need scarcely

Hi,

This sentence is from "Treasure Island":
How that personage haunted my dreams I need scarcely tell you...I would see him in a thousand forms...

What does “need scarcely" mean?

Thank you.

How that personage haunted my dreams I need scarcely tell you is an inversion. If we use the usual word order:

I need scarcely tell you how that personage haunted my dreams

I need scarcely tell you = I need hardly tell you -> it is hardly necessary for me to tell you - it is unlikely that it is necessary for me to tell you -> it is almost certain that, even if I did not tell you, you would think that that person haunted my dreams.

Compare "I need not tell you how that personage haunted my dreams"