain ruled by the wise and noble badgers, a resistance against Tsarmina's rule starts to rebel and defy her rules. Join Martin and his fellow prisoner Gonff as they are embroiled in the battle against Verdauga's ruthless daughter, Tsarmina,where a bloody battle between good and evil ensues, resulting in the end of one side. The battle culminates to a final point in which one side's ruler dies.
Plot summary
The story begins in the Mossflower Wood, where a community of animals suffers under the tyranny of a ruling wildcat named Verdauga. When a mouse from the north,
Martin the WarriorMartin the Warrior is an anthropomorphic mouse in the fictional Redwall series by Brian Jacques. He is an important character in many books, known as the savior of Mossflower Woods, and after his death becomes the guiding spirit to many of Redwall's heroes and patron saint of Redwall Abbey....
, comes to Mossflower Woods, he is captured and brought to the castle Kotir, where
Martin's SwordThe Sword of Martin, also called Ratdeath , is a fictional weapon from the Redwall series of novels by Brian Jacques...
is broken by Verdauga's daughter, Tsarmina. Martin is imprisoned within the Kotir Dungeons. As he is taken away to the dungeons, he says, "You should have killed me when you had the chance, cat, because I vow that I will slay you one day!"
Tsarmina poisons Verdauga with the help of the vixen Fortunata and blames it on her brother
Gingevere. She places her brother in prison, and takes the throne for herself, while Martin realizes that with this, he will be staying there for the whole winter. However, the end of winter is when madison meets
Gonff the Mousethief, in the dungeons for his stealing of food from Kotir storages. Meanwhile, Abbess Germaine and the surviving members of Loamhedge, an abbey stricken with the Great Sickness, arrive and join the woodlanders. Martin and Gonff escape with help from the Corim (
Council
Of
Resistance
In
Mossflower) and join with Dinny the mole and
Log-a-Log BigclubIn the Redwall universe created by author Brian Jacques, Redwall Abbey is allied with the shrews of Mossflower. The Log a Log is the leader of the shrew tribes: the Guosim, the Guoraf, or the Guosssom....
of the Guosim, on a quest to find Boar the Fighter,
Badger LordA Badger Lord is the ruler of Salamandastron in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.Salamandastron, the mountain fortress on the coast, defends itself and Mossflower Woods from vermin and searats or corsairs. The mountain is populated by fighting hares that serve the Badger Lord or Lady, known as...
of
SalamandastronSalamandastron is the fictional fortress of the Badger Lords in Brian Jacques's Redwall series. Many of the novels take place at or involve this fortress, which is situated in the hollowed-out remains of an extinct volcano, located on the western edge of Mossflower Woods by the shore of the...
.
BellaBadger Mother is a fictional office in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. It is a term for the female badgers who have served as nurses and guardians for generations at Redwall Abbey....
, Boar's daughter, believed only her father could defeat Tsarmina.
After a journey through Bat Mountpit and the Toadlands, the companions reach Salamandastron and meet with Boar the Fighter. Boar then reforges Martin's broken sword with metal from a meteorite, but is killed while fighting his mortal enemy Ripfang the searat(it should be noted that Ripfang is one of the few, if not the only vermin to appear in two different books. He appeared in Lord Brocktree as a member of the Blue Hordes, sailing away near the end to return to pirating) who had attacked Salamandastron. Ripfang's former oarslaves (including Martin's childhood friend Timballisto, and several members of Log a Log's former tribe) take over the searat ship, Bloodwake, with the help from Martin and his allies and return to Mossflower Woods, where Martin kills Tsarmina and destroys Kotir by flooding it and launching boulders from Timballisto's ballista at it. In the final battle with her, Martin is left near death. However, with the help of the woodlanders, he eventually recovers, but his memory is never the same thereafter, as shown in
The Legend of Luke. From the ruins of Kotir would eventually rise what would later become
Redwall AbbeyRedwall Abbey is the fictional refuge of many of the "good" creatures in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.The Abbey basically follows the rules of a normal Roman Catholic monastery except that it is occupied by herds of Animals and that no actual religion is practiced, as Jacques has said that...
. The flooded Kotir becomes the Abbey Pond in Redwall Abbey.
Characters in "Mossflower"
- Martin the Warrior
Martin the Warrior is an anthropomorphic mouse in the fictional Redwall series by Brian Jacques. He is an important character in many books, known as the savior of Mossflower Woods, and after his death becomes the guiding spirit to many of Redwall's heroes and patron saint of Redwall Abbey....
- Gonff the Mousethief
- Tsarmina Greeneyes
- Bella of Brockhall
- Young Dinn
Foremole is a title applying to several characters in the Redwall novels by Brian Jacques. Derived from the term foreman, it designates the leader of the moles who live at Redwall Abbey...
- Brogg
- Old Dinny
- Abbess Germaine}
Continuity Errors
Scragg, one of the officers in Kotir, alternates throughout the story between a weasel, a stoat, and a ferret, although his rank stays the same.
Translations
- (Dutch
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
) Het Moswoud
- Het Moswoud: De Koningin van Duizend Ogen
- Het Mouswoud: De Weg Naar de Vuurberg
- Het Mouswoud: De Afrekening
- (Finnish
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
) Sammalkukkametsän Sota
- (French
French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
) Rougemuraille : Martin le guerrier
- Tome 1 : La Reine aux yeux multiples
- Tome 2 : La Montagne de feu
- Tome 3 : Le Retour triomphal
- (German
German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
)
- In den Fängen der Wildkatze
- Mossflower
- Kotir: die Burg des Schreckens
- (Italian
Italian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
) Fior Muschiato
- (Norwegian
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
) Moslblom
- (Swedish
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
) Mossblomma
- (Russian
Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
) Котир: Война с Дикой Кошкой
Publication history
- 1988, UK, Hutchinson ISBN 0-09-172160-1, Hardback, il. by Gary Chalk
- 1988, US, Philomel ISBN 0-399-21549-2, Hardback, il. by Gary Chalk
- 2004, US, Philomel ISBN 0-399-24031-4, Hardback (green leatherette), il. by David Elliot
David Elliot is a New Zealand illustrator, known internationally for his contributions to the Redwall fantasy series by British author, Brian Jacques. He has illustrated the last six Redwall books and also the Mossflower Anniversary Edition...
External links