Gruntan Kurdly, Chieftain

Gender: male

Species: rat

Appears In: Eulalia!




Gruntan is the overweight Chieftain of the Brownrats tribe and, despite his size, quite swift. He has many daughters, possesses a fiery temper, dyes his fur with bright colours, wears bone and leaf ornaments, loves hard-boiled eggs (though he desperately wants to try a swan egg) and prefers to be transported around in a litter carried by some of his tribe. He lays a trap for the GUOSIM in hopes of stealing their logboats but the plan fails as the scouts Biklo and Noggo are spotted by the shrews, and Gruntan saves himself from falling off a massive rock by grabbing onto a gorge bush. Unfortunately this bush is full of sharp thorns, though Laggle removes them all. An enraged Gruntan attempts to pursue the GUOSIM but is easily tricked by them, and he suffers another injury when Rangval leads the rats into Owch Mansions; the angry wasps sting him seven times on his tongue. When the GUOSIM flee into Redwall he decides to conquer it and prepares a siege camp, ordering Stringle to kill Vizka's crew and Gorath after he learns they are in the vicinity. While Stringle is away, Gruntan learns of a nearby watermeadow and a swan nest so he heads straight to it. As he passes Redwall he spots the Tabura on the walltop and believes him to be Gorath, thus believing that Stringle had lied to him about fighting the badger. Upon arriving at the watermeadow he is told that Stringle has surrounded Gorath and the GUOSIM on the Plateau but needs help to defeat them, however Gruntan thinks this is another lie and refuses to assist. Along with Duggerlo he searches for the nest and, when he finds it, greedily climbs in. He is totally unaware that the female swan is inside with her cygnets, and she kills the rat leader.