The Pearls of Lutra is a
fantasyFantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place on fictional planes or planets where magic is common...
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 1996. It is the ninth book 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. The American edition of the novel was published simply as
Pearls of Lutra.
When Ublaz Mad-Eyes sets out on a mission to steal Tears of All Oceans, a set of six spherical rose-pink pearls, from the Lutra
otterOtters are semi-aquatic fish-eating mammals. The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, as well as others. With thirteen species in seven genera, otters have an almost worldwide distribution...
clan (
Lutra lutra being the Latin name for otters), Grath Longfletch must stand up to the evil pine marten while the Redwallers search for the missing treasures.
When gathering herbs near the quarry in
Mossflower WoodsIn the fictional world of Redwall, Mossflower Woods is the large forested woodland area surrounding Redwall Abbey. It has various streams running through it, including the River Moss. Mossflower Woods has been the home to locations such as Brockhall, St...
, the young Redwallers Tansy and Arven come across a mysterious skeleton among the rocks.
The Pearls of Lutra is a
fantasyFantasy is a genre that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting. Many works within the genre take place on fictional planes or planets where magic is common...
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 1996. It is the ninth book 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. The American edition of the novel was published simply as
Pearls of Lutra.
Plot introduction
When Ublaz Mad-Eyes sets out on a mission to steal Tears of All Oceans, a set of six spherical rose-pink pearls, from the Lutra
otterOtters are semi-aquatic fish-eating mammals. The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, as well as others. With thirteen species in seven genera, otters have an almost worldwide distribution...
clan (
Lutra lutra being the Latin name for otters), Grath Longfletch must stand up to the evil pine marten while the Redwallers search for the missing treasures.
Plot summary
When gathering herbs near the quarry in
Mossflower WoodsIn the fictional world of Redwall, Mossflower Woods is the large forested woodland area surrounding Redwall Abbey. It has various streams running through it, including the River Moss. Mossflower Woods has been the home to locations such as Brockhall, St...
, the young Redwallers Tansy and Arven come across a mysterious skeleton among the rocks. They are presently disoriented in a rainstorm and, failing to return to the abbey before the breaking of the storm, are rescued by Martin II. Tansy quickly leads curious Redwallers back to the quarry to examine the mysterious skeleton, and along the way, they meet two travelers: the irrepressible hare Cleckstarr Lepus Montisle and his owl friend Gerul.
Meanwhile, far across the western sea on the tropical isle of Sampetra, trouble is brewing. Ublaz Mad-Eyes, a large, sinewy
pine martenThe European Pine Marten , or Pineten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It is about the size of a domestic cat. Its body is up to 53 cm in length , and its bushy tail can be 25 cm...
with a hypnotic stare, gathers an army of barbaric monitor lizards and trident wielding searats. The stoat captain Conva is sent out to retrieve the
Tears of All OceansThe Tears of All Oceans are a group of jewels from the Redwall novel The Pearls of Lutra by Brian Jacques.Six perfectly formed, pink pearls, the Tears of All Oceans were the most valuable possessions of the otters of Holt Lutra, on the coast of Mossflower country...
, six perfectly spherical rose-pink pearls, but after murdering the Holt Lutra who owned the pearls, the Tears are stolen by the weasel Graylunk, who flees into Mossflower Woods. Conva tracks him to
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...
, where Graylunk takes refuge, before returning to Sampetra.
Ublaz is not pleased and presently murders Conva. He then sends out an elite force of monitor lizards, headed by their general Lask Frildur, to Mossflower to retrieve the pearls. They are escorted by the ferret captain Romsca and her crew.
However, the daughter of the Lutra chieftain is not dead. Far away on the western shores, Grath Longfletch, a strong female otter, was at the gates of the
Dark ForestDark Forest may refer to:* Dark Forest , a South Korean horror film* "Dark Forest", an episode of the TV show A Haunting* Dark Forest, room in the television game show Legends of the Hidden Temple...
before being found by a pair of bankvoles, who nursed her back to health. The otter fashioned a powerful bow and a quiver of green-fletched arrows, with which she planned on wreaking her revenge. She eliminates a longboat-crew of searats and then takes their boat southward into Mossflower, where she hopes to find the corsairs that slew her family.
Presently, Conva's brother Barranca discovers that Ublaz has killed his brother, and he begins hatching a plan to overthrow the pine marten and take the island for himself. With the fearsome Lask and his lizards gone to Mossflower, Barranca decides to seize his chance.
Back at Redwall, the old bankvole recorder Rollo determines that the skeleton in the quarry was Graylunk. He had become gravely injured in a fight with the weasel Flairnose, whom he killed, over the pearls before seeking safety at Redwall. There he befriended an old squirrel called Sister Fermald before he went off to die in the woods. Fermald, a clever old beast, had expertly hidden the pearls throughout the abbey before passing away several seasons ago. Tansy and Rollo, along with the hedgehog maid's friends Craklyn the squirrel and Piknim the mouse, begin a search for the six exquisite pearls. The Dibbun Arven and his two partners in crime, the moles Diggum and Gurrbowl, occasionally help in the search.
When Abbot Durral takes young Viola Bankvole for a stroll in Mossflower Woods, they are captured by Lask and his troops. Lask binds the Abbot and the bankvole and attempts to ransom them for the pearls at Redwall. However, the pearls have not yet been found, and Lask and his lizards take the two Redwallers back to their ship to be captives at Sampetra.
Martin, Clecky, Gerul, and the
Skipper of OttersIn the fictional Redwall series of novels by Brian Jacques, the Skipper of Otters is what otters call their leader. In Mossflower, the Skipper is always male, though in some areas there is a High Rhulain, the female equivalent of Skipper...
pursue the lizards through Mossflower, slaying several but failing to rescue the captives. Gerul and Skipper become wounded and are sent back to the Abbey, but the others chase the lizards to the western shore. There, they meet up with Grath Longfletch, who had caught sight of Romsca's ship, the
Waveworm, and attempted to pick off some of the vermin. Durral manages to help Viola get to safety on the shore, but the ship departs before he can escape. Viola is sent back to Redwall with two shrews to guide her, and Grath, Clecky, Martin, and the
Log-a-LogIn 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....
's two sons use discarded vermin boats to form the
Freebeast, a double-outrigger vessel in which they pursue Lask to Sampetra. Viola, who has sneaked aboard, also ends up coming along.
On Sampetra, Barranca has been slain by Rasconza, a clever fox corsair who takes over the rebellion against Ublaz. Initial attempts at negotiation fail, due to the double-dealing of the pair, and when Ublaz tries to have Rasconza assassinated, Sampetra is plunged into all-out war.
In the search for the six pearls, the Redwaller friends slowly but surely find them all, though not without paying the price. The young mouse Piknim ends up being slain by the cruel jackdaws at St. Ninian's while searching for a pearl. The church is burnt down to prevent evil-doers from ever using it again (it had been used as a base by Redwall's enemies twice before), and the quest resumes, with all the pearls eventually being found.
Martin, Grath and their friends closely follow Romsca and Lask across the ocean, and end up meeting the otters of Holt Ruddaring along the way. Inbar Trueflight, a skilled archer, and the seal Hawm tag along on the quest.
On the
Waveworm, Durral is underfed and mistreated, but the ferret captain Romsca protects him from the fierce violence and hunger of Lask's cruel monitor lizards. Lask and Romsca, who had been at odds with one another since the beginning, finally battle on deck, with the forces of both being wiped out. Romsca ends up slaying Lask but is fatally injured in the process. Before dying, she gives the abbot instructions on how to set the rudder to fix the ship toward Sampetra. As the last living creature aboard the ship, the old Abbot sails alone toward the evil isle.
When Martin, Clecky, Grath, Inbar, the shrews and Viola arrive on Sampetra, a battle ensues. Most of the monitor lizards and wave-vermin are killed, and Martin corners Ublaz alone in his palace. They duel it out, but Ublaz accidentally steps on the poisonous snake that he had hypnotized and kept as a pet. The snake bites him and he dies.
Durral is rescued and the warriors all return to Mossflower. Grath stays with Inbar at Holt Ruddering, as the pair have fallen in love, but the others meet Tansy and her friends at the shore. The young hedgehog, realizing the pearls lead only to greed and violence and bring nothing but misery and death to all who own them, casts them out into the sea to be forever lost. For her hard work, perseverance and aptitude, Tansy is made Abbess of Redwall to succeed old Durral. She becomes the first non-mouse abbot/abbess.
Characters in "Pearls of Lutra"
- Tansy
- Arven
- Martin II
- Cleckstarr Lepus Montisle (Clecky)
- Gerul the Owl
- Ublaz Mad-Eyes
- Romsca
Romsca is a fictional anthropomorphic ferret corsair the book Pearls of Lutra in Brian Jacques's Redwall series.She was sent by Ublaz Mad-Eyes to fetch the pearls, which were in Redwall Abbey. Romsca was forced to travel with a monitor lizard named Lask Frildur, whom she hated. In Mossflower Lask...
- Grath Longfletch
- Fermald the Ancient
- Rollo the vole
- Craklyn
- Piknim
- Conva
- Barranca
- Rasconza
- Abbot Durral
- Viola Bankvole
- Sagitar
- Graylunk
- Hawm Seal
- Lask Frildur
- Inbar
Book divisions (English)
- Book 1: Six Tears for an Abbot
- Book 2: Westward the Warriors
- Book 3: When Tears Are Shed
Translations
- (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...
) Jalokivien jäljillä
- (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 : Les Perles de Loubia
- Tome 1 : L'Empereur aux yeux fous
- Tome 2 : Six larmes pour un abbé
- Tome 3 : L'Âme-Libre
- Tome 4 : La Vengeance de Loubia
- (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...
) Die Geiseln des Kaisers
- (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...
) Le Perle di Lutra
- (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...
) Lutras pärlor
- (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...
) Жемчуг Лутры (Zhemchug Lutry)
External links