# XXII explained — Lavengro

> Chapter companion for Lavengro by George Borrow.

## What happens

The narrator, feeling listless and unsettled, abandons his philological studies and takes up physiognomy, studying the faces of visitors to his law office. An elderly yeoman and his wife give him a mysterious old book bound in wood with iron clasps, which they received from shipwrecked Danish sailors. The narrator's interest in the Danes is rekindled, and he procures a Danish Bible from an Antinomian clergyman to learn the language. After a month of intense study, he is able to read the old book, which turns out to be a collection of ancient Danish ballads about knights and champions.

## Themes in this chapter

### Philology and Learning

The narrator's renewed passion for language study is sparked by the acquisition of a Danish book, leading him to learn Danish through comparative reading of the Bible.

### Adventure and Roving

The narrator's listlessness and desire for travel are stirred by his brother's tales and by reading books of adventure, including lives of lawless men.

## Character check-ins

### Lavengro

The narrator experiences listlessness and a desire for adventure, turns to studying countenances, and receives a mysterious Danish book from an elderly couple.

### The Old Man

An elderly yeoman who, with his wife, gives the narrator a strange book left by shipwrecked Danes, asking only a handshake and a kiss for his wife in return.

### The Reverend Mr. Platitude

An Antinomian clergyman who sells the narrator a Danish Bible and a book by Lodowick Muggleton, helping him learn Danish.

## Key lines

> I now ceased all at once to take much pleasure in the pursuits which formerly interested me, I yawned over Ab Gwilym; even as I now in my mind's eye perceive the reader yawning over the present pages.

I suddenly lost interest in my usual studies, finding even Ab Gwilym tedious—much as I imagine the reader finds this chapter.

_The narrator describes his growing listlessness and boredom with philology._

> It is singular enough that my renewed ardour for philology seems to have been brought about indirectly by my physiognomical researches, in which had I not indulged, the event which I am about to relate, as far as connected with myself, might never have occurred.

Ironically, my renewed passion for language study was sparked by my interest in reading faces—without which I might never have received the Danish book.

_The narrator connects his study of physiognomy to the acquisition of the Danish book._

> I locked up in a closet the volume which had excited my curiosity, saying, 'Out of this closet thou comest not till I deem myself competent to read thee,' and then I sat down in right earnest, comparing every line in the one version with the corresponding one in the other.

I locked away the mysterious book, vowing not to open it until I could read Danish, and then diligently compared the Danish Bible line by line with the English version.

_The narrator's disciplined method of learning Danish through parallel Bible reading._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se/chapters/xxii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lavengro_se/chapters