The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen · Chapter
Chapter XI explained
The Baron recounts the history of his sling, tracing its lineage back to David and Uriah's wife, and tells stories of his ancestors, including an encounter with Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth, as well as his father's journey across the sea
What happens
The Baron recounts the history of his sling, tracing its lineage back to David and Uriah's wife, and tells stories of his ancestors, including an encounter with Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth, as well as his father's journey across the sea on a seahorse.
Themes in this chapter
Veracity and Lying
The Baron insists on the sacredness of facts while recounting fantastical ancestral tales.
The Marvelous and the Absurd
The sling's divine origin, the seahorse ride, and Queen Elizabeth's abstinence are absurdly marvelous.
Intertextuality and Literary Parody
The chapter parodies biblical stories (David and Goliath) and references Shakespeare.
Characters to notice
- Baron Munchausen
Narrates the history of his sling and his ancestry.
- David
Mentioned as an ancestor of the Baron through Uriah's wife.
- Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth is mentioned as being on the throne and granting Shakespeare's freedom.
- Hieronynimus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen
The Baron's father, who rode a seahorse from England to Holland.
Key passages
“You wish (I can see by your countenances) I would inform you how I became possessed of such a treasure as the sling just mentioned.”
The Baron notices the audience's curiosity about the sling's origin.
The Baron directly addresses his listeners.
“I am a descendant of the wife of Uriah, whom we all know David was intimate with; she had several children by his majesty; they quarrelled once upon a matter of the first consequence, viz., the spot where Noah’s ark was built, and where it rested after the flood.”
The Baron claims descent from Bathsheba and King David, who argued about Noah's ark.
The Baron fabricates a biblical lineage.
“Queen Elizabeth was then on the throne, but grown so indolent, that every trifling matter was a trouble to her; dressing, undressing, eating, drinking, and some other offices which shall be nameless, made life a burden to her; all these things he enabled her to do without, or by a deputy!”
Queen Elizabeth became so lazy that the Baron's ancestor helped her avoid basic bodily functions.
A satirical portrayal of Queen Elizabeth.
“My father, who was the immediate possessor of this sling before me, told me the following anecdote:— He was walking by the seashore at Harwich, with this sling in his pocket; before his paces had covered a mile he was attacked by a fierce animal called a seahorse, open-mouthed, who ran at him with great fury; he hesitated a moment, then took out his sling, retreated back about a hundred yards, stooped for a couple of pebbles, of which there were plenty under his feet, and slung them both so dexterously at the animal, that each stone put out an eye, and lodged in the cavities which their removal had occasioned.”
The Baron's father was attacked by a seahorse, blinded it with two stones from the sling, then rode it across the sea.
A fantastical tale of the sling's power.