Baron von Munchausen

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or Baron Münchhausen

  • a fictional character
    • named for the 18th century German aristocrat, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen, who was known for his lively storytelling and exaggerated accounts of his military exploits in the Russo-Turkish War of 1737 and two later campaigns against the Ottoman Empire
  • later, a German writer, Rudolf Erich Raspe, used Münchhausen's name for satirical stories about an adventurer and itinerant exaggerator and liar about ridiculous events
  • Raspe knew the real von Münchhausen, and used some of the real Baron's stories, along with other sources
    • he published the material during the latter years of the Baron's life
    • but used "M-h-s-n" instead of "Münchhausen" to identify the main character of his fiction
  • the stories are in the same genre as Don Quixote, by Cervantes, the great Spanish writer.
    • Don Quixote is a character in some of the stories

Publications of Baron Munchausen

  • "Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia"
    • published in England in 1785
  • "The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
[THE BARON IS SUPPOSED TO RELATE THESE ADVENTURES TO HIS FRIENDS OVER A BOTTLE.]

Some of the adventures of Baron Munchausen

  • the Baron rides a cannonball
  • the Baron travels to the moon
  • the Baron is swallowed by a giant fish
  • the Baron saves himself from drowning by pulling himself out of the water by his own hair
  • the Baron fights a forty-foot crocodile
  • the Barron fixes and rides his horse after it is cut in half

Illustrations of Baron Munchausen