George MacDonald

The Princess and the Goblin George MacDonald

The story takes place in a magical kingdom where a little princess, Irene, has been sent to live with a nanny because of the ill health of her mother. The large house where Irene spends her days is part fortress and part farmhouse, and is situated half way up a tall mountain in a mining region.

Once upon a time the region was inhabited by a nation of miners. Oppressed by heavy taxes and abusive nobles, the people sought refuge in their mines and eventually adapted to their dark environment. In time the mutated into hideous goblins, and their existence became the stuff of legends and whispers.

Although hideously deformed, the goblins are cunning and intelligent. They have built an extremely intricate system of tunnels connected by galleries, underground passages, and waterways which honeycomb the entire mountain.

The goblins hate the surface dwellers, blaming them for their circumstances. So goblins never pass up an opportunity to harass and harm the people on the surface, and have a special hatred for the human miners who descend into their realm.