Insects

[PapaGoins]

What is generally accepted as the relative size of insects compared to other beasts in the Redwall World?  I am specifically interested in wasps, hornets, and bees.

Cheers!

[Hickory]

Bees are said in Loamhedge to be of the same size to us, able to perch on a finger (or paw)

[PapaGoins]

hmmm.... seems incongruous.

[LT Sandpaw]

That's the problem with the Redwall stories, we have no idea what the scale is to everything else. Apples are a good example because a normal apple would be larger then a mouse, however we see Mice carrying apples so they have to be human scaled, but what about the scorpion that killed Gabool it was said to be massive.

[Izeroth]

 Trees seem to be smaller than in real life (if the trees were to scale, they'd be taller than skyscrapers), and many insects seem to have been increased in size. The scorpion Gabool had, for instance. Also, the stag beetle that Cluny slew. You could probably get a good idea of the scale of everything by looking at some of the art in the books.

[PapaGoins]

It has an impact on the scope of the story.  I'm 2/3's of the way through "Eulalia"... If flying insects were of relative size, then wasps and hornets would at least be relatively the size of humming birds.  That brings a whole new level to the amount of damage a swarm could do, how loud they would be, the amount of territory they would require.  If Sagetip's statement holds true, then they are only a nuisance.

[Captain Tammo]

You could probably get a good idea of the scale of everything by looking at some of the art in the books.

But different illustrators made depicted the scale differently (this is more apparent when comparing international covers)

[MeadowR]

Certainly a little confusing when you really think about it! I guess I didn't think about it too much before, and perhaps that was a problem for Brian, he kind of saw the story for what it was - stuff just worked and that was that - and as such a consistent sizing of things against each other didn't really come to the forefront? I don't know. :p

It seems to me, if anything, all animals were bigger than their real life counterparts, one way or another. So insects should be fairly large, but still smaller, next to a mouse. So the trees and such would need to shrink a little...?

[Wot, wot!]

That's the problem with the Redwall stories, we have no idea what the scale is to everything else. Apples are a good example because a normal apple would be larger then a mouse, however we see Mice carrying apples so they have to be human scaled, but what about the scorpion that killed Gabool it was said to be massive.

Sharks also seem to be out of scale if creatures were human-sized. In The Bellmaker, the sharks were about as long as the Pearl Queen, which would be huge for the creatures on board. Anyway... I thought of this from Martin the Warrior. Hope it helps
" Bees! There were literally millions of the insects. They swarmed on shrubs, bushes, trees, and all over the ground"... " It was hard to distinguish Grumm from the bees that swarmed on him. They were all over his furry body, from footpaws to eartips, covering him completely and buzzing dangerously".

[JangoCoolguy]

They're as big as story calls for. :p

[Lady Ashenwyte]

Some are oversized while others are shrunk or they are human size.

[The Skarzs]

Thanks to guests, I found this topic.

It would be an interesting addition to the story if insects were increased in size like some things seem to be (like the crab, some birds, the scorpion, the stag beetle whose pinchers Cluny had on his helmet,  the adders, and the crows.) Of course, there were many things that seemed to shrink (foxes, some birds, the walking stone- a tortoise-, trees, and various other things.) It might be a different kind of story if everything was "proportional."
As for referring to the artists' illustrations for size, not all artists depicted the same things the same way. For example, Skarlath from Outcast of Redwall was depicted landing on Sunflash's hand by the artist, and unless he was supposed to be that massive, then the artist did not depict the true size of the kestrel.

[Sebias of Redwall]

I wonder how big a spider is supposed to be. I mean, some of those critters can get pretty big in real live. imagine if spiders were bigger than the mice in Redwall I guess it would be kinda like the spiders in the Hobbit.

[The Skarzs]

Indeed.