The hermit, who lives in the woods near Joppa, uses his lasts breaths to tell Frederic a secret from St. Nicholas about where to dig up a giant sword upon which is written a prophecy. Later, when Frederic is close to betraying his quest to follow the prophecy in his desire to marry Matilda, the hermit’s ghost appears to him in Hippolita’s oratory, reminding him to reject his passion and to follow heaven’s command.
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Hermit Character Timeline in The Castle of Otranto
The timeline below shows where the character Hermit appears in The Castle of Otranto. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...he searched for the forest, as his vision directed him, and was led to a hermit on his deathbed. With his dying breaths, the hermit told Frederic about a secret from...
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Chapter 5
...he discovers that it is not Hippolita as he thought, but a skeleton in a hermit’s cowl – it is the ghost of the hermit he met in Joppa. The ghost...
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