Mariel of Redwall

Mariel of Redwall

UK 1st Edition Cover
Author Brian Jacques
Illustrator Gary Chalk
Cover artist Pete Lyon
Language English
Series Redwall
Genre Fantasy novel
Publisher Hutchinson (UK) & Philomel (US)
Publication date
 1991
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 390 (UK Hardback) & 387 (US Hardback)
ISBN ISBN 0-09-176405-X (UK Hardback) & ISBN 0-399-22144-1 (US Hardback)
OCLC 24742557
Preceded by Mattimeo
Followed by Salamandastron

Mariel of Redwall is a fantasy novel by Brian Jacques, published in 1991. It is the fourth book in the Redwall series.

Plot introduction

When a young mousemaid loses her memory in a shipwreck, she takes the name "Storm Gullwhacker" after a successful encounter with a seagull. As she regains her memory while at Redwall Abbey, however, she swears vengeance against Gabool the Wild, the searat who had tried to slay her, and had taken her father captive.

Plot summary

US cover of Mariel of Redwall

The protagonist, a young female mouse named Mariel Gullwhacker, is traveling on the ship Periwinkle with her father Joseph. However, the ship is captured by Gabool the Wild, and Mariel is enslaved by the pirate rat. The Periwinkle was carrying a bell to Lord Rawnblade Widestripe in Salamandastron, and that, too, is seized by Gabool. After attacking Gabool, Mariel is thrown into the stormy sea; she is struck on the head with a piece of floating driftwood, causing her to lose her memory. The mouse washes up on shore; unable to recall her name, she decides to call herself "Storm Gullwhacker", and gives the name "Gullwhacker" to the rope she uses to fight off a seabird.

Three members of the Long Patrol hare army, Colonel Clary, Brigadier Thyme, and the Honorable Rosemary, escort Mariel to a squirrel named Pakatugg. He is given the task to lead Mariel to Redwall Abbey, where the woodlanders help her regain her memory. She befriends a young fieldmouse named Dandin, a hedgehog named Durry Quill, and a hare named Tarquin Longleap Woodsorrel, and together they journey to Gabool's island of Terramort to defeat him. The badger Lord Rawnblade also joins the four comrades later on to help them defeat Gabool in his fortress of Bladegirt, where he commands a fleet of searat and corsair ships. The denizens of Redwall, meanwhile, defended the Abbey against Graypatch, a searat on the run from Gabool's army, and his horde. Clary and Thyme, along with Pakatugg, are killed freeing slaves from Graypatch's camp. Graypatch decides to return to his ship but is killed by Oak Tom, a squirrel allied with Redwall.

Gabool, meanwhile, is slowly being driven insane. After capturing Mariel's father, who was transporting the bell to Salamandastron, he begins to hallucinate, believing to hear the bell ring when no one else is in the room. After a battle with the protagonists, Gabool is killed by his pet scorpion. The bell is eventually recovered from Gabool and given to Redwall Abbey as a gift. Named after its creator, it becomes the Joseph Bell.

Characters in Mariel of Redwall

Redwallers and companions

Searats and corsairs

Gabool's ships and their crews

Book divisions (English)

Translations

Preceded by
Outcast of Redwall		 Redwall Series
(chronological order) 		Succeeded by
The Bellmaker
Preceded by
Mattimeo		 Redwall Series
(publication order) 		Succeeded by
Salamandastron