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Filled with a rich cast of characters and conflicts, from the stormy waters of Abbey Pond to the towering stronghold of Salamandastron, Brian Jacques' Redwall series spans 22 novels. This expansive world was a sanctuary for both valiant woodland creatures and eager young readers. Ultimately, it’s a place 'as big or as small as you want it to be in your imagination,' as Jacques once shared with Scholastic.
Whether you found yourself devoted to the principles of Martin the Warrior or secretly rooting for the Feral Cat Army from Green Isle, there are surely many hidden gems about the noble animals, devious vermin, and the creator behind the Redwall books that you may not have discovered during your adventures through Redwall Abbey.
1. THE CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF BRIAN JACQUES’ SURNAME IS “JAKES” (YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT).
James Brian Jacques, born in Liverpool, England in 1939, was a highly prolific writer whose surname is pronounced 'jakes,' similar to 'makes' or 'takes.' This was clarified in 2011 by The New York Times and Washington Post after his passing. Despite the surname's French spelling, which led many to believe in French ancestry (something Jacques himself often mentioned regarding his father's half-French background), the true origin of the name remains uncertain within the family.
2. IN HIS EARLY YEARS, JACQUES HELD A VARIETY OF JOBS, INCLUDING MERCHANT MARINE, POLICE CONSTABLE, BOXER, AND MORE.
The acclaimed author was 'raised by the Liverpool docks,' as stated by the Times, and demonstrated his creative talent as early as age 10 with a short story about a bird and a crocodile. Unfortunately, his teacher believed the work was 'too good' for a child to have written and punished him with a caning for what was assumed to be plagiarism.
By 15, Jacques had grown tired of both school and his father, and thus began his career as a merchant seaman. This was just the first of many jobs he would take on over the coming years, including roles as a longshoreman, boxer, bus driver, stand-up comedian, and a 'bobby,' or police constable.
3. THE INSPIRATION FOR REDWALL STRUCK HIM WHILE HE WAS VOLUNTEERING WITH BLIND STUDENTS ...
Before the publication of Redwall, the first book in the series, in 1986, Jacques worked as a milkman in Liverpool and volunteered as a reader for blind students at the Royal School for the Blind, which was a regular stop on his route. However, as reported by The New York Times, he found the reading materials 'dreadful' and overly focused on 'teenage angst and divorce.' Determined to provide these students with better literature, he set out to create the kind of children’s stories he felt were missing—those with heroic characters, villains, and the triumph of the former over the latter. He shared with the Times,
'I thought, 'What's wrong with a little bit of magic in their lives?' … So I went home and wrote on recycled paper. It took me seven months, working each night. I ended up with 800 pages because I only used one side of the paper. I kept the pages in a supermarket bag.'
4. ... AND HIS MANUSCRIPT WAS PUBLISHED AFTER A FRIEND SUBMITTED IT SECRETLY.
Jacques gave the supermarket bag filled with his manuscript to his friend Alan Durband, a retired teacher, to review. Durband sent the story to several publishers in England, leading to Jacques receiving a first publishing contract worth about $4000—an offer so modest that, according to The New York Times, Jacques was so cautious about the future that he continued his stand-up comedy career while writing books for the next four years.
5. MANY OF THE ANIMAL CHARACTERS IN THE SERIES WERE INSPIRED BY PEOPLE JACQUES KNEW ...
Many of the characters in the extensive Redwall series are tributes to people Jacques knew throughout his life. A self-described 'people watcher,' Jacques shared with Scholastic that nearly all his characters are based on real individuals or composites of people he's encountered, with many of their adventures drawn from his own experiences and those of his friends.
For instance, Jacques' grandmother served as the inspiration for Constance, the badger guardian of Redwall, while Mariel the mousemaid is based on his eldest granddaughter. Entire species in the books are also inspired by real-world groups, such as the hares, which reflect World War II bomber pilots, the shrews who resemble the dockworkers Jacques lived among, and the moles, whose thick accents remind him of 'the very old men' he encountered in the villages of Somerset, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
6. ... BUT THE STORY’S HEROES ARE EVERYDAY COURAGEOUS KIDS.
Jacques’ own childhood experiences, particularly his fear during the final years of WWII, played a major role in shaping the terrifying yet triumphant moments of his mice characters. He reflected, 'My stories are written from the viewpoint of a kid, sitting in the movie house while World War II is on, watching all this magic come on the screen,' as he told The New York Times.
To set the scene, Jacques created what he called 'interesting baddies' among the vermin and villains of Redwall Abbey and Mossflower Woods—characters that invoked the same fear he experienced as a child watching wartime newsreels. When choosing his heroes, though, the decision was clear: 'I like mice!' he told Scholastic. 'Mice are my heroes because, like children, mice are small and must learn to be brave and use their wits.' Regarding the epic battles between heroes and villains, Jacques explained to the Times:
'My values aren't grounded in violence. They're based on courage, which you'll see over and over again in my books. A warrior isn’t someone like Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzenegger. A warrior can be any age. A warrior is someone people look up to.'
7. GONFF THE MOUSETHIEF REPRESENTS JACQUES HIMSELF.
Jacques has often expressed how closely he identifies with the lock-picking Gonff, who refers to both friends and foes as 'matey.' He explained, 'I go back to my childhood,' in an interview with the Times. 'He was a ducker and weaver, just like me. There was nothing around, but if you came from a poor family and something was left behind, you picked it up. I grew up by the docks. Gonff always tried to help others.'
8. SEVERAL OF HIS BOOKS WERE WRITTEN UNDER AN APPLE TREE IN A REAL-LIFE PLACE REMINISCENT OF REDWALL.
Jacques once shared in a Redwall teacher’s guide that his favorite writing spot was 'a corner of [his] garden, near the angle of the wall,' where he would settle into a little hut he built for his granddaughter, especially during the spring. When it rained, he’d simply 'go back under the lilac bush.'
9. REDWALL WAS BROUGHT TO LIFE AS A TV SERIES AND RADIO PLAY ...
Throughout Jacques' lifetime, the series sold over 20 million copies and was translated into 29 languages, yet fans still yearned for more. As a result, Redwall and two other books were adapted into a three-season animated series that aired from 1999 to 2001. Additionally, Jacques, along with his son Marc and several British voice actors, recorded a three-part audiobook titled The Redwall Radio Play for fans to enjoy.
10. ... AND EVEN INSPIRED AN OPERA (A GENRE THAT JACQUES LOVED).
In 1998, Opera Delaware performed Evelyn Swensson’s Redwall: The Legend of Redwall Abbey, a two-act musical adapted from the first book in the series, which later toured Europe. Given Jacques' lifelong love for opera, it’s no surprise that Redwall made its mark on the operatic world—Jacques had spent years hosting a radio show called 'Jakestown' on BBC Radio Merseyside, where he shared many of his favorite opera pieces and voices.
11. A REDWALL-INSPIRED COOKBOOK EXISTS.
Amazon
The Redwall Cookbook presents a collection of recipes inspired by the delicious meals mentioned in the series, such as Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie, Applesnow, and Crispy Cheese'n'Onion Hogbake. Authored by Jacques himself, the book is divided into the four seasons and includes fun facts about the beloved characters of Redwall.
12. STILL CRAVING MORE REDWALL? TWO TEXT-BASED GAMES ARE WAITING FOR YOU ONLINE.
Though Jacques passed away in 2011, the world he created continues to thrive thanks to his loyal fans. Two online text-based games still offer opportunities for role-playing and chatting with fellow Redwall enthusiasts: Redwall: Warlords and Redwall MUCK (Multi-User Chat/Created/Computer Kingdom).
