Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Der Schimmelreiter
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love atmospheric stories, windswept landscapes and ghostly dread, and for anyone curious about German literature of the nineteenth century.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
The Rider on the White Horse is a novella by the German writer Theodor Storm. It was published in 1888, the year he died, and it is the last work he finished. Storm grew up in Husum on the North Sea coast, and he knew the flat marshland, the dikes and the grey water he writes about. The book is set in the old farming country of North Frisia, where a person's life depends on a long bank of earth between the fields and the sea.
The story comes to you as a tale within a tale. A traveller shelters from a storm at an inn and hears an older story about a dike-reeve, a clever man named Hauke Haien, who tried to build a better sea wall than his neighbours would accept. You get a portrait of a community, a love story, a quarrel between new knowledge and old belief, and a ghost tale that grows out of all three. In about nine minutes you will hear how it is built and what to listen for. First, the stormy night that opens the book.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A stranger meets a ghost on the dikeFree
- 2A boy learns the sea through numbers
- 3Elke helps him rise to power
- 4A new dike meets old fears
- 5Reason, superstition and the cost of pride
- 6A story told in layers, with a ghost
Punkt 1 von 6
A stranger meets a ghost on the dike
The book opens inside a frame. The first narrator remembers reading an account long ago in a magazine, in the house of his great-grandmother. In the account, a traveller rides along a sea dike in the North Frisian marsh on a wild October afternoon. The wind is fierce, the sea is loud, and few people are out.
On the dike he sees a figure coming toward him. It is a gaunt rider on a white horse, wrapped in a dark cloak, and it passes him and is gone. The sight chills him. He hears neither hoofbeats nor the horse's breathing as it passes.
The traveller soon reaches an inn where the dike-reeve and other local men are gathered. They are anxious, because the water is rising and the dike must be watched. When he mentions the rider, the dike-reeve asks an old schoolmaster to tell its story. He offers to tell the story, though he warns that he has his own opinion of how much of it is true.
This opening does a great deal of work. It sets a mood of unease before any character is named, and it tells you the tale is passed from mouth to mouth. It also plants a question that stays with you. Is the story a record of real events, a local legend, or a lesson told by people who still fear the sea?
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Hauke Haien
- A solitary farmer's son with a gift for mathematics, Hauke enters Tede Volkerts's service and earns Elke's trust.
- Elke Volkerts
- Tede Volkerts's capable daughter, Elke recognises Hauke's talent and supports his ambitions with practical advice.
- Tede Volkerts
- The district's ageing dike-reeve, Tede employs Hauke and increasingly relies on his skill with figures.
- Ole Peters
- A proud head farmhand, Ole resents Hauke's abilities and becomes an opponent of his plans.
- Wienke
- Hauke and Elke's frail daughter, Wienke receives devoted affection from both her parents.
- The schoolmaster
- The schoolmaster tells Hauke's history to a traveller at the inn, questioning the supernatural beliefs surrounding it.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 38,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 35 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Der Schimmelreiter
What is The Rider on the White Horse about?
It follows Hauke Haien, a gifted farmer's son on the North Frisian coast who becomes dike-reeve and plans a safer sea dike. He faces envy, superstition and the power of the sea. A schoolmaster tells it as a ghost story.
Is The Rider on the White Horse a true story?
It is fiction, though Storm drew on North Frisian legends and the real history of dike-building on the coast. The novella was published in 1888, the year Storm died.
What does the white horse symbolize?
The white horse ties Hauke to an old local legend of a ghostly horse, and it marks him as a man set apart. Readers also see it as a sign of fate and of the villagers' fear.
What is a dike-reeve?
A dike-reeve, called Deichgraf in German, is the official in charge of a district's sea dikes. He inspects them, orders repairs, organises work and settles disputes among the landowners who share the cost.
Is The Rider on the White Horse hard to read?
It is short and clear. The strong mood and steady plot help you move through.