# Captain Lennart — The Story of Gösta Berling character guide

> Captain Lennart in The Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lennart, the good Captain Lennart, Dear Lennart

**First appearance:** 0029-part-ii-xii-god-s-wayfarer

## Snapshot

A good-natured captain whose kindness and honesty make him beloved, he becomes the innocent victim of Gösta Berling's worst moment.

## Who they are

Captain Lennart is the rare figure in Värmland who seems to have no malice in him—generous, upright, and trusted by rich and poor alike. His goodness is precisely what makes him vulnerable when Gösta Berling, in a moment of recklessness, causes his ruin and exile. His fate hangs over Gösta's conscience through the middle of the novel, and his return tests whether the pensioners' world of charm and mischief can survive contact with real moral consequence.

## In the story

### [God's Wayfarer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xii-god-s-wayfarer)

Returns from prison, becomes God's wayfarer after helping a dying man; confronts Sintram's deception.

### [XV: Death, the Deliverer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xv-death-the-deliverer)

Ferdinand's father, leads his wife in the funeral procession, but is not named directly; referred to as 'the captain' and 'her husband'.

### [Broby Fair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xxi-broby-fair)

Mortally wounded after sacrificing himself to save women and children; brought home to Helgesäter, where he dies reconciled with his wife.

### [The Forest Cottage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xxii-the-forest-cottage)

Recently deceased; his coffin is the object of Sintram's desecration and the catalyst for Gösta's oath.

### [Margareta Celsing](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xxiii-margareta-celsing)

Mentioned as a model of goodness whom the people seek to emulate in the transformed district.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/captain_lennart
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters