Let’s Go, Team!

Sports in Redwall

By Vitora

Righto! Time to talk about one of my all-time favorite subjects—sports. No, no, don’t worry, I won’t rant on and on about how this is the Decade of Darkness and Doom for the Seattle Sonics, and how stupid baseball is, and… Ugh. Really, I won’t. I’ll stop myself with two-ton bricks and fuzzy rat named Clover if I have to. Sooo…

Sports seem to be pretty non-existent in Redwall. If pressed to name five examples off the top of my head, I would have trouble. Even after actually digging through the books, I had difficulty finding sport-like events that were more than just games.

At Redwall, sporting events for the youngsters had been going on since early afternoon… On the second lap of the Abbey grounds, the runners came by, Tess Churchmouse in front by a whisker and a tail… Mattimeo came dashing across, wearing a coronet of dripping duckweed on his head… “…Three circuits of the pool on a log.” …“Look, everybody, this ruffian has just beaten me to first place in the sack race.” – Mattimeo, chapter 9

Brian Jacques calls these sporting events, and goes on to name a few more (climbing up a greased pole, for example), but only two of these really count: the footrace and the log race. These are reminiscent of modern-day track and boating, and though these are both sporting events, they don’t usually come first to mind for Americans when one mentions “sports”.

Targets, poles, ropes, hoops, and other sporting paraphernalia were laid out on the pitches were the games would take place… Samkim and Arula started off the proceedings by winning the three-pawed race in fine style… Turzel and Blossom, the two small mousemaids, teamed up with Thrugann to win the relay race around the Abbey grounds, while Friar Bellows and Brother Hal beat all comers at the acorn and stick high-batting contest. – Salamandastron, chapter 10

Now here we see a slightly more modern version of sports—“acorn and stick high-batting” reminds one of baseball, and later in this chapter BJ mentions a proposed archery contest. But once again, all of these games are held during a Redwall feast, and seem to be only a small part of the festivities; Jacques spends a significantly longer time describing the food.

Otters do gymnastics of sorts, true. Squirrels are the champion climbers of Mossflower, whether it be on trees or rocks or even ship riggings. Vermin enjoy the occasional duel, perhaps, but this can’t be called fencing—those doing the fighting aren’t doing so in sport, and neither are they honorable.

In today’s world, athletes are put onto tall pedestals, far above us humble normal folk. In the Redwall world, it is the warriors that are placed on these platforms for the youngsters to stare in awe at and the elders to tell tales about. Even though Brian Jacques has chosen several creatures other than mice, many of which possess natural athleticism, to use as main characters, he has never particularly stressed their inherent traits.

Why shouldn’t he? I see no reason for this. The way in which otters take to the water with such ease and squirrels feel so at home in the forest canopy can provide some very useful and interesting story points. For instance, what if there was an Olympic-like gathering, where the vermin and the woodlanders agreed on a truce and sent their best athletes in to compete against each other? Even if the sports were more animal-like, such as tunneling, tree-climbing, and swimming, it would still make for a very interesting story (not to mention the conflict that would arise with hotheads from both sides in one place). Ferrets versus moles in a digging contest. Otters versus experienced searats in a relay race through the River Moss. Badgers versus wildcats in strength and weight-lifting contests. Hares versus the quickest stoats and weasels in footraces.

So that’s all well and good, and we’ve established that sports in Redwall would not be such a bad thing. Correction, though—the more primitive sports would not be such a bad thing. What about team sports like football, basketball, baseball, and soccer?

Football could easily be devised, with two pieces of cloth sewn together and stuffed for the woodlanders, part of a bird or fish for the vermin. It’s easy to imagine two teams of burly otters hitting, blocking, running, and throwing in a football game. Baseball—just as simple; Jacques himself provided the answer in Salamandastron (see example), and any creature could take part in this, young or old, as it involves little or no physical contact. Soccer, too, would not be hard to play for the Redwallians, using perhaps mosses continually wrapped around a round stone, or light wood carved into a ball. Tennis—similar to baseball, and for volleyball the moss-ball could be used. That leaves basketball, which is a little more difficult—as far as I know rubber was never mentioned in the series, and there are few other materials that will bounce as much as is necessary for the hardwood sport.

Now, there is the question of the time period, and how that would affect the realism. All right, then, save the latter games for fan-fics; it would still be nice to see some incorporation of sporting activities into the Redwall universe.

In conclusion, I think that more sports in Redwall would be an excellent addition to the series, and would retract in no way from the basic quality of the books; instead, it would only add more. It’s exciting when a game or series of games is on the line, and even more exhilirating when one’s own team wins, whether it be a routine, predictable, regular-season match or a nigh-impossible one against a tough opposing lineup. And since some sports have already been integrated by Brian Jacques himself, why not take a leap and go one step further? Assemble that all-star team of otter football players, ferret basketball players, and mouse baseball players. Let’s go, team!