📚 The Princess & the Goblin 📚

This next book is a children's fantasy novel - with some spiritual themes woven throughout. 

'The Princess and the Goblin' by George Macdonald, was originally published in 1872, and the edition I read, with it's beautiful cover photo, was reprinted by Love Good in 2019.  

It took me a day or two to get engrossed in it, but as soon as I got to the random old lady and her pigeons, (chapter 3), I was hooked.

I really enjoyed the change of genre, and sped through this book. Growing up with 7 younger siblings, my reading level seems to have settled at tween/teen fiction, so I love a good fairytale or fantasy story! 😊

Firstly, I appreciated how chapter headings are very matter of fact and they tell you exactly what to expect in the upcoming chapter. For example; 'Why the Princess Has a Story About Her,' 'What the Nurse Thought of it,' or 'A Short Chapter About Curdie.' They're not like that anymore!

I like how MacDonald has written a children's book, but similar to The Lord of the Rings there is so much hidden meaning, which I would need to research more about to fully understand! In the Foreword, G.K. Chesterton says "He wrote nothing empty; but he wrote much that is rather too full, and of which the appreciation depends rather on a sympathy with the substance than on the first sight of the form."

So here's a few things I noticed, without having dived too deeply into the philosophy behind the story.

1. Grandmother 

One of the characters in this novel is a guardian grandmother, with seemingly magical abilities, who is always watching over and protecting the little princess, Irene. 8 year old Irene is so inquisitive and  this leads her to discover her great great grandmother in one of the upstairs rooms of the castle. She often ends up here when she's frightened, and it is described as "...a lovely haven to reach from the darkness and fear through which she had come!"  With her childlike faith and wonder, Irene doesn't doubt the reality of her grandmother or her magical abilities. 

I saw a resemblance between the grandmother and Mama Mary. Mary is also a beautiful lady, always watching over her children, lighting our path, and lovingly picking us up and drying our tears when we lose our way. When writing of the grandmother, MacDonald frequently mentions roses and their scent, and roses are commonly associated with Mary. 

Belief in the divine, in Mary, and in God also depends on the individual, and in this story, the grandmother does not force others to believe in her - they either will or they won't, and if they do it will be at the right moment. She explains to princess Irene; "People must believe what they can, and those who believe more must not be hard upon those who believe less...I did not mean to show myself. Curdie is not yet able to believe some things. Seeing is not believing - it is only seeing."

At one point, grandmother says to Irene "Don't trouble yourself about it. You will find it all come right." And this is exactly what Mama Mary is encouraging us to do at every moment - surrender and trust that something (or Someone) greater than us is in control. 

Irene also comments that Curdie's [a young miner boy's] mother is kind just like her own grandmother. Sometimes we can see the divine at work through the love and care of the people around us too. 

 

2. Princess Irene

As already mentioned, little Irene shows us the importance of having a childlike outlook on life. 

She did not doubt the existence of her magical guardian grandmother (except for very briefly when others told her she was making it all up). Irene trusted her guidance and that as scary as it seemed, her grandmother would never lead her down the wrong path or put her in danger. 

She marvelled at the beauty of nature and loved being outdoors. 

And she always thought the best of everyone, especially Curdie, the young, unimportant miner boy who she was told not to associate with.

We can learn a lot from Irene! In the Afterword, Jimmy Mitchell writes; "We are made to ask big questions with child-like trust, to have a holy curiosity that enables us to think deeply and stand in awe. In a world grown old by sin, we must constantly reclaim our imagination. We must ask the impossible. We must allow wonder to lead to knowledge so knowledge can lead to love." 

3. Goblins

Like any good fairytale, MacDonald addresses the battle between good and evil. 

In the Foreword, G.K. Chesterton points out the significance of the goblins and how they show us that "when the evil things besieging us do appear, they do not appear outside but inside." 

And while the goblins are quite terrifying, I appreciated how they were so easily defeated by a young boy, through rhymes and stamping on their sensitive feet. MacDonald writes; "...but that is the way fear serves us; it always sides with the thing we are afraid of." The Enemy can try and frighten and disturb us in many terrifying ways - but all we need to defeat him is a clear head and courage! He and his underlings aren't quite as terrifying as they may seem at first! 

On a side note, MacDonald's writing actually inspired Tolkien and CS Lewis, and Tolkien's own goblins were influenced by MacDonald's descriptions of goblins.

4. Beauty

MacDonald's descriptions of nature, beautiful spaces and other creative things are captivating. For example, the sun rising after a stormy night; "The next morning the sun rose so bright that Irene said the rain had washed his face and let the light out clean."

There are two moments in particular that stuck out to me - beauty in flowers, and beauty in music. 

Being a child, Irene is able to see and marvel in the beauty of little everyday things. Whenever Irene saw a new flower "she would clap her hands with gladness...touch it tenderly as if it had been a new baby, and, having made its acquaintance, would leave it as happy as she found it...'

This struck me because I find myself doing the same thing! A while ago I planted some flower seeds outside my house, and I was so delighted to see them bloom (for a while there I thought I'd killed them 😅). Like Irene, I find myself stopping whenever I enter the house to have a look for any new flowers. 

Some of my flowers - more to come!

Secondly, MacDonald describes a time when Irene's grandmother sang to her, and while she couldn't remember the song once it was over,"In after years...she would sometimes fancy that snatches of melody rising in her brain must be little phrases and fragments from the air of that song, and the very fancy would make her happier, and abler to do her duty."

I love music and while I was on the Mission Team in Christchurch, I was introduced to spontaneous worship. Think of a normal praise and worship event, but now imagine the worship leaders bursting out into random lyrics that aren't part of the song you were just singing, or keeping silent longer than expected or saying something out of the blue that really touches your heart. I love it when that kind of thing happens, because to me we/the worship leaders are no longer ourselves, but simply vessels or instruments for the Lord to work through, to speak and sing through. So when I read this sentence about 'snatches of melody rising in her brain' I instantly thought of spontaneous worship and the way it connects us with the direct voice of the divine 😍

In Conclusion

I've loved exercising my imagination again as I journeyed with Irene through this beautiful book! It was a reminder to be childlike in my faith, to trust that the Lord who is greater than any opposition I may face is always watching over me, and to recognise the beauty in the everyday.

I'll leave you with this nugget of wisdom from the Afterword;

"Indeed, beauty is an arrow that pierces your heart and elevates your soul. It bypasses your intellect and wounds you, leaving you in a state of wonder that you can't help but trace back to its Source. That longin, that wound, that infinite desire points to God and gives you a foretaste of Heaven. It's a glimpse into the heart of the Father for His children...Our first task to living intentionally is to reclaim our imagination, to put away our screens long enough for beauty to wound us and invite us into the mysteries of life."