The Descent into the Maelstrom by Edgar Allan Poe mimics popular eyewitness accounts of exotic destinations, which were popular at the time. However, Poe’s story is a complete fabrication.
The Narrator and His Guide
The story begins with the unnamed narrator indicating that he and his party has reached the summit of the mountain. The narrator is a tourist being shown a local natural wonder by a grizzled Norwegian fisherman whose shortness of breath, white hair, and nervous demeanor seem to indicate great age. However, fisherman seeks to remove the idea of advanced age from the narrator’s mind. He claims that less than three years ago, he could have ascended the mountain as easily as one of his sons, however after six hours of the most intense fear, he is now broken in both body and soul.
The two have climbed the heights of Helseggen Mountain so that the narrator may view an immense whirlpool from the height of fifteen hundred feet.