Daddy Daae

Daddy Daae, the father of Christine Daae, is a peasant fiddler from a small market-town near Upsala, Sweden, whose life and death cast a long shadow over the entire novel. Though he appears only in memories and flashbacks, his musical genius, his folk legends, and especially his dying promise to send the Angel of Music to his daughter become the very engine of the plot, explaining Christine's extraordinary voice, her vulnerability to Erik's deception, and the tragic love triangle that follows.

Identity and Background

Daddy Daae was a peasant who lived with his family in a small market-town not far from Upsala, digging the earth during the week and singing in the choir on Sundays. He was a great musician, perhaps without knowing it, and no fiddler throughout Scandinavia could play as he did. His reputation was widespread, and he was always invited to set couples dancing at weddings and other festivals. He taught his daughter the musical alphabet before she knew how to read, and after his wife died when Christine was entering her sixth year, he cared only for his daughter and his music. He sold his patch of ground and went to Upsala in search of fame and fortune, but found only poverty.

Life and Musical Legacy

Returning to the countryside, Daddy Daae wandered from fair to fair, strumming his Scandinavian melodies while his child, who never left his side, listened in ecstasy or sang to his playing. At Ljimby Fair, Professor Valerius heard them and took them to Gothenburg, maintaining that the father was the first violinist in the world and that the daughter had the making of a great artist. When the Valeriuses settled in France, they took Daae and Christine with them. In Paris, Daae pined with homesickness, never going out of doors, living in a dream kept up with his violin. For hours he would remain locked in his bedroom with his daughter, fiddling and singing very softly, while Mamma Valerius listened behind the door and wiped away a tear. He recovered his strength only in the summers at Perros-Guirec, where the sea was the same color as in his own country, and he would play his saddest tunes on the beach, pretending the sea stopped its roaring to listen.

The Angel of Music and the Dying Promise

Daddy Daae's most enduring legacy was his legend of the Angel of Music, which played a part in all his tales. He maintained that every great musician, every great artist, receives a visit from the Angel at least once in his life. Sometimes the Angel leans over their cradle, as happened to Little Lotte, creating child prodigies; sometimes he comes later, when children are sad and disheartened, and those who hear him produce sounds that put all other human sounds to shame. When little Christine asked her father if he had heard the Angel, Daddy Daae shook his head sadly, but his eyes lit up as he said, "You will hear him one day, my child! When I am in Heaven, I will send him to you!" This promise, made shortly before his death, becomes the foundation of Christine's belief and Erik's later deception.

Death and Posthumous Influence

Daddy Daae died after the family's return to Perros, and Christine seemed to lose, with him, her voice, her soul, and her genius. She retained just enough to enter the Conservatoire, where she did not distinguish herself. The anniversary of his death draws Christine back to Perros, where she writes to Raoul, and where Erik, impersonating the Angel of Music, plays The Resurrection of Lazarus on Daae's violin at his grave. Raoul, hearing the music, remembers it as the air old Daae used to play in his hours of melancholy and faith. The fiddler's tomb becomes a site of pilgrimage and supernatural encounter, and his violin, his legends, and his promise continue to haunt the narrative long after his death, ultimately leading to Christine's abduction and the revelation of Erik's tragic love.