The Portent · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for The Portent by George MacDonald.

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Chapter 1
Dedication
In the dedication, George MacDonald addresses his father's friend, Duncan McColl, and explains his intentions for the story. He defends the romance genre, asserting that a tale can be marvellous yet true to human nature, and apologizes for his treatment of the Celtic legend of the Second Sight, acknowledging his non-Celtic upbringing.
Chapter 2
The Portent
The narrator introduces the story of Duncan Campbell and Lady Alice, framed as a tale of the Highlanders' 'second sight.' The chapter sets the stage for a narrative involving supernatural visions, love, and destiny.
Chapter 3
My Boyhood
The narrator describes his childhood on a small Highland estate in Argyll, where he found solace and joy in the solitary landscape of a bare hill. He recounts his favorite retreat—a cave formed by rocks—where he read and dreamed, and reflects on his unusual sensitivity to sound, which brought him both delight and terror. He connects this sensitivity to a possible inheritance of the 'second sight' from his ancestors, though it manifests in his acute hearing rather than vision.
Chapter 4
II: The Second Hearing
Duncan Campbell, while lying in his rocky retreat, hears the mysterious sound of galloping hoofs with a loose shoe, which terrifies him. He visits his old nurse, who appears to be in a trance and is deeply distressed upon hearing of the sound. She hints at a legend but refuses to explain, promising to tell him before he leaves. The next day, news arrives of a distant relative's death, dashing hopes for a military commission, leaving Duncan to consider a position as a tutor.
Chapter 5
III: My Old Nurse's Story
Duncan Campbell, now nearly nineteen, prepares to leave home to become a tutor for Lord Hilton's sons. Before departing, he visits his old nurse, Margaret, who tells him the legend of a doomed horseman—a wicked younger brother who murdered his elder sibling and was cursed to ride forever. Margaret reveals that Duncan's hearing of the phantom horse's broken shoe portends ill, and she shares a vision of Duncan returning wounded from battle. She also hints that Duncan might be the reincarnation of the murdered brother, destined to find his 'fere' through suffering. After the story, Duncan walks home through a storm, nearly falls into a quarry, and hears a mysterious splash.

Dedication

The Portent

My Boyhood

II: The Second Hearing

III: My Old Nurse's Story