Lantur is a minor antagonist in the Redwall book Marlfox by Brian Jacques. She is the youngest daughter of Marlfox Queen Silth, whom Lantur plans to usurp.
Biography[]
Harassing Queen Silth[]
Lantur was the only Marlfox left behind to protect her ill mother, as the others, led by Mokkan, went off to plunder riches. Lantur hated her mother and all her brothers and sisters, and so she conspired to kill her mother. Along with Wilce's help, she concocted a plan involving the local urban legend of a ghostly white badger lord (in reality Urthwhyte) who was believed to haunt the Island. During regular tours of the palace, Silth would inspect the royal guard, and whenever any of them failed to impress Her Majesty, Silth had Lantur throw the rats into the Lake where pike would devour them.
Lantur had concocted a simple white bedsheet daubed with red paint and hovered it round mimicking a ghost. Lantur pressed Wilce into torturing her mother to death and eventually this plan succeeded and Silth began to snap. Seeing that she was almost ready, Lantur pretended to give a "toast" to the High Queen which failed to impress Silth - seeing that Silth was as devious as her offspring and suspected treachery, she ordered Lantur to drink from her pewter goblet, believing this to be the poisoned one. However, although Lantur put on a good show of fright and acted accordingly, she jokingly revealed that Queen Silth's goblet had the poison in all along, and Queen Silth died in shock.
Rise to Power[]
Now with her mother out of the way, Lantur plotted to kill any of her surviving siblings if they returned. She got Ullig and Wilce on her side and rounded up the royal guard water rats into her service now. However, her reign was triumphant, yet brief.
As Lantur got on with her reign, ensuring a tyrannical rule of the Castle Marl, Mokkan came back having abandoned his siblings in Redwall. Mokkan presented Lantur the Tapestry of Martin the Warrior as her first royal gift. Feigning surprise and delight that his sister was Queen, Lantur could only assume that this was fate going her way.
Betrayal and Death[]
As Lantur was demonstrating the Tapestry to her court, Mokkan made a victory speech and then proceeded to club his sister from behind. She lost her balance and fell into the Lake, where she struggled, but the pike devoured her and left Mokkan as High King of Castle Marl.
Trivia[]
- Lantur's character and demise is very similar to that of Helga Brandt from You Only Live Twice.
- Its unknown why Silth, as suspicious as she was, would assume Lantur poisoned the pewter goblet when Lantur says "Only the best for your Majesty." If Silth had any wits, she would have avoided the golden goblet like the plague.
- Lantur is very similar to Scar given that she kills one of her own family to become a monarch. However, Scar kills his noble brother and Lantur kills her own wicked mother.
