# Patron Julius — The Story of Gösta Berling character guide

> Patron Julius in The Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Julius, Master Julius

**First appearance:** 0027-part-ii-x-patron-julius

## Snapshot

A garrulous Ekeby pensioner who trades in stories and schnapps, forever ready with a tale that is at least half invention and wholly entertaining.

## Who they are

Patron Julius is one of the cavaliers who fill Ekeby with laughter, drinking, and mischief, and his particular currency is narrative: he can turn any evening into an epic with his endless supply of anecdotes. His charm is inseparable from his unreliability, since the truth of his stories matters less to him than the pleasure of telling them. He matters because he gives the novel its oral, fireside texture, the sense that Värmland's legends are being spun in real time by men who have nothing better to do.

## In the story

### [Christmas Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-ii-christmas-eve)

Cries out against the devil's offer to take the major's wife, insisting on taking the estates instead.

### [VIII: Madame Musica](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-viii-madame-musica)

Conducts the pensioners' performance of Haydn's Oxford Symphony.

### [Patron Julius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-x-patron-julius)

The protagonist of the chapter, who dramatically prepares to leave Ekeby but is ultimately drawn back by the pleasures of company and dance.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/patron_julius
- 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