Hey I have been wondering how old Matthias is? I know in the Tv show he 13 but some say he is 20?
But at the end of redwall the legend begins if i am not mistaken he married cornflower? so how
could he marry if he is 13 :D? Unless that is in Mouse Years? so this is a open debate
on how old Matthias is so let the Debate begin!
Maybe they (In the TV series) don't care about marrying at a young age. OR, well, young for us.
True but in the Tv series they did not marry at the end? they did show how the liked each other
but they still did not marry? it seems like they changed the Tv series from a older kid book to younger kid Tv show?
??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
In the middle ages you only had to be 12-14 to get married
Yes but Matthias would have had to been a very mature 13 year old to go around fighting deadly snakes killing clunny etc
Yeah, but I believe he did say that when Mattimeo was captured Mattimeo was older than Matthias was when Cluny came
When did they say that?
I don't know but I remember he said that somewhere I think. I believe it was before he left to find Slagar
Hmm......I'll hafta go back and take a look.
Martin sounds older than 13 in the show....try 20. ;) Felldoh sounds 15-ish, Brome is 8 or 9.
Oh wait, you said Matthias.....Felldoh sounds older, yet Brome younger....so 13 is about right. Probably the wrong voice for him, but it was the first season after all. ;) They got better in the second and third seasons.
I agree with you Lutra. That sounds about right except the age of Felldoh. I think he would be more like 17.
BJ was trying to install some medieval things into his stories, and one of those is early marriages: A lot of times, boys were trained to become knights and defend their family because of how common deaths were. (Women remarrying three times was also something that happened) This training coupled with actual times where they had to battle caused early maturing; marriage can take place really any time the two are mature and ready enough to marry, which also requires a way of supporting a family. Families wished their line to continue, so this was the common practice. If anyone notices the some of the old suits of armor, they are pretty short: this is because they were meant for someone of that height, at which many thirteen-year-olds were. If they are ready enough to wear their own suit of armor into battle, then they're old enough to marry.
The point is, I think thirteen would be a time-accurate age.
I think you are all forgetting that he is a mouse and not a man, and being so, mice have a different life span then we do. Also the fact they they are mice and not humans points to the fact that they might have a different culture than we do, one that allows early mirages. You should not say that, At Thirteen one is not mature enough to be married, but look at Matthias life and you will see that he is in fact a very mature 13 year old.
Also Maturity and age are two different things and one cannot define the other. One may be very mature while still very young and on the other hand they may be a complete jerk and be older. It seems that age in the books particularly is define not by maturity but by things like athletic youthfulness, wisdom, acquired skills and knowledge. Mathias was very mature however he lack a lot of the insight, sills and knowledge about the world that those older than him had. Mathusala (Spelling?) had to teach him many things but it was Matthias maturity that aloud him to take those words of wisdom to heart.
I'm not forgetting he is a mouse; I am however noting that Redwall seems influenced by Medieval cultures, practices, etc., but not entirely based on them. Also, I did not say he was not mature.
Point taken and already known.
Actually that was directed to the others. I completely agree with all that you where saying and was more over adding to it.
My mistake; good points all.
Quote from: The Skarzs on July 29, 2014, 07:02:20 AM
BJ was trying to install some medieval things into his stories, and one of those is early marriages: A lot of times, boys were trained to become knights and defend their family because of how common deaths were. (Women remarrying three times was also something that happened) This training coupled with actual times where they had to battle caused early maturing; marriage can take place really any time the two are mature and ready enough to marry, which also requires a way of supporting a family. Families wished their line to continue, so this was the common practice. If anyone notices the some of the old suits of armor, they are pretty short: this is because they were meant for someone of that height, at which many thirteen-year-olds were. If they are ready enough to wear their own suit of armor into battle, then they're old enough to marry.
The point is, I think thirteen would be a time-accurate age.
But no one could become a knight until 21, they started out as a page going to a neighboring castle at the age of seven, and then at the age of fourteen they would become a squire, and only until 21 would they become a knight.
Hmmmm never thought about that......
Honestly I did not imagine him a teenager, I imagined him to be ~20 years old or a bit younger, young adult territory. Just to kind of fit in my head that he was able defeat a terrifying rat warlord, lol
Quote from: Mister Cheese on August 25, 2014, 11:49:20 PM
Honestly I did not imagine him a teenager, I imagined him to be ~20 years old or a bit younger, young adult territory. Just to kind of fit in my head that he was able defeat a terrifying rat warlord, lol
Me neither. He seemed to mature to be a teenager. I would say something like 17 or 18 would fit Mathias better. Alot better.
I always imagined him as about 16 or so...
I think somewhere either in the tv show or beginning of the book it mentions him being 14, but i don't remember for sure...
I think (in human years) he is 15-19
It did state in the book that he was 13 (I think).
It would make sense for him to be in his late teens rather then barely a teenager.
don't forget that redwall is measured in seasons! cregga was probably 30 seasons when she reashed redwall and then it was three novels (maybe six seasons? taggerung took a bit) and she was considered very old (fact: gregga was the last known badger mum!) so seasons are obviously a long time in redwall. I want to say 16 years
I look back on that post and want to crawl into a corner.
Let me rephrase that.
In Doomwyte, Zaran asks whatshisname the son of Tugga Bruster how old he is, and he replies with "twelve seasons", which goes to show human years don't matter, because if they did a three year old wouldn't be a warrior and full time member of the Gousim. Even then, for Redwall time he's pretty young.
Then again, Songbreeze is, what, fifteen or sixteen when she's promoted to Abbess? There's not really a set time keeping device in Redwall except the sun. Or linear time at all. (They don't even have days of the week! Or even days at all!)
In the series, it seems that Brian Jacques intended that the age be less important than the action. A lot of times, it is the adventures characters take on that "age" them; seems to be a focal idea in the books.
Why, oh, why did you have to revive my first thread... ::)
Let me just go into a corner now.....
I've always interpreted one season as being equal to one year. In the second book of Taggerung, titled "Sixteen Seasons On," Tagg is sixteen seasons old, and his character and maturity are appropriate for an older teen. I would place Matthias around that same age during the events of Redwall.
Since Martin the Warrior was mentioned, I'll throw out that I'd place Martin around 18 seasons during the events of Mossflower, and that's after he spent two seasons in the prisons of Kotir. I'd guess him to be roughly 14 during the events of Martin the Warrior. He was considered a young mouse in the book; it's stated on the first page. I'd put Felldoh a season or two older than Martin and Brome two or three younger.
If 14 does seem young for Martin, remember that firstly, the show takes several liberties in changing aspects of the original story, and secondly, in the Castaways series, Ben is 13.
In human age about 16 in Redwall and 30 in Mattimeo?
The important question isn't Matthias, it's how Mattimeo's age fits in.
In Mattimeo, it's eight seasons after the Great War (referring to the events of Redwall), if I remember correctly. Yet Mattimeo was only born four seasons after, so he'd be four seasons. Assuming that 1 season = 1 year (in terms of age), then he'd be four. Although there are inconsistencies when it mentions what he did 'last autumn', when he'd have been one. Tim and Tess were said to be too young to remember the events of Redwall, and I'd have said they'd have been around that age then. However, they begin training as bell ringers quite young (nine? ten? I think it was the end of Mattimeo?). And Mattimeo surely wasn't four when he was allowed to hold the sword of Martin.
What I think is at that time, BJ hadn't worked out the ages. In other books, they seem to be roughly 1 season is equivalent to 1 year, or something like that. Yet in Redwall and Mattimeo, they're less consistent. Even if you assume 1 season = 2 or more years or something like that, then Sam would be equivalent to more than eight years older, and for creatures that age, that's a big gap, when Mattimeo is treated by Sam, Tim and Tess as an equal, or even the leader. If you assume that they're like real animals, then that age gap makes less sense. So for this, then the answer is pretty much the same as many questions regarding Redwall: BJ hadn't planned for a series, so hadn't worked out fine details like that, and changed it for later books.
With ages, there are certainly inconsistencies. Other threads go into some in more detail, so I won't do so here. Things like how badgers have really long lifespans compared to other beasts, but then Swarrt is the same age as Sunflash. And some others. The age where they become adults is also inconsistent, with Mattimeo as explained above. In The Taggerung, the Abbeybeasts who were Dibbuns at the beginning are described as something along the lines of 'the younger element, older than Dibbuns but not yet quite adults' (note: this is not the exact quote, so don't take it to be exactly as I say). Yet in another book (can't remember which), one of the novices is only a few seasons out of Dibbunhood. There isn't really much consistency.