The Scottish writer, speaker and pastor George MacDonald was born on December 10th 1824, 200 years ago today. xx
His goblins are mentioned in the article about Michael de Larrabeiti's Borribles, and a spot-on comment he made is featured in a post about unsatisfactory politicians.
His name is in the list of of writers with Celtic connections; he also appears in the list of Sagittarian writers, where I said this:
“It is time to take another look at some of his work, which I last read when still at school.”
While the reader's dilemma of 'so many books, so little time' applies here, I have refreshed my memories of a few of his stories that I particularly liked; I have also learned a little about their author.
While the details of George MacDonald's life are very interesting and some of his fantasy stories are still enjoyable to read despite their being very dated, he and his many works do not on the whole inspire much in the way of commentary. However, two books that made a very big impression when I first discovered them deserve a mention here.
I remember my first encounter with the works of George MacDonald very clearly; I was seven years old at the time. I came across a very old, illustrated edition of The Princess and the Goblin and found it fascinating.
I thought that the goblins with their hard heads and soft toeless feet were both sinister and very funny. I loved the little poem that the miner's son Curdie makes to frighten off the goblins. It includes these lines:
Hit and hew!
Three, four—
Blast and bore!
…
In the road!
Smash it!
Squash it!
Fry it!
Dry it! ...“
Curdie and Princess Irene being pursued by a goblin:
The Princess and Curdie is the sequel to The Princess and the Goblin.
I really liked the story when I first read it, but I was too young to have got much from the philosophical statements that the book contains.
One proposition is that people who are not evolving and growing in understanding are devolving and going downhill:
“There is this difference between the growth of some human beings and that of others: in the one case it is a continuous dying, in the other a continuous resurrection. One of the latter sort comes at length to know at once whether a thing is true the moment it comes before him; one of the former class grows more and more afraid of being taken in, so afraid of it that he takes himself in altogether, and comes at length to believe in nothing but his dinner...”
I have noticed this reversal of development in some people myself!
I was surprised to learn that George Macdonald lived for a while in London, and in areas that I know well.
He also spend some time in Hastings, another place of interest.
There was much pain, grief and suffering in his life, but his religion helped him to endure it.
I still plan to read more of his works when I get the chance in the hope of finding some article-inspiring material.
There is a lot of information about George Macdonald and his works available online; this website is a good place to start:
https://www.george-macdonald.com/
George Macdonald at different stages of his life:
