The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

 (Book Review)
This book was located in the classics section of the library, which I guess means it’s a classic, but I had never heard of it before.

What caught my eye was the publishing date: 1872. Which means it is an example of a pre-Tolkien fantasy book.

With the recent movies based on Narnia and Tolkien, something I’ve wondered about lately is where did the modern fantasy novel come from. How did the characters from Norse Mythology come to dominate the genre? Were dwarves, elves and goblins used as stock characters before Tolkien, or did he pioneer this?

Maybe someone with a little more knowledge could shed some light on this for me. I don’t feel like I’m in any better position to answer these questions after reading “The Princess and the Goblin” than before.

“The Princess and the Goblin” is a children’s book. I suspect in the pre-Tolkien era that all fantasy books were children’s books, although again maybe someone else out there knows more about this than me.

On the whole it is a very easy read, but it is very different from today’s children’s books. It is written in that dry Victorian era style that often makes you wonder, “Wow, did children really read this stuff back then?” Much the same as reading “Alice in Wonderland”, “Treasure Island”, or any other children’s books from the same period. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

It’s 241 pages long, although there’s not much of a plot to speak of. Basically the Goblins try to kidnap the princess, and the princess, together with a local miner boy and her fairy grandmother outwit the Goblins. The narrative is filled with half starts, dead ends, and pointless descriptions and excursions, all of which make me suspect the author was trying to stretch this story out just so that it could graduate from a simple fairy tale to novel length.

Like all fairy tales, the characters don’t act like real people, but are rather slaves of the plot (to the extent that there is a plot). They do foolish things to get them selves in danger, and then are capable of extraordinary cunning to get themselves out of danger. The author makes attempts to justify these actions after the fact, but you get the image of a puppet master pulling strings instead of living breathing characters (much like the latest Star Wars movies).

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