# Horvendile — Jurgen character guide

> Horvendile in Jurgen by James Branch Cabell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** young Horvendile, Messire Horvendile, queer Horvendile

**First appearance:** 0033-xxix-concerning-horvendile-s-nonsense

## Snapshot

A whimsical, unsettling former secretary who reappears on Jurgen's travels, smiling strangely and hinting that identity itself may be a matter of opinion.

## Who they are

Horvendile once served Count Emmerick when Jurgen was a lad, and he turns up again on a long beach, unchanged and quietly amused. Where Perion insists Queen Helen is Helen, Horvendile calmly identifies her as Ettarre, and his suggestions about love and constancy unsettle everyone present. His cryptic certainty that the woman loved in vain can never be seen clearly makes him a sly philosophical foil to Jurgen's own shifting self.

## Relationships

### [Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/jurgen)

_friendship_

Horvendile is a mysterious, recurring figure who acts as a guide and companion to Jurgen across different worlds.

### [Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/jurgen)

_friendship_

Horvendile is a mysterious, recurring figure who acts as a guide and companion to Jurgen across different worlds.

### [Jurgen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/jurgen)

_friendship_

Horvendile is a mysterious, recurring figure who acts as a guide and companion to Jurgen across different worlds.

## In the story

### [XXIX: Concerning Horvendile's Nonsense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xxix-concerning-horvendile-s-nonsense)

Old acquaintance of Jurgen; argues that Queen Helen is Ettarre and claims approaching her would make her vanish.

### [XLIX: Of the Compromise with Koshchei](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/chapters/xlix-of-the-compromise-with-koshchei)

Referenced by Jurgen as having implied that Horvendile was Koshchei, adding to Jurgen's uncertainty.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters/horvendile
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jurgen_se/characters