The most striking aspect of the story is its use of narrator. The chief speaker is the “old gentleman with the haunted head,” who tells the story to a group of other men. Among them is the “inquisitive gentleman” who questions the truth of the story after the narrator has finished. The narrator then replies that he heard it from the most reliable source, Wolfgang himself. Thus, Irving gives the reader several possible explanations for the events in the story and also imparts a fascinating ambiguity to the tale.