Tonight, we’ll read the next part to “The Princess and the Goblin”, a children’s fantasy novel, published in 1872.

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One of the most successful and beloved of Victorian fairy tales, George Macdonald’s “The Princess and the Goblin” tells the story of young Princess Irene and her friend Curdie, who must outwit the threatening goblins who live in caves beneath her mountain home.

When we left off, Princess Irene was in conversation with her grandmother, preparing to leave for the evening. Her grandmother gives Irene the gift of a magical ring that provides a thread for her to find her way back to safety if she is ever in danger.