# Bartholine — Niels Lyhne character guide

> Bartholine in Niels Lyhne by J. P. Jacobsen.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0002-i

## Snapshot

A farmer's daughter who lives on poetry and dreams, refusing the practical Blid world for the noble, beautiful girls of verse.

## Who they are

Bartholine grows up among the robust, earth-bound Blids, doing none of the dairy or kitchen work her family expects and feeling no kinship with their harvests and Christmas parties. She loves poetry with a convert's fervor, believing it holds the true measure of life, and she half-expects to become one of its noble, worshipped heroines. Her longing for a grander, more beautiful existence sets her apart from everyone around her and quietly shapes the atmosphere Niels grows up in.

## Relationships

### [Niels Lyhne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/characters/niels_lyhne)

_family_

Niels's aunt, a stern and religious figure who represents traditional family authority.

## In the story

### [Niels Lyhne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/chapters/niels-lyhne)

Niels's mother, who instills in him a love for poetry and romantic idealism through her fairy tales.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/chapters/i)

A poetic and idealistic woman who marries Young Lyhne, only to become disillusioned by his lack of depth. She gives birth to Niels.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/chapters/ii)

Niels's mother, who instills in him a love for romantic and heroic tales, but struggles with her own disillusionment and the gap between dreams and reality.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/chapters/iii)

Niels's mother, who tries to comfort him during his grief and reads funeral hymns.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/characters/bartholine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/niels_lyhne_se/characters