# Mein Herr — Sylvie and Bruno character guide

> Mein Herr in Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** VII Mein Herr

**First appearance:** 0033-volume-ii-vii-mein-herr

## Snapshot

A courteous foreign professor whose tales of his own topsy-turvy world quietly unsettle every assumption his listeners hold about sense, space, and arithmetic.

## Who they are

Mein Herr moves through the story as an affable outsider whose polite manners barely contain the strangeness of the world he describes, where time, money, and distance obey no familiar rules. His easy authority on impossible things makes him both charming and faintly disorienting to those around him. He matters because his anecdotes plant the book's central question early: whether the logic of Fairyland is madness or simply a different arithmetic.

## In the story

### [VII: Mein Herr](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/chapters/volume-ii-vii-mein-herr)

A German visitor who resembles the Professor; he explains Fortunatus's Purse, time storage, and a gravity-powered railway.

### [IX: The Farewell-Party](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/chapters/volume-ii-ix-the-farewell-party)

Describes fantastical dinner innovations from his country, including moving pictures, wild creatures, and revolving humorists.

### [XI: The Man in the Moon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/chapters/volume-ii-xi-the-man-in-the-moon)

Mein Herr is the central figure of the chapter, sharing fantastical stories about his homeland and a tiny planet, and reflecting on age and education.

### [Fairy-Music](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/chapters/volume-ii-xii-fairy-music)

Engages the narrator in a discussion about education, obscure teaching, and the folly of premature examinations.

### [XIII: What Tottles Meant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/chapters/volume-ii-xiii-what-tottles-meant)

Mein Herr sings the poem about Tottles, reads the African egg legend, explains the Theory of Political Dichotomy, and describes the Outlandish university examination system.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/characters/mein_herr
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sylvie_and_bruno_se/characters