- French:
- Voyage au centre de la Terre
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth
-
Who wrote A Journey to the Centre of the Earth?
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth was written by Jules Verne, a French author known for laying the groundwork for modern science fiction. Published in 1864, the novel tells the story of Professor Otto Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel, who follow a coded message to a dormant volcano in Iceland. They believe this is the entrance to a passage that leads to the center of the Earth. Verne's work was influenced by the 19th-century scientific theories and public interest in geology, paleontology, and evolution.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is A Journey to the Centre of the Earth about?
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, published in 1864, is a novel by Jules Verne. The story begins in May 1863, in Hamburg, Germany, with teenager Axel Lidenbrock and his uncle, Professor Otto Lidenbrock, a geology professor. After discovering a hidden note in a runic manuscript by Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, the pair, along with eider hunter Hans Bjelke, journey to Iceland to enter a dormant volcano, believed to be a passage to the Earth's center, left by alchemist Arne Saknussemm.
The adventurers face challenges, including getting lost, dwindling water, and a giant storm. They discover a vast lake, extinct species, and a giant man shepherding mastodons. Following Saknussemm's path, they are carried by a volcanic eruption to the surface of Stromboli Island, off the coast of Italy, two months after their descent.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Who are the main characters in the story?
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth features three main characters who embark on an adventure into the Earth's interior.
- Professor Otto Lidenbrock: An impetuous geology professor and the uncle of Axel, he drives the expedition with unwavering determination. In the 1959 film adaptation, the professor's first name is Oliver.
- Axel Lidenbrock: The teenage narrator and Otto's nephew, he is a reluctant participant, often skeptical and pessimistic about the journey's prospects.
- Hans Bjelke: An Icelandic eider hunter, Hans is hired as their guide. He proves to be a reliable and resourceful member of the group.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do the characters attempt to reach the center of the Earth?
In A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, the characters, led by Professor Otto Lidenbrock, attempt to reach the Earth's center by following the path of Arne Saknussemm, an Icelandic alchemist.
Their journey begins in Iceland at the dormant volcano Snaefell, where they locate and descend into the correct crater. They face challenges such as choosing the correct tunnel, finding water, and navigating a vast underground sea. They build a raft to cross this sea and encounter prehistoric creatures and a giant human. Eventually, they find Saknussemm's path blocked by a rock, which they blow up, leading to a torrent that pushes them upward and out through a volcanic eruption on Stromboli Island, off the coast of Italy.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What kinds of dangers or discoveries do they encounter on their journey?
In A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Professor Otto Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans, encounter both wonders and perils.
Their journey begins in Iceland, descending into the dormant volcano Snaefell, where they face challenges such as getting lost and exhausting their water supplies. They discover a subterranean world with giant mushrooms, extinct animal bones, and a vast lake where they witness a battle between an ichthyosaur and a plesiosaur. Electrical storms and a fireball endanger their raft.
They also find a human skull, a fossilized human, and a giant man herding mastodons, before ultimately being ejected back to the surface via a volcanic eruption.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why is A Journey to the Centre of the Earth considered an important adventure or science fiction novel?
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, a novel by Jules Verne, is considered an important science fiction and adventure novel because it combines scientific facts with adventure fiction, which laid the groundwork for science fiction. The novel was enormously popular during a time when theories that the Earth was hollow were being discussed in Europe, and there was public interest in the growing sciences of geology, paleontology, and evolution. The story has been adapted into several films and television programs, including Henry Levin’s 1959 film.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, novel by prolific French author Jules Verne, published in 1864. It is the second book in his popular series Voyages extraordinaires (1863–1910), which contains novels that combine scientific facts with adventure fiction and laid the groundwork for science fiction.
Summary
Axel Lidenbrock, the teenage narrator of the story, lives in Hamburg, Germany, with his uncle, Professor Otto Lidenbrock, an impetuous and single-minded professor of geology. The story, set in May 1863, opens as the latter rushes home to show Axel his latest acquisition: a runic manuscript by the renowned Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson. They find hidden within its pages a separate note which, when translated into Latin and read backward, appears to be the Icelandic alchemist Arne Saknussemm’s record of a passage leading to the centre of the Earth in a crater of Snaefell, a dormant volcano in Iceland. The crater containing the passage, however, is only revealed by shadows at noon during the last few days of June, just a month away. Otto rushes off to the area, dragging a very reluctant, pessimistic, and skeptical Axel with him.
They eventually reach Reykjavík, where they hire the Icelandic eider hunter Hans Bjelke to guide them on the long journey to the volcano. After an arduous climb to Snaefell’s summit, the trio locates the correct crater, and they descend and find the passage. When they reach a fork, Otto chooses the eastern tunnel, but after three days they enter a cavern in which the history of the Carboniferous Period is visible, and Otto realizes that he was mistaken. They return and head down the other tunnel. The adventurers exhaust their water supplies, but Hans locates a subterranean river, and they follow that thereafter. One day Axel takes a wrong turn and gets lost, but eventually an acoustic phenomenon allows him to speak to Otto and Hans, and he is able to rejoin them.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
The trio finds a vast lake or sea, and along the shore they encounter a forest of giant mushrooms and lycophytes. On the ground are mastodon bones. Hans builds a raft of partially petrified wood, and the three men set sail, hoping to cross the sea. They catch fish of extinct species, and, after several days of sailing, they come across an ichthyosaur and a plesiosaur fighting. Later they are caught in an electrical storm that lasts for days. At one point a fireball strikes the raft, but the storm at last drives the vessel ashore. However, the compass indicates that they have returned to the shore from which they had set out.
As Hans repairs the raft, Otto and Axel explore the area. They find shells and bones of long-extinct animals and also discover a human skull. Soon they come across a fossilized human. As they continue, they spot a herd of mastodons, and suddenly they see a giant man shepherding the beasts. They flee back to the shore, where they find a marking indicating Saknussemm’s path. They follow it but find themselves blocked by a large rock, which they blow up with gunpowder, after first returning to the raft to put themselves at a safe distance from the explosion. With the barrier removed, the explorers are carried past it on a torrent for hours, and then they find themselves being pushed upward. Two months after entering the underground world, the men are carried by a volcanic eruption to the surface of Stromboli Island, off the coast of Italy.
Background and adaptations
An understanding of the time in which Verne was writing sheds light on the story line. Theories that the Earth was hollow were bandied about in Europe in the 19th century, and there was also public interest in the growing sciences of geology, paleontology, and evolution at the time. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth was enormously popular, and numerous, mostly bad, English translations appeared quickly. The most notable among the several film and television adaptations was Henry Levin’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959).