According to my Grandpa Main’s notes (which formed the basis of the first version of the ITTDB), he struggled with what he called the Carol Question as long ago as 1916. Is there actual travel through time in “A Christmas Carol” or not? It’s easy to see why the Carol Question is central to the ITTDB. On the one hand, Scrooge does take a clear trip to the past:
They walked along the road, Scrooge recognising every gate, and post, and tree; until a little market-town appeared in the distance, with its bridge, its church, and winding river. Some shaggy ponies now were seen trotting towards them with boys upon their backs, who called to other boys in country gigs and carts, driven by farmers. All these boys were in great spirits, and shouted to each other, until the broad fields were so full of merry music, that the crisp air laughed to hear it!

Now if that’s not time travel, what is? Ah . . . “Not so fast!” says Ghost!
“These are but shadows of the things that have been,” said the Ghost. “They have no consciousness of us.”

Even Ghost Himself admits there’s no interaction with the past. Observation is permitted, but not interaction. They might as well be watching a movie! In general, if you can’t interact with the past and the past can’t see you, then there’s no actual time travel!

Fair enough, but what about Future Ghost? Isn’t He bringing information from the future to Scrooge? Transfer of information from the future to the past may be boring compared to people-jumping, but it is time travel, so the Carol must be granted membership in the list after all, don’t you think? Ah, not so fast again! At one point, Scrooge asks a pertinent question:
“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”

The answer is critical to whether time travel occurs. The difference between things that May Be and things that Will Be is like the difference between Damon Knight and Doris Day: Both are quite creative, but (as far as I know) there’s only one you go to for a rousing time travel yarn. Future Ghost never clear answers the question, and moreover, Scrooge appears intent on not having the future he sees come true. So, I want to say that Scrooge saw only a prediction or a prophecy or a vision of a possible future—which is, at best, debatable time travel.

Thus speaketh the ITTDB.
—Michael Main
If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.

Tags

(2)

Variants

(7)
  1. A Christmas Carol in Prose: Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens (Chapman and Hall, December 1843).
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
  2. alternative title.
    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (A. and F. Pears, 1912) [Earliest edition we have found with the shorter title. See Goodreads.].
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
  3. audio reading.
    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Recorded Books, 1980) [See Goodreads.].
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Frank Muller
  4. audio reading.
    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Books in Motion, June 1982) [See Goodreads].
    5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . narrated by Gene Eugene
  5. abridged.
    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (HarperCollins, October 2001) [See the ISFDB.].
    6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    Stephen Krensky (abridgment)
  6. alternative title.
    A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens (Wilder Publications, March 2009) [See the ISFDB.].
    7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
  7. alternative title.
    A Christmas Carol: The Original Manuscript Edition by Charles Dickens (W. W. Norton, November 2016) [See the ISFDB.].
    8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens

Translations

(19)
  1. Catalan.
    Cançó de Nadal by Charles Dickens (Publicacions de l’Abadia de montserrat, 1981) [See Goodreads.].
    2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
  2. Croatian.
    Три духа, as by Чарлс Дикенс (Савремена библиотека, 1929) [See Goodreads.].
    3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens as by Чарлс Дикенс
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Kosta Luković
  3. Czech.
    Vánoční koleda by Charles Dickens (Státní nakladatelství dětské knihy, 1958) [See Goodreads].
    4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
  4. Danish.
    Et juleeventyr by Charles Dickens (Hernov, 1981) [See Goodreads].
    5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Eva Hemmer Hansen
  5. Dutch.
    Een kerstlied in proza by Charles Dickens, in Verhalen omnibus, unknown editors (Het Spectrum, 1967) [See the ISFDB.].
    6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Antoon Coolen
  6. Finnish.
    Jouluilta by Charles Dickens, in Kaksi kertomusta (Arvi A. Karisto Oy, 1972) [See Goodreads].
    7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Kari Jalonen
    Werner Anttila
  7. French.
    Chant de Noël: En prose by Charles Dickens (Librairie Henri Gautier, circa 1900) [Nouvelle bibliothèque populaire #434 in a series that appeared from 1877 through the beginning of the 20th century. See the ISFDB.].
    8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
  8. French.
    Un conte de Noël by Charles Dickens (Marabout, 1964) [See the ISFDB.].
    9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Amédée Pichot
  9. German.
    Ein Weihnachtslied by Charles Dickens, in Weihnachtserzählungen (München Winkler, 1957) [See WorldCat. Also see the ISFDB for the story title and an indication that the only translator was Kolb, although we are not entirely certain whether Julius Seybt also did translation.].
    10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Carl Kolb
  10. Hungarian.
    Karácsonyi ének prózában: Vagyis Karácsonyi kísértet-história, as by Dickens Károly (Ifjúsági, 1921) [See Hungarian Wikipedia.].
    11. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens as by Dickens Károly
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Benedek Marcell
  11. Hungarian: alternative title and byline.
    Karácsonyi ének by Ch. Dickens, in Karácsonyi ének / Harangszó (Szépirodalmi, 1956) [See Hungarian Wikipedia.].
    12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens as by Ch. Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Benedek Marcell
  12. Italian.
    Canto di Natale by Charles Dickens (Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli, 1950) [See Goodreads].
    13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Maria Luisa Fehr
  13. Italian.
    Il canto di Natale by Charles Dickens (Carroccio, 1961) [See ]Goodreads.].
    14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
  14. Polish.
    Wigilja Bożego Narodzenia by Charles Dickens (Gebethner i Wolff, 1909) [See Goodreads.].
    15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Cecylia Niewiadomska
  15. Polish.
    Kolęda by Charles Dickens, in Opowieści wigilijne (Czytelnik, 1958) [See Goodreads. The story’s title might be “Opowieści wigilijne” (Christmas Story) rather than “Kolęda,” but we chose the latter because “Opowieści wigilijne” appears to be the title of the collection.].
    16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
  16. Portuguese.
    Cântico de Natal by Charles Dickens, in Cântico de Natal, O Grilo da Lareira (Livros RTP, December 1971) [See Goodreads].
    17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
  17. Portuguese.
    O Cântico de Natal by Charles Dickens (Publicações Dom Quixote, October 2001) [See the ISFDB.].
    18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by João Costa
  18. Portuguese.
    Um Conto de Natal by Charles Dickens (Antofágica, December 2019) [See the ISFDB.].
    19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Leonardo Alves
  19. Spanish.
    Canción de Navidad by Charles Dickens, in Cuentos de Navidad (Barcelona, 1927) [See WorldCat.].
    20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Charles Dickens
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Manuel Vallvé

Derived Works

(14)
  1. Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost by J.C. Buckstone, directed by Walter R. Booth (November 1901).
  2. A Christmas Carol [writer and director unknown] (9 December 1908).
  3. A Christmas Carol [writer unknown], directed by Robert Hartford-Davis (circa November 1960).
  4. Mr. Scrooge by Richard Morris and Ted Wood, directed by Bob Jarvis (21 December 1964).
  5. Scrooge by Leslie Bricusse, directed by Ronald Neame (5 November 1970).
  6. “A Christmas Carol”, abridged by Joan Collins from the original by Charles Dickens (1982).
  7. Mickey’s Christmas Carol by Burny Mattinson et al. , directed by Bunny Mattinson and Richard Rich (20 October 1983).
  8. The Muppet Christmas Carol by Jerry Juhl, directed by Brian Henson (6 December 1992).
  9. Chasing Christmas by Todd Berger, directed by Ron Oliver (4 December 2005).
  10. A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time by Mary Pope Osborne (September 2010).
  11. My Dad Is Scrooge by Keith Cooper, directed by Justin G. Dyck (10 November 2014).
  12. A Christmas Carol by Peter Barnes, directed by David Hugh Jones (5 December 1999).
  13. A Christmas Carol by Steven Knight, directed by Nick Murphy (19 December 2019).
  14. Ghosts of Christmas Always by Zach Hug and Annika Marks[/url, directed by Rich Newey (30 October 2022).