The lyrics of the Epistles describe a gallery of fictional and semi-fictional characters who take part in more or less real events in and around the Stockholm of Bellman's time.
This cast includes some 44 named personages, many of whom appear only once or twice.
Some, like the principal characters Jean Fredman and Ulla Winblad, are based on real people, and in Fredman's case his real name was used.
The Fredman of the Epistles is an alcoholic former watchmaker, and is the central character and fictional narrator.
He is thus supposedly present in all the Epistles, but is only named in a few of them.
The backdrop of many of the Epistles, Stockholm's taverns, is also frequented by musicians including Christian Wingmark on flute, Father Berg on various instruments, Father Movitz, and the dance master Corporal Mollberg.

A particular group is the Order of Bacchus (Bacchi Orden): to become a member, one must be seen lying in a drunken stupor in a Stockholm gutter at least twice.
Among the more minor characters is the brandy-distiller Lundholm.
Another is Norström, Ulla Winblad's husband; the real Eric Nordström did in fact marry the "real Ulla Winblad", Maria Kristina Kiellström, a silk-spinner and fallen woman made pregnant by a passing nobleman.
In the Epistles, Ulla Winblad is the chief of the "nymphs".
She is half goddess, half prostitute, chief among the demimonde characters of the Epistles.
The lyrics of the Epistles describe a gallery of fictional and semi-fictional characters who take part in more or less real events in and around the Stockholm of Bellman's time. This cast includes some 44 named personages, many of whom appear only once or twice. Some, like the principal characters Jean Fredman and Ulla Winblad, are based on real people, and in Fredman's case his real name was used. The Fredman of the Epistles is an alcoholic former watchmaker, and is the central character and fictional narrator. He is thus supposedly present in all the Epistles, but is only named in a few of them. The backdrop of many of the Epistles, Stockholm's taverns, is also frequented by musicians including Christian Wingmark on flute, Father Berg on various instruments, Father Movitz, and the dance master Corporal Mollberg.
A particular group is the Order of Bacchus (Bacchi Orden): to become a member, one must be seen lying in a drunken stupor in a Stockholm gutter at least twice. Among the more minor characters is the brandy-distiller Lundholm. Another is Norström, Ulla Winblad's husband; the real Eric Nordström did in fact marry the "real Ulla Winblad", Maria Kristina Kiellström, a silk-spinner and fallen woman made pregnant by a passing nobleman. In the Epistles, Ulla Winblad is the chief of the "nymphs". She is half goddess, half prostitute, chief among the demimonde characters of the Epistles.
Fredmans epistlar