Rip Van Winkle

Diedrich Knickerbocker

Also known as Mr. Knickerbocker

An old New Yorker whose papers supposedly contained the tale; he researched Dutch history and is presented as a witness who spoke with Rip.

Peter Stuyvesant

Also known as Peter

The Dutch governor whose administration began around the time the village was founded; Rip’s ancestors served under him, including at the siege of Fort Christina.

Rip Van Winkle

Also known as Rip · Young Rip Van Winkle · Old Rip Van Winkle

A good-natured, idle villager who falls asleep in the Catskills and awakens twenty years later. He is a devoted father and friend to local children, and later lives with his daughter after learning that his wife has died.

Dame Van Winkle

Rip’s sharp-tongued wife, who scolds him for neglecting the farm and drives him from home. She dies during his twenty-year absence after a fit of passion.

Rip Van Winkle (son)

Also known as Rip’s son · Rip Van Winkle’s son and heir

Rip and Dame Van Winkle’s son, who resembles his father in appearance, clothes, and idleness. After Rip returns, he works on the family farm but neglects his duties.

Wolf

Rip’s courageous dog and his companion in domestic misfortune. Wolf disappears while Rip sleeps, and a dog resembling him later snarls at Rip.

Derrick Van Bummel

Also known as Van Bummel

The village schoolmaster, a learned man who reads old newspapers aloud to the inn’s gathering. After the war he becomes a militia general and serves in Congress.

Nicholas Vedder

Also known as Nicholas

The village innkeeper and patriarch whose opinions guide the local gathering, usually expressed through gestures and pipe smoke. He died eighteen years before Rip returns.

Old man at the village inn

An unnamed villager who tells Rip that Nicholas Vedder is dead and reports that Brom Dutcher and Van Bummel went to war.

Brom Dutcher

A villager and one of Rip’s former acquaintances who left for the army at the start of the war and never returned; some say he died at Stony Point, while others say he drowned near Antony’s Nose.

The keg-carrying stranger

Also known as Old man of the glen · Rip’s companion

A short, bearded old man in antique Dutch clothes whom Rip meets in the mountains. He leads Rip to the mysterious ninepins players and serves them liquor.

Ninepins commander

A stout, weather-beaten old gentleman who appears to lead the strange, silent company playing ninepins in the mountain hollow.

Dominie Van Shaick

The village parson, whose house contains an old Flemish painting that Rip remembers when he sees the strange mountain players.

Jonathan Doolittle

Also known as Mr. Doolittle

The proprietor named on the sign of the Union Hotel, which stands where Rip’s old village inn once stood.

The political orator

Also known as Lean, bilious-looking fellow

An unnamed man at the Union Hotel who harangues the crowd about citizens’ rights, elections, Congress, and the Revolution.

The short, busy questioner

An unnamed man at the hotel who pulls Rip aside and asks whether he is a Federalist or a Democrat.

The self-important man in the cocked hat

An unnamed, authoritative-looking man who questions Rip about bringing a gun to the election and tries to restore order when the crowd calls him a Tory and spy.

Judith Gardenier

Rip and Dame Van Winkle’s daughter. She was a child when her father disappeared and, after recognizing him, takes him into her home.

Rip’s grandchild

Also known as Judith Gardenier’s child

A chubby child held by Judith Gardenier who cries at Rip’s appearance.

Judith Gardenier’s husband

Also known as Stout, cheery farmer

Judith’s sturdy, cheerful farmer husband, whom Rip recognizes as one of the village children who used to climb on his back.

Old woman who recognizes Rip

An unnamed elderly villager who confirms Rip’s identity and welcomes him home after twenty years.

Peter Vanderdonk

Also known as Old Peter Vanderdonk

The village’s oldest inhabitant, descended from an early provincial historian and well versed in local traditions. He recognizes Rip and confirms the mountain story.

Hendrick Hudson

Also known as The great Hendrick Hudson

The explorer for whom the river and city are named. Local tradition says he returns to the Catskills every twenty years with his Half-moon crew to keep watch over the river and city.

Peter Vanderdonk’s ancestor

Also known as The historian of that name

An unnamed ancestor of Peter Vanderdonk who wrote one of the earliest accounts of the province and whose records support local tales about the Catskills.

The old squaw spirit

Also known as Mother of the spirits

A spirit in Indigenous tradition who rules the mountain spirits and dwells on the highest Catskill peak. She controls day and night, the moon and stars, and the weather.

The Manitou

Also known as Spirit

A mischievous spirit in Indigenous tradition who haunts the wild Catskills, sometimes taking animal form to lead hunters into danger. One lost hunter who encountered its place of refuge was swept to his death.

The lost hunter

An unnamed Indigenous hunter in a traditional tale who finds the Garden Rock, takes a gourd, and is swept away and killed when a torrent bursts forth.

Emperor Frederick der Rothbart

A German emperor mentioned in the editorial note as the subject of a superstition associated with the Kypphäuser mountain.

The country justice

Also known as Justice

An unnamed local magistrate said to have witnessed a certificate about Rip’s story, signing it with a cross.

The narrator

Also known as I

The storyteller who presents Rip’s tale and says he personally spoke with Rip, whom he found rational and consistent.