A Journey to the Centre of the Earth

Harry Lawson

Also known as Harry · Henry · my dear boy

The first-person narrator, Professor Von Hardwigg’s nephew and student, and Gretchen’s affianced husband. He identifies that the compass needle has reversed after the storm on the Central Sea magnetized the raft, solving the mystery of their mistaken direction; he later marries Gretchen.

Professor Von Hardwigg

Also known as Professor Hardwigg · my uncle · Uncle Hardwigg · the Professor

Harry’s uncle, a learned and impatient professor who leads the expedition into the Earth’s interior. He returns safely to Hamburg, deposits Saknussemm’s document in the town archives, and gains fame for the expedition; Harry eventually explains that the storm’s ball of fire magnetized their raft and reversed the compass.

Hans Bjelke

Also known as Hans · the Icelander · the guide · the hunter · our brave eider-duck hunter

An Icelandic eider-duck hunter and experienced guide on the expedition. After returning safely with Harry and Professor Hardwigg, he refuses their repayment out of gratitude and returns to Reykjavik, longing for his Icelandic home.

Gretchen

Also known as my pretty Virland girl

Professor Hardwigg’s god-daughter, Harry’s cousin and affianced wife, and the Professor’s daughter. She welcomes Harry’s return with joy and later becomes his wife, taking her place in the household as both niece and wife.

Martha

A member of the household who remains in Hamburg. Her indiscretion spreads news of Professor Hardwigg’s departure for the Earth’s interior, and she rejoices at Harry’s safe return.

Unnamed Strombolite fishermen

Also known as the Strombolite fishermen

Fishermen on Stromboli who receive the travelers as shipwreck survivors and provide them with clothes and food.

Unnamed boatmen

Also known as the boatmen

The people who take the travelers from Stromboli to Messina in a small vessel.

Mr. Barnum

Also known as Barnum

A man who offers Professor Hardwigg a large sum to exhibit himself in the United States after the expedition makes him famous; he does not appear directly.

Unnamed traveler

Also known as a traveler

A traveler who informs Harry that Professor Hardwigg can be seen in waxwork at Madame Tussaud’s; the traveler is not identified further.

Unnamed learned opponents of Professor Hardwigg

Also known as the learned of every country · envious enemies

Learned people who oppose Professor Hardwigg’s theories about central heat after his expedition gains public attention. They are mentioned collectively, without individual identities.

Arne Saknussemm

Also known as Saknussemm

A celebrated Icelandic naturalist, alchemist, scholar, and traveler of the sixteenth century. Harry finds a dagger identified as the instrument Saknussemm used to carve his initials into a rock tablet, marking a passage along the route the expedition seeks to follow.

Unnamed child shepherd

Also known as the little child · the rickety little shepherd

A poorly dressed, frightened child encountered among the olive trees after the travelers emerge on Stromboli. He names the island before escaping from Hans.

Unnamed Ape Gigans

Also known as Ape Gigans · the antediluvian gorilla · the huge ape

A gigantic gorilla-like creature in Harry’s nightmare, where it fights a shark-crocodile and pursues him through a cave. Harry wakes before the imagined encounter can be confirmed as real.

Unnamed shark-crocodile

Also known as great shark-crocodile · shark crocodile

A huge crocodile-bodied, shark-mouthed monster that appears in Harry’s nightmare and threatens the stranded travelers. It fights the Ape Gigans; the encounter is revealed to be a dream.

Lidenbrock

A person whose theory of the Earth’s interior is mentioned alongside Sir Humphry Davy’s. The passage gives no further identifying information.

Unnamed Ichthyosaurus

Also known as great fish lizard · whale of the saurian race · the first of these hideous monsters

A gigantic prehistoric marine reptile that fights the Plesiosaurus beside the raft. It survives the battle and disappears beneath the waves.

Unnamed Plesiosaurus

Also known as sea crocodile · the other · the great Plesiosaurus · the terrible monster

A gigantic prehistoric marine reptile with a long neck and a hard shell, which battles the Ichthyosaurus. It is mortally wounded and dies on the sea’s surface.

Unnamed giant herder

Also known as a human being · a man · antediluvian shepherd · keeper of gigantic cattle

A humanlike being more than twelve feet tall, with a large head and a mane of matted hair, seen tending a herd of living mastodons in the underground forest. Harry later doubts that it was truly a human being.

Unnamed fossil human

Also known as human head · fossil man · man of the Quaternary period · fossilized body

A remarkably preserved human body found in the underground plain of bones, accompanied by stone tools and carved flints. Professor Hardwigg identifies it as a Caucasian man of the Quaternary period.

Unnamed navigators at Moulin-Quignon

Also known as some navigators

Workers under M. Boucher de Perthes who uncovered a human jawbone at the Moulin-Quignon quarries in 1863. Their discovery became central to a scientific debate about ancient humans.

M. Boucher de Perthes

The man directing the workers who uncovered a human jawbone at Moulin-Quignon in 1863. The discovery prompted a major debate about the antiquity of humanity; he does not appear directly.

M. Milne-Edwards

Also known as Milne-Edwards · Mr. Milne-Edwards

A learned scientist who supported the authenticity of the Moulin-Quignon jawbone. Professor Hardwigg wishes he were present to see the fossil human body; he does not appear directly.

M. De Quatrefages

Also known as De Quatrefages · Mr. De Quatrefages

A learned scientist who supported the authenticity of the Moulin-Quignon jawbone. Professor Hardwigg wishes he were present to see the fossil human body; he does not appear directly.

Unnamed British geologists

Also known as the eminent geologists of the United Kingdom · Messrs. Falconer, Buck, Carpenter, and others

A group of British geologists who accepted the Moulin-Quignon human remains as authentic. The passage names Falconer, Buck, and Carpenter among them; they do not appear directly.

M. Elie de Beaumont

Also known as Elie de Beaumont

A geologist who opposed the view that the Moulin-Quignon remains belonged to the ancient diluvium and rejected the idea that humans lived alongside Quaternary animals. He does not appear directly.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

Also known as Blumenbach

A naturalist whom Professor Hardwigg says recognized mammoth remains among the bones he discusses. He does not appear directly.

M. Lartet

Also known as Lartet

A scientist who discovered a monkeylike animal in the fossil deposits at Sansan, cited by Harry as a possible explanation for the gigantic being he saw. He does not appear directly.

Unnamed mastodons

Also known as a whole herd of mastodons · these enormous elephants · living mastodons

A herd of gigantic, living prehistoric animals seen feeding in the underground forest. A gigantic humanlike herder appears to tend them.

Unnamed crew of Columbus

Also known as his exhausted, frightened men

The sailors whom Christopher Columbus persuaded to continue sailing in search of land. They are mentioned indirectly as an example of his leadership.

M. Fridriksson

A professor of natural science in Reykjavik and a knowledgeable host to Hardwigg and Harry. Harry recalls him while thinking of the world above ground.

Sir Humphry Davy

A renowned scientific correspondent of Professor Hardwigg, known to Harry through letters exchanged with his uncle. Harry and the Professor discuss Davy’s theory of the Earth’s interior in light of their discoveries.

Unnamed English captain

Also known as the English captain · the old fellow

A captain whose theory describes the Earth as a hollow sphere with luminous air inside and two orbiting stars, Pluto and Proserpine. Harry recalls the theory while viewing the Central Sea; the captain does not appear directly.

Alexander von Humboldt

Also known as Humboldt

A learned explorer whom Harry mentions as having visited the great grotto of Guachara in Colombia. He does not appear directly.

Horace

Also known as the Latin poet Horace

The Latin poet whose verse Professor Hardwigg recalls while admiring the Central Sea. He does not appear directly.

Unnamed discoverer of the magnetic pole

Also known as Sir James Ross

The explorer whom Professor Hardwigg credits with discovering the magnetic pole near the seventy-third degree of latitude. He does not appear directly.

Leander

The mythological figure whose swim across the Hellespont Professor Hardwigg invokes when explaining how they might cross the underground sea. He does not appear directly.

William Shakespeare

Also known as Shakespeare · the great, the immortal Shakespeare

The playwright whom Professor Hardwigg quotes while questioning whether their route follows Saknussemm’s. He does not appear directly.

Georges Cuvier

Also known as Cuvier · the immortal Cuvier

The naturalist whom Harry credits with reconstructing extinct birds from remains. He does not appear directly.

Unnamed ancient sea monster

Also known as monster of unknown species · owner of such molars

An unseen, possibly prehistoric creature in the Central Sea, inferred from tooth marks that nearly crush a crowbar. Harry fears it may be a huge, crocodile-like saurian.

Unnamed blind Pterychtis

Also known as the fish · a living specimen of the order

A blind prehistoric fish caught by Hans in the Central Sea. The Professor identifies it as a Pterychtis of the Cephalaspides family.

Unnamed blind Dipterides

Also known as other fish belonging to another supposed extinct family

Blind prehistoric fish caught by Hans alongside the Pterychtis. The Professor cannot classify them more exactly.

Unnamed antediluvian creatures

Also known as the mammifers of early days · the antediluvian creatures

Extinct prehistoric animals Harry imagines roaming the Central Sea’s shores, including ancient mammals, reptiles, and giant birds. They are part of his feverish waking dream and are not actually seen in this passage.

Unnamed medieval sculptors and builders

Also known as the great artistic sculptors and builders of the Middle Ages

A collective of historical craftspeople mentioned by Harry as people who could have found inspiration in the underground gallery’s arches. They do not appear directly.

Unnamed Roman builders

Also known as the early Romans

Historical builders mentioned in connection with the square arches supporting the underground gallery’s roof. They do not appear directly.

Christopher Columbus

The explorer cited by Professor Hardwigg as an example of someone who persuaded his exhausted, frightened men to continue for three days in hope of reaching land. He does not appear directly.

Unnamed ancient miners

Also known as miners

Miners mentioned in Harry’s description of the fire-damp hazard and its deadly explosions. They do not appear directly.

Unnamed lost expedition members

Also known as our little band · my companions

The three members of the underground expedition are Harry, Professor Hardwigg, and Hans; this collective reference does not identify any additional individuals.

Old French cook

Also known as old cook · cook · housekeeper

The household’s French cook and housekeeper, who remains at home with Gretchen. Harry longs for her omelettes while deep inside the crater.

Hamlet

Also known as the heroic prince of Denmark

The prince whom Harry imagines might approve of their journey as the schooner passes Elsinore; he does not appear directly.

Unnamed ferryman

Also known as one of the boatmen

One of two boatmen who ferry the expedition and its horses across the Hvalfjord after the tide turns.

Unnamed peasant host

Also known as the host · master of the house

A hospitable Icelandic peasant who welcomes Hardwigg, Harry, and Hans into his home at Gardar and shares a meal with them.

Unnamed peasant hostess

Also known as the hostess · hostess

The wife of the peasant host at Gardar and mother of nineteen children. She welcomes the travelers and offers to help them remove their clothes before bed.

Unnamed child of the peasant family

Also known as one of the children

One of the nineteen children in the peasant family at Gardar; the children crowd around the travelers and greet them.

Unnamed leper

Also known as one of the lepers

An afflicted person seen by the travelers on the road in Iceland. The narrator describes the person as fleeing from them rather than begging.

Unnamed Rector of Stapi

Also known as the Rector · Kyrkoherde

The clergyman at Stapi, who also works as a blacksmith, fisherman, hunter, and carpenter. He gives the travelers an inhospitable room and charges them a large bill before their departure.

Unnamed tall woman of the Stapi presbytery

Also known as the Rector’s huge wife or servant · huge wife or servant

A woman at the Stapi presbytery, described as nearly six feet tall. The narrator is unsure whether she is the Rector’s wife or servant.

Unnamed Icelandic porter

Also known as one of the Icelandic porters

One of the three Icelanders hired at Stapi to carry provisions and equipment up Mount Sneffels; a parcel of rope slips from this porter during the descent into the crater.

Unnamed Icelandic guide

Also known as one of the Icelanders

One of the three Icelanders hired to carry supplies up Mount Sneffels. He is the first of them to speak when the party sees the dangerous mistour.

Snorre Tarleson

Also known as Snorre

The Icelandic author of the Heims-Kringla, a book that belongs to Professor Hardwigg. The narrator identifies him as a twelfth-century writer.

Captain Franklin

A renowned correspondent of Professor Hardwigg, known to Harry through his uncle’s letters.

Augustus Peterman

Professor Hardwigg’s friend in Leipzig, who sent him a map of Iceland.

Baron Trampe

The governor of Iceland, who receives Hardwigg and Harry in Reykjavik and offers assistance.

M. Pictursson

A coadjutor to the bishop whom Hardwigg and Harry hope to meet; he is away on an episcopal visit to the northern part of the diocese.

M. Finsen

The mayor of Reykjavik, who receives Hardwigg and Harry.

M. Bjarne

Also known as Captain Bjarne · the skipper

Captain of the Danish schooner Valkyrie, which carries Hardwigg and Harry from Copenhagen to Iceland.

Mr. Thompson

A man who provides Hardwigg and Harry with letters of introduction to Iceland’s governor, the bishop’s coadjutor, and Reykjavik’s mayor.

Doctor Hyaltalin

A prominent Icelandic physician who attends a dinner reception with Hardwigg and Harry.

Unnamed verger

Also known as verger

A church official who gives Hardwigg and Harry the key to ascend the tower of Vor-Frelser’s-Kirk.

Unnamed Danish consul

Also known as the Danish consul

A consul whose letters of introduction are carried by Hardwigg and Harry to help secure an introduction to Iceland’s governor.