The Work
The Princess and the Goblin was published in 1872 by Strahan and Co., London, first appearing serially in Good Words for the Young (1870-1871) with illustrations by Arthur Hughes. It is the second of MacDonald's great children's fantasies and the one that most directly presents his theology of providence, faith, and the nature of trust.
The novel tells the story of Princess Irene, who lives in a castle on a mountain full of goblins. In the castle's attic she discovers a mysterious great-great-grandmother - an ageless, beautiful woman who spins thread and keeps a fire of roses. The grandmother gives Irene a thread attached to a ring, invisible to most eyes, which Irene can follow through danger to safety. Curdie, a young miner's son who becomes Irene's friend and protector, does not at first believe in the grandmother and cannot see the thread.
The novel's plot involves Curdie's discovery of the goblins' plan to tunnel under the castle and flood it, and his rescue of the princess. The grandmother's thread leads Irene through danger and through apparent absurdity - it leads her to places that seem impossible destinations - and her obedient trust in the invisible thread, even when it makes no rational sense, is the novel's central spiritual lesson.
Biblical Engagement
Psalm 91:11 ('For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways') is the primary reference for the grandmother's role as a figure of angelic or divine providence. She is described as beautiful and young beyond ordinary time, as weaving great webs of thread, as surrounded by doves, and as capable of being seen only by those who truly believe in her - a figure of the divine presence that only faith can perceive.
John 14:26 ('But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you') is the Johannine context for the grandmother's function: she is a figure of the Paraclete - the one who comes alongside, who reminds, who leads in ways that the rational mind cannot anticipate. Her thread is the prompting of the Spirit; following it requires the abandonment of one's own navigation.
Hebrews 11:1 ('Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen') is the epistemological foundation of the novel's central lesson. Irene follows an invisible thread to a destination she cannot foresee, guided by a grandmother whom Curdie cannot see. This is precisely the Hebrews definition of faith: the substance (Greek: hypostasis, foundation, assurance) of things hoped for; the evidence (elenchos, proof, demonstration) of things not seen. MacDonald gives Hebrews 11:1 its perfect children's story embodiment.
Psalm 25:9 ('The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way') is the implicit theological logic: the thread leads only those who are willing to follow, and following requires the meekness of not demanding to understand the destination in advance. Curdie's inability to see the grandmother, at least initially, reflects his reliance on empirical evidence - he can only believe what he can observe and test.
Author and Context
MacDonald wrote The Princess and the Goblin at a period of relative stability in his London literary career, after the earlier novels (David Elginbrod, 1863; Alec Forbes, 1865) had established his reputation with a general readership. He was simultaneously writing the adult novels and the Unspoken Sermons that expressed his mature theology, and the children's fantasies encode the same theological convictions in narrative form accessible to readers of all ages.
The grandmother figure is MacDonald's most complex creation: she appears throughout the novel in different aspects - as a young girl, as an ancient woman, as a presence of light - and Irene's relationship with her changes as Irene matures. MacDonald described the grandmother in a letter as representing 'the good that works from above and within, which the world can't see but which those who trust it can feel.' She is simultaneously maternal, supernatural, and mysterious - a figure of divine wisdom (cf. Proverbs 8:1-36, where Wisdom is personified as a woman calling to human beings).
Themes
The novel's central theme is the relationship between empirical proof and faith. Curdie is the rationalist: he believes what he can see, test, and verify. The princess is the believer: she trusts the grandmother even when the trust leads her through apparent absurdity - the thread leads her through a mountain in the dark, and only later is she vindicated. MacDonald is not anti-rational; Curdie's intelligence and bravery are essential to the plot. But he argues that rationalism alone is insufficient for the full range of human experience, and that the dimension of reality pointed to by the grandmother's thread requires a different faculty - trust, or faith.
The goblin threat represents the world of the underground - the subterranean, dark, deformed life that MacDonald consistently associates with the denial of spiritual reality. The goblins have lived so long underground that they have lost their human form and their capacity for growth; their feet are the most vulnerable part of their bodies, suggesting that they have lost contact with the earth (and by extension, with God).
Reception
The novel was immediately beloved and has remained one of the most popular Victorian children's fantasies. A sequel, The Princess and Curdie (1883), continues the story but with a darker, more judgmental tone that reflects MacDonald's later theological development.
C.S. Lewis credited The Princess and the Goblin as one of the primary preparations for his conversion to Christianity. He wrote in his preface to George MacDonald: An Anthology (1946): 'I have never concealed the fact that I regard him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.'
Legacy
The novel's influence on the Christian fantasy tradition is immeasurable. The thread as a symbol of divine guidance, the grandmother as a figure of divine wisdom, and the contrast between empirical rationalism and faith-based perception all reappear in transformed ways in Lewis's Narnia, Tolkien's mythology, and the broader tradition of Christian fantasy. The novel remains in print in numerous editions and is widely used in Christian education as a story about faith and providence.