# Sintram — The Story of Gösta Berling character guide

> Sintram in The Story of Gösta Berling by Selma Lagerlöf.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** old Sintram, the wicked Sintram, Madame Sintram

**First appearance:** 0006-part-i-ii-christmas-eve

## Snapshot

A malevolent ironmaster who savors others' misfortune, Sintram moves through Värmland's estates like a quiet curse dressed in fine clothes.

## Who they are

Sintram is the ironmaster whose wealth and malice give him a strange authority among the gentry and pensioners of Värmland, and he uses both to stir up trouble wherever boredom or old grudges leave an opening. He takes a craftsman's pleasure in watching proud people fall, and his whispered bargains often cost his victims more than they realize. His meddling shapes the early misfortunes that drive Gösta and the Ekeby household toward their reckoning.

## Relationships

### [Marianne Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/marianne_sinclair)

_rivalry_

Marianne opposes Sintram's malicious schemes and stands as his moral adversary.

### [Melchior Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/melchior_sinclair)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies who scheme against each other, representing opposing forces in the community.

### [Marianne Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/marianne_sinclair)

_rivalry_

Marianne opposes Sintram's malicious schemes and stands as his moral adversary.

### [Melchior Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/melchior_sinclair)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies who scheme against each other, representing opposing forces in the community.

### [Melchior Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/melchior_sinclair)

_rivalry_

Bitter enemies who scheme against each other, representing opposing forces in the community.

### [Marianne Sinclair](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/characters/marianne_sinclair)

_rivalry_

Marianne opposes Sintram's malicious schemes and stands as his moral adversary.

## In the story

### [The Story of Gösta Berling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/the-story-of-g-sta-berling)

A malevolent figure who tempts and manipulates Gösta, representing the darker forces in his life.

### [VII: The Old Vehicles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-vii-the-old-vehicles)

Sintram is noted as having planted hate among the pensioners, contributing to their cruelty.

### [IX: The Auction at Björne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-ix-the-auction-at-bj-rne)

Observes the auction with glee, taunting Gösta about the chaos he has caused.

### [The Young Countess](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-x-the-young-countess)

Present among the crowd observing the count's humiliation.

### [Ghost-Stories](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-i-xi-ghost-stories)

Revealed as a diabolical figure; marries Ulrika Dillner and is associated with supernatural omens.

### [VII: Midsummer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-vii-midsummer)

The wicked ironmaster who, enraged by the Midsummer joy, drives to church in a sleigh dressed in wolfskin, disrupts the service, and later shakes his fist at the landscape, vowing to bring ruin to the land.

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

Framed Lennart for theft; tricks him with sacks of sand instead of grain.

### [Kevenhüller](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_g_sta_berling_se/chapters/part-ii-xx-kevenh-ller)

Not directly mentioned in excerpts, but the wood-nymph's presence at Ekeby is noted; Sintram is a pensioner at Ekeby, though not explicitly in this chapter.

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

Mentioned as one of the guilty parties in the plot against Captain Lennart.

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

The wicked Sintram manipulates Gösta into promising to kill himself, revealing his mad desire to destroy the region.

## Links

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