# The Tortoise — Fifty-One Tales character guide

> The Tortoise in Fifty-One Tales by Lord Dunsany.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** damned Tortoise

**First appearance:** 0025-the-true-history-of-the-hare-and-the-tortoise

## Snapshot

The plodding winner of the famous race, whose version of victory is stranger and more fragile than the fable everyone remembers.

## Who they are

In the beasts' long quarrel over whether the Hare or the Tortoise ran swifter, the Tortoise alone welcomed the decisive contest and never shirked it. When the race was run and the Hare lay sleeping, the Tortoise crossed the line and told his friends it was 'a glorious victory for the forces of swiftness'—a phrase the snails still repeat. But when the forest-fire came by night, the beasts chose the Tortoise as their messenger to warn the woods, and his slowness becomes the tale's quiet, terrible hinge.

## Relationships

### [The Hare](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/characters/the_hare)

_rivalry_

The Hare and Tortoise are classic competitors, with the Hare's arrogance clashing against the Tortoise's steady determination.

### [Notoriety](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/characters/notoriety)

_social_

Notoriety occasionally attaches to the Tortoise, though the Tortoise's steady nature resists scandal.

### [The Hare](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/characters/the_hare)

_rivalry_

The Hare and Tortoise are classic competitors, with the Hare's arrogance clashing against the Tortoise's steady determination.

## In the story

### [The True History of the Hare and the Tortoise](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/chapters/the-true-history-of-the-hare-and-the-tortoise)

Persistent and steady, he wins the race and later is sent to warn the forest beasts of a fire.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/characters/the_tortoise
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/fifty_one_tales_se/characters