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Dandiel is the het ship between Dandin and Mariel Gullwhacker from the Redwall fandom.
Canon[]
Dandin and Mariel are mice who appeared in the novels Mariel of Redwall and The Bellmaker.
Mariel of Redwall[]
The pair first met when Mariel arrived at Redwall Abbey. Dandin happened to be acting as a gate guard at the time, and so was one of the first to meet Mariel and her traveling companion Tarquin L. Woodsorrel. Mariel, suffering from amnesia at the time, went by the name Storm Gullwhacker, Gullwhacker also being the name of the knotted rope that she carried as a weapon.
The two young mice both regarded each other before being introduced, with Storm meeting Dandin’s case fearlessly. When Storm declined to be taken to where she could have a bath, Dandin sensed a kindred spirit and spoke up in her defense. He and his friend Saxtus began showing Storm around, explaining things to the curious maiden. Dandin would voice Storm’s objection to having a bath to Mother Mellus a short time later, but the big badger soon dragged an angry Storm off. The sight of this made Dandin helpless with amusement.
When Storm reappeared after her wash, Dandin was astounded at the transformation from ragged wanderer to pretty maid. Offering her a paw, Dandin invited Storm to sit between him and Saxtus at the feast taking place that night. He explained the happenings to her, and the two ran together to join in the festivities. During the feast, Dandin tried to impress Storm by tossing red currants in the air and catching them in his mouth. In response to his boasting, Storm tried to beat him at the game.
Later, Storm was unexpectedly overcome after Saxtus recited a poem that, unbeknownst to anyone, mirrored the forgotten events of Storm’s life. Dandin was quite surprised when Storm fainted, having already judged her to be a creature of great resilience. As the Abbey elders attended to Storm, helping her to recover her memory, Dandin was among the few allowed to observe the proceedings. In the process, they learned her true name of Mariel and all that she had suffered at the claws of cruel pirates.
When Mariel awoke the following day, Dandin addressed her by name and spoke also of her father Joseph the Bellmaker. Mariel informed him that she could remember everything of her former life. Determined now to seek her father and the villain Gabool the Wild, Mariel began gathering supplies and warned the Abbeybeasts against interfering with her. Dandin, however, stood up to Mariel, reminding her of Redwall’s code of peace. Mariel replied that, though harming any of them was not her wish, she would brook no opposition to her quest.
Despite this, Mariel was eventually persuaded to take counsel, and Dandin was among those who assembled to aid her. Dandin joined eagerly in the search for a rhyme that provided directions, albeit cryptically, to Gabool’s stronghold of Terramar Isle. Having found it, Mariel resolved to depart the Abbey on the following dawn. After she’d gone to bed, Dandin expressed his intent to go with her, but was refused permission by the elders. Martin the Warrior, Redwall’s guardian spirit, had other plans, and through a number of visitations that night arranged for Dandin to accompany Mariel armed with Martin’s own legendary sword.
Mariel, having resolved to travel alone, was in no way pleased when she and her first unwanted companion, Tarquin, came upon Dandin on the road the following day. Dandin reacted smilingly to her irritation, and continued to do so even as Mariel angrily informed both of them that they would not be accompanying her further. The two continued teasing Mariel as they began traveling again, halting only when she menaced them with the Gullwhacker. Ultimately, however, Mariel was unable to remain annoyed with the pair, even after they were joined unexpectedly by the hedgehog Durry Quill.
When the group encountered a murderous heron, Mariel boldly engaged the creature, prompting Dandin to call out a warning. The group managed to subdue the bird and continue on their journey. Forced to cross a ford swarming with dangerous pike, Dandin offered Mariel encouragement as she made her precarious way across a branch they used as a bridge. Mariel then held the bridge end steady as Dandin made his own crossing.
That night, Mariel asked Dandin about his sword over dinner. After Dandin recounted his dream encounter with Martin, Mariel remembered and admitted that she, too, had been visited by the long dead warrior. Back at Redwall, the herbalist Simeon would comment that he felt Martin was accompanying either Dandin or Mariel, though he wasn’t entirely sure which of the two had been so chosen. The next day, as the four friends traveled through a storm, Mariel fell behind. Dandin addressed her in concern, and soon learned that the weather had brought back memories of her past ordeals.
After the group found one of the landmarks from their rhyme, Dandin agreed with Mariel’s proposed plan of action. The group were later knocked out and captured by barbarian vermin. After awaking, Mariel would whisper to Dandin regarding a plan of escape and counterattack. The two fought side by side in the ensuing battle, only falling under weight of numbers before rescue arrived.
Later, the group were forced to travel through a swamp. An encounter with a toad led to Dandin sinking into the mire, with Mariel quickly throwing an end of the Gullwhacker to him in an effort to rescue him. Martin spoke to Mariel to alert her to a nearby tree, which the group climbed in an effort to reach Dandin as Mariel called encouragement to him. She managed to grab Dandin’s paws, which he held up in response to a message of his own from Martin.
Mariel quickly attended to Dandin and was so relieved when he showed signs of life that she had difficulty speaking, though she tried to conceal this. She continued to minister to him as he recovered, offering words of reassurance after his near-death experience. The two would soon share a look, and Dandin would smile, when they realized that Martin had once again spoken to both of them. It wasn’t long before the group faced another trial in the form of a veritable army of reptiles.
Dandin expressed his determination to follow Mariel’s lead in dealing with the creatures. Upon learning that they were near the edge of the swamp, Mariel decided to try subterfuge and asked to borrow Martin’s sword, which Dandin surrendered without hesitation. Dandin soon found himself struggling to control his laughter as Mariel put on a display of bravado intended to intimidate the creatures into letting them pass unharmed. Sometime later, when Mariel determined to confront a giant lobster to obtain a navigational tool for their voyage to Terramort, Dandin insisted on joining her.
The two were soon locked in an underwater struggle with the beast. Dandin tried to distract the lobster, but was eventually trapped and gave out a bubbling cry. Hearing him, Mariel went to his aid, enabling Dandin to escape. Between their efforts and those of their friends, they accomplished their mission. They then faced the difficulty of finding a ship, with Dandin pointing out to Mariel that they lacked both the means and the skill to build one.
Fortunately, the group were provided with a burnt out but still sound vessel in which to put to sea. They had not been voyaging long, however, when it was struck and sunk by a pirate vessel. Dandin and Durry were taken prisoner aboard the ship, while Mariel and Tarquin were left adrift. Rawnblade Widestripe, Lord of Salamandastron, found the two and brought them aboard his own vessel.
Aware of her friends’ plight, Mariel worried for them. Dandin, meanwhile, believed Mariel and Tarquin to be dead. As such, there was much rejoicing when the friends reunited on Terramort, where Dandin and Durry had joined a resistance movement. Following a warm greeting that threatened to become tearful, they quickly left to join Dandin’s new comrades.
Together the four friends, Rawnblade, and their new allies fought and defeated Gabool and his pirates. Afterwards, the army traveled back to Redwall, with Mariel again borrowing Martin’s sword from Dandin to hold as she addressed the company upon setting out. Though they enjoyed the return to Redwall, Dandin and Mariel eventually decided that they wished to continue adventuring together. Leaving Redwall, they traveled south, leaving both the Sword of Martin and the Gullwhacker behind them.
Martin the Warrior[]
Dandin and Mariel’s departure is mentioned again in the prologue of this novel.
The Bellmaker[]
Four seasons after leaving Redwall, Dandin and Mariel were far to the south of Mossflower. Taking shelter in a scorching wasteland, Mariel gave Dandin the paltry remains of their water. Contemplating their nearly empty pack, they noted that their only food is a pair of oatcakes they’ve kept since leaving Redwall, now hard as rocks. With no better options, Mariel suggested that the sleep the rest of the day and take up their travels again when it’s cooler. Dandin briefly launched into verbal contemplation of what their friends back at Redwall might be eating and drinking, until Mariel hit him with the pack and ordered him to be quiet.
That night, another creature attempted to steal the pack, and Mariel downed him by throwing one of the oatcakes when he attempted to flee. Upon discovering it to be a young hedgehog, Mariel was mortified, though Dandin complimented her shot and commented that the youngster was already starting to revive. The two thus became acquainted with Bowly Pintips, an orphan and lately the slave of a pair of weasel robbers. Learning how hat the vermin were well supplied, Dandin and Mariel exchanged smiles before resolving to pay them a visit. Through displays of both skill and bravado, they soon deprived the weasels of most of their supplies before sending them northward.
When Bowly expresses his intent to join Dandin and Mariel, they both enjoy a bit of fun at his expense before accepting their new companion. Later, after the three have entered the country of Southsward, Dandin calls Mariel’s attention to a disturbance. Upon discovering several rats menacing a party of moles, Dandin dictates that he and Mariel will engage most of the villains while Bowly is given a single vermin to tackle. The plan goes awry, and the situation is only saved by the timely arrival of a group of hares. The leader of their new allies introduces himself as Meldrum the Magnificent, and the two groups of warriors soon band together against the rats currently occupying Southsward.
Offered a night’s lodging in the home of the moles, Dandin and Mariel both end up sleeping outside to avoid the nocturnal noises of the other inhabitants. As they are going to sleep, Dandin briefly becomes wistful for Redwall, but upon considering his friendship with Mariel feels confirmed in his choice to travel with her instead of living at the abbey. The following day the unified parties set out to scout the enemy. Upon seeing Southsward’s Queen Serena and Prince Truffen in peril, Meldrum wishes to attack their pursuers but is halted by Dandin and Mariel. Sending Bowly and Meldrum’s hares back to the moles for help, the two mice launch a diversionary attack on the vermin and lead them into a trap.
A landslide triggered by Meldrum buries and kills many of the vermin, but the three friends are left trapped and taken prisoner. Despite this, Dandin and Mariel both hurl defiant insults at the villainous Foxwolf. Awaking later in their captor’s dungeons, Dandin cradles Mariel’s head in his lap and asks how she’s feeling after gently denying her plea for water on the basis of having none to give her. Mariel asks after Dandin in reply, but they are interrupted when Foxwolf appears with his mate Silvamord. Though threatened by the pair, Dandin and Mariel join Meldrum in refusing to cooperate.
Despite their resolve, both friends become depressed as night falls, looking out from their cell’s window while Meldrum sleeps. The two briefly discuss their friends back at Redwall before deciding to explore their cell, which Mariel suggests partly to distract Dandin from thoughts of food. Their efforts awaken Meldrum, who promptly determines that the cell door is the obvious means of escape. When he asks the pair to inspect it, Dandin helps Mariel up to look through the door’s spyhole. The two then take turns cutting through one of the door’s hingepins using a medal provided by Meldrum, with Dandin pushing on Mariel to give her added weight for her efforts.
Meldrum takes over for the higher hingepin, and the three manage to break out of their cell. Collecting Southsward’s King Gael and a shrike named Glokkpod on their way out of the dungeons, they are forced to take refuge in one of the turrets of the castle now occupied by the Foxwolf’s forces. The two later help Gael, weakened by captivity, into the turret’s attic before following him up. As their refuge deteriorates under constant attack, the two move up into the rafters. The two also join in using roof tiles as weapons, but Mariel backs up Dandin in suggesting that they spend their limited ammunition wisely.
When the group manage to get some outside help to attempt an escape, Mariel encourages Dandin to make the attempt after Gael departs. Dandin responds by instructing her to go, intending to be the last one to leave. This sparks an argument with Meldrum, but both he and Dandin agree that Mariel should go first. Annoyed, Mariel proceeds so that they can get on with the rescue. Shortly thereafter, hearing sounds of a scuffle, a distressed Dandin immediately rushes to offer assistance.
Finding Mariel gone, Dandin remains worried about her but is persuaded by Meldrum to continue on their course out of the castle. Mariel, meanwhile, becomes determined to help her friends and is soon joined by new allies in her endeavor. Unbeknownst to the pair, several friends and allies led by Mariel’s father Joseph are on their way to Southsward. In speaking of them, Joseph refers to “[his] daughter, Mariel, and her friend Dandin.”
After escaping the castle, Dandin sees the drawbridge lowered and quickly surmises that Mariel is responsible. She later signals to him, and Mariel recognizes Dandin as he answers despite a great distance between them. In reporting this exchange, Dandin refers to her as “my Mariel.” He and his party then send Mariel a message informing her that forces are being gathered to storm the castle and asking her to maintain her position as long as is feasible. Later, after Dandin’s party infiltrates the castle, he hears Mariel’s war cry and leads the charge to her aid.
Upon reuniting with Mariel, Dandin takes a position fighting alongside her. Later forced to retreat, Dandin takes up a rearguard position while Mariel leads the force in search of safety. Fortunately, they are soon joined by Joseph and his force, now including a group of Southswarders. The heroes are soon victorious, and Dandin and Mariel join in searching for vermin holdouts. They later join in a final attack on Nagru’s forces outside Floret, running together into the fray.
After the battle, Mariel and Dandin return to Redwall together. They remain for a season before setting out on another journey, this time aboard the vessel Pearl Queen. No further mention is made of their subsequent fate, including whether they ever came back to Redwall again.
Fanon[]
Dandiel enjoys some popularity among Redwall fans, with the two starting in not one but two installments of the series together. The pair are also in company for much of the books in which they appear, whereas pairings like MattiFlower and Gonfumbine are separated for long portions of the works in which they appear. However, Dandiel is also a pairing in which the novels themselves never indicate that the two progressed beyond close friendship to become a romantic couple.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Mariel/Dandin on FanFiction.net
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| Redwall Ships • Redwall Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | Dandiel • Dannbreeze • FrayTus • Fwiggle • Gingingomm • Gonfumbine • Gorlixa • Kerdimond • Kreeve • MarRose • MattiFlower • Nagramord • RabIris • SophLiam • Tammel • Tessmeo |