Brian Jacques
Tom Schaad from Fast Forward, a monthly half-hour television series focusing on the Sci-Fi/Fantasy & Horror genres of literature, recently interviewed Brian Jacques regarding the latest Redwall installment, Eulalia!. Brian also touches on Castaways of the Flying Dutchman. This is a great opportunity to see a video of the man himself, which is about 18 minutes.
During the interview Jacques gives Schaad a special Redwall 20th Anniversary pin. If anyone saw Brian on tour this year, were these handed out? We'd be interested in knowing!
Brian also touches on the forthcoming The Doomwytes, again referring to what inspired the "wytes", specifically corpse lights, which are also known as "Will-o'-the-wisps".
The following details from the Wikipedia article shed some light on what we may be able to expect. Emphasis is mine:
Among European rural people, especially in Gaelic and Slavic folk cultures, the will-o'-the-wisps are held to be mischievous spirits of the dead or other supernatural beings attempting to lead travellers astray.
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The will-o'-the-wisp can be found in numerous folk tales around the British Isles, and is often a malicious character in the stories.
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"Corpse Fire" - this name comes from lights appearing specifically within graveyards where it was believed the lights were an omen of death or coming tragedy and would mark the route or Corpse road of a future funeral, from the victim's house to the graveyard.
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Are the doomwytes a group of characters? Is it a singular character? Can't wait to find out more; I think it's clear that if one sees the wytes, it's certainly a harbinger of disaster.
Discrepancies from the interview:
- Eulalia! is the nineteenth Redwall novel, not the twentieth.
- The female hare is named Mad Maudie Mugsberry Thropple.
- The hedgehog is not "Orville Prink", but Orkwil Prink.
- The "Walter Reed Hospital" is the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington DC.
View the interview below.
Update: 11/27
Reader redwallfan91 has informed me that the pin was distributed to members of the Redwall Readers Club in a packet that also included posters and bookmarks. Below is a close-up image of the pin, which is designed to look like the logo I have placed next to it. The words, going clockwise, read "Honour, Loyalty, Strength, Courage".
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