# The Princess and the Goblin — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.

- [Why the Princess Has a Story About Her](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/i-why-the-princess-has-a-story-about-her.md): The chapter introduces Princess Irene, an eight-year-old princess living in a mountain palace. It explains the history of goblins who once lived above ground but were driven underground by the king's harsh taxes and laws
- [The Princess Loses Herself](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/ii-the-princess-loses-herself.md): On a rainy day, Princess Irene, bored and restless, ventures beyond her nursery up an old stairway and through a maze of passages and doors. She becomes lost, panics, but then composes herself and attempts to find her wa
- [III: The Princess and—We Shall See Who](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/iii-the-princess-and-we-shall-see-who.md): Princess Irene, lost in the passages, discovers a hidden room where she meets her great-great-grandmother, a very old but beautiful lady who spins. The old lady explains she gave Irene her name and has been there since I
- [What the Nurse Thought of It](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/iv-what-the-nurse-thought-of-it.md): Princess Irene returns from visiting her great-grandmother and tells her nurse about the experience. The nurse refuses to believe her, accusing her of making up stories. Irene is deeply hurt by the lack of trust, but eve
- [The Princess Lets Well Alone](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/v-the-princess-lets-well-alone.md): Princess Irene wakes to another rainy day and decides not to ask her nurse to take her to the tower lady, fearing the lady might not want visitors. She sneaks away to find the tower herself but gets lost again. After cry
- [The Little Miner](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/vi-the-little-miner.md): After three days of rain, Princess Irene and her nurse Lootie venture up the mountain. They stay out too long, and as sunset approaches, Lootie panics and runs home with Irene. They encounter Curdie, a miner boy, who hel
- [The Mines](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/vii-the-mines.md): Curdie returns home and decides to keep the princess's story secret to protect the nurse. He hears goblins outside his window at night but scares them away. The next day, he and his father go to work in the mine, where m
- [The Goblins](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/viii-the-goblins.md): Curdie, working late in the mine, overhears a goblin family discussing their plans and the nature of goblin society. He discovers a thin wall separating him from their dwelling and begins to enlarge a hole, learning abou
- [The Hall of the Goblin Palace](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/ix-the-hall-of-the-goblin-palace.md): Curdie follows the goblin family through underground passages to the magnificent hall of the goblin palace, where he overhears the king and chancellor discussing plans for revenge against the humans. He learns of a plot 
- [X: The Princess’s King-Papa](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/x-the-princess-s-king-papa.md): The king visits Princess Irene after a long absence. During their time together, Irene asks to see her great-grandmother in the tower, but the king gently dismisses it as a dream. He learns of Irene's late evening outdoo
- [XI: The Old Lady’s Bedroom](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xi-the-old-lady-s-bedroom.md): Princess Irene, feeling dreary during autumn and winter, accidentally pricks her thumb on a brooch, causing swelling and pain. Unable to sleep, she wanders the house at night and climbs the old staircase, determined to f
- [A Short Chapter About Curdie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xii-a-short-chapter-about-curdie.md): Curdie spends many nights in the mine, secretly working to earn a new petticoat for his mother, Mrs. Peterson. He uses a ball of string to explore the goblins' territory, following the lode that Glump said would lead to 
- [XIII: The Cobs’ Creatures](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xiii-the-cobs-creatures.md): The men-at-arms guarding the king's country house begin to see grotesque, misshapen creatures at night. These are goblin-tamed animals that have evolved over centuries into bizarre forms, and they have emerged from a str
- [XIV: That Night Week](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xiv-that-night-week.md): Irene spends the week thinking about her promise to visit the old lady but remains uncertain if it was a dream. On Friday, she resolves to go but is frightened by a goblin creature that leaps through her window. In her p
- [XV: Woven and Then Spun](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xv-woven-and-then-spun.md): Irene visits her grandmother's chamber, where she is comforted and cleansed by the old lady's magical fire. Her grandmother reveals her youthful beauty and gives Irene a ring with a fire-opal, attaching an invisible thre
- [XVI: The Ring](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xvi-the-ring.md): Irene returns to the nursery after her adventure on the mountain, greeted by her weeping nurse Lootie. She recounts her encounter with the long-legged cat but omits any mention of her grandmother or the magical lamp. Loo
- [Springtime](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xvii-springtime.md): Spring arrives and the king visits Irene, explaining that her ring once belonged to her mother who has passed away. The king, disturbed by reports of goblin creatures, leaves extra guards. Irene spends her days on the mo
- [Curdie's Clue](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xviii-curdie-s-clue.md): Curdie, while spying on the goblins, follows his string but is led astray when goblin creatures steal his pickaxe. He stumbles into a goblin palace, confronts the king and queen, and uses his knowledge of goblins' vulner
- [Goblin Counsels](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xix-goblin-counsels.md): Curdie awakens in a goblin prison, overhearing the goblin king, queen, and prince Harelip discuss his fate. They debate starving him, killing him, or feeding him to their creatures. Curdie taunts them with rhymes, provok
- [XX: Irene’s Clue](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xx-irene-s-clue.md): Princess Irene wakes to a fright from battling animals in her room, remembers her grandmother's advice, and uses her magic ring and thread to follow a path through the mountain. She bravely navigates dark passages and ro
- [The Escape](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxi-the-escape.md): Curdie and Princess Irene escape from the goblins' underground domain, guided by Irene's magical thread from her grandmother. Along the way, Curdie steals the goblin queen's shoe, revealing her six toes, and they emerge 
- [The Old Lady and Curdie](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxii-the-old-lady-and-curdie.md): Irene brings Curdie to meet her grandmother, but Curdie cannot see the old lady or her magical room, only a bare garret. The old lady comforts Irene, explaining that Curdie is not yet ready to believe. She bathes Irene i
- [XXIII: Curdie and His Mother](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxiii-curdie-and-his-mother.md): Curdie returns home to his parents, still upset with Princess Irene for what he perceives as deception. His mother encourages him to reconsider his harsh judgment, suggesting that Irene may have been truthful in ways he 
- [Irene Behaves Like a Princess](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxiv-irene-behaves-like-a-princess.md): After waking from a deep sleep, Princess Irene is confronted by her nurse Lootie and a crowd of servants who believed she was lost. Lootie accuses Irene of hiding and lying, but Irene calmly defends herself, refusing to 
- [Curdie Comes to Grief](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxv-curdie-comes-to-grief.md): Curdie, while secretly watching the king's house and garden for signs of goblin activity, is mistaken for a goblin creature by the men-at-arms and shot with a crossbow. He is captured, and despite his attempts to explain
- [The Goblin-Miners](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxvi-the-goblin-miners.md): Servants discuss strange noises in the king's house, which are actually caused by goblins mining beneath. The goblins dislodge a huge block, shaking the house, and later scoop through sand to reach the king's wine cellar
- [The Goblins in the King’s House](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxvii-the-goblins-in-the-king-s-house.md): Curdie dreams of his past adventures and wakes to find the king's house under attack by goblins. He rushes into battle, using his iron-shod shoes to stamp on goblin feet and a hunting-knife to slash at them. He frees the
- [XXVIII: Curdie’s Guide](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxviii-curdie-s-guide.md): Curdie, following the princess's invisible thread, is led to his mother's cottage where he finds Princess Irene asleep. He apologizes for not believing her about the thread and the grandmother. Irene explains she was led
- [Masonwork](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxix-masonwork.md): Curdie remembers the goblins' plan to flood the mine and rushes to help his father and the miners build a buttress to block the goblins' passage. After securing the mine, he returns to his cottage through a violent storm
- [The King and the Kiss](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxx-the-king-and-the-kiss.md): The king arrives at his house, grief-stricken over Irene's disappearance. Curdie carries Irene to the gate and reunites her with her father. Irene tells the story of her rescue, praising Curdie's bravery. She then remind
- [The Subterranean Waters](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxxi-the-subterranean-waters.md): During a feast at the king's house, Princess Irene enters guided by her invisible thread and alerts her father to a distant noise. Curdie recognizes the sound as water from the goblins' failed flood plot, which instead o
- [The Last Chapter](https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/chapters/xxxii-the-last-chapter.md): The miners and Curdie's family return home, taking Lootie with them. They drain the king's house, find dead goblins including the queen, and secure the passage. Many goblins flee or become friendly over time, while the m

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