I've been wanting to start making fairy-tale books and stories available to D&T visitors through use of Project Gutenberg. I know anyone can go there and find fairy tales, but I've tried to find some special treasures. The first is The Light Princess, by George MacDonald, published first in 1864.The princess is cursed by a fairy who has been socially slighted. The princess has no gravity -- not in her physical person, nor in her emotions.
It's a great story, and it still holds up almost 150 years later.
To read the story on Project Gutenberg, just click on the "The Light Princess" link in this post. Then you can just read it online, or, do what I do: Once you've clicked on the link, and gone to the PG page, for the story, scroll down and pick the uncompressed, HTML format under "Hand-crafted Files." Then, on the same line as uncompressed and HTML, click on main site (under "Download Links").
The pic here is a cover from a 1962-version of the book (which happens to be the year I was born!). The illustration is by William Pene Du Bois.
18 comments:
Thanks for the recommendation. I am going to look up this book. The cover art is beautiful.
I recently bought a classic fairy tale book for my five year old son. We're enjoying the book together.
Beautiful stuff
I love George MacDonald- I recently picked up a treasury of his stories published by Glenn Kahley. It's a good selection, but doesn't include one of my favorites, "The Day Boy and the Night Girl". I do love The Light Princess, and I'm glad to see it in your blog :)
One if my very favorite quotes comes from MacDonald's Phantastes: "I should be ill," she continued, "if I did not live on the borders of the fairies' country, and now and then eat of their food. And I see by your eyes that you are not quite free of the same need, though, from your education and the activity of your mind, you have felt it less than I."
Enjoyable blog, and congratulations on being listed under Blogs of Note!
hey..im danii..complete random from australia..
but i just want to say i love your blog. fairytales mean so much to me; they are a parallel universe in which to escape from the mundane world, and i appreciate all your blogs
:)
xx
I will check out the Light Princess when I have a moment. Have you read A.S. Byatt's new novel the Children's Book, she makes interesting use of fairytales, exploring their changing nature, such as discussing the variations in the Cinderalla story.
Enjoying your blog very much.
great post thanks a lot
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The key to a proper analysis of George MacDonald's transcendent opus The Light Princess comes from a careful examination of the author himself. Although it is doubtless that the readers of this blog are already as familiar with MacDonald's illustrious life as they are with his breathtaking work, I will, at the risk of redundancy, reiterate some basic details in order to argue my thesis.
George MacDonald was raised in a heavily Calvinistic environment - and although he later departed from the fundamental doctrine of Calvinism, predestination, his Christian beliefs were at the very core of his being. Indeed, MacDonald was not only a practicing minister, but also a prolific and very respected member of the Christian apologetic community of his day, heavily influencing C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton. Among the literary world as a whole, MacDonald was admired by everyone from J. R. R. Tolkien to Mark Twain.
But it is under the theological microscope that MacDonald's work truly springs into focus. And in the case of The Light Princess, a parallel can easily be drawn between the titular character and George MacDonald himself. Cursed by a spiteful old witch, MacDonald's princess is found completely lacking gravity in every sense of the word - not only does she float away if not held down, but she is completely incapable of feeling any sadness. For the remainder of the story, the narrative is as obsessed with causing the princess to feel sadness as with giving her weight! In light of his sensitive nature, and the aspects of Calvinism he rejected, MacDonald must have felt some form of kinship with the princess.
Specifically, MacDonald rejected the doctrines of predestination and substitutionary atonement - the belief that God ordained His elect from before the creation, and through His suffering on the cross atoned for their sins. MacDonald instead embraced the doctrine Gustaf Aulén would later lay out in his well known book Christus Victor. This doctrine espoused a much more flexible view of salvation - going so far as to purpose that literally everyone would eventually go to heaven - howbeit some through punishment similar to Catholicism's purgatory. But all of humanity would end up spending eternity in Heaven.
MacDonald's views were unorthodox, to say the least. Denying a fundamental doctrine garnered him countless scoldings, not to mention outright criticism, and yet his belief was founded on his apparent need to believe in a happy ending for everyone.
It is easy to imagine MacDonald picturing himself as the lighthearted princess, someone with a eternally happy outlook for everyone - his well meaning peers constantly trying to drag him back to earth.
Of course, this interpretation of the tale doesn't fit like a glove, but it is, after all, a fairy tale - George MacDonald wouldn't have written it any other way. But it is, none the less, very interesting to consider.
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Interesting!
wow, you're blog headline art is the far the most beautiful i have seen so far...i will mostdef come back to read more...thx.
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First, my comment is to whomever Nathan R. is He did a FABLOUS JOB on his thesis of the LIGHT PRINCESS. He thoroughly thought, exam, and explained precisely his thoughts of the story and the author. So, kudos for Nathan R!
Growing up I wish I knew more about the LIGHT PRINCESS because I would have read it and enjoyed the story myself. It looks heartwarming and fun for all ages. MacDonald could not have written this book in any other way.
Agreeing with what Nathan R. exclaimed that MacDonald does not believe in happily ever after or happy endings. MacDonald wrote a promising story that can be true in all cases for boys and girls. The LIGHT PRINCESS is the typical “fairy tale” story, but it is a very delightful one!
Ashley G.
Congratulations on becoming a Blog of Note. I'm glad to have found you. I'm a teacher myself and have used the Norton Anthology of Classic Fairy Tales to teach Freshman Composition classes.
Yesterday at the library I noticed a book of George MacDonald's stories on the re-shelving cart, and now I'm seeing this post. I pay a lot of attention to serendipitous occurrences, so I guess I'll be checking out George MacDonald's fairy tales now, which I've never read.
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This posting is reminiscent of the latter “Curses! Curses!” posting. Kate W. asks us to consider malediction alongside notions of happily ever after, creating in me an odd coupling of these concepts. Is happily ever a malediction, a curse? It pained me to observe the air princess as incapable of emotions outside of an odd sense of humor that is inappropriate and lends to an inability to bond with those who desire to be close to her. I am further reminded of the connection element found in our ability to suffer. How does one achieve empathy without understanding one’s own sorrows? How interesting that her ability to find happily ever after, and ensuring a happily ever after for her prince and her parents, lies in her ability to create a tear for the sake of another. This is of further interest considering the previous bloggers comments on the authors struggle with and ultimate rejection of the notions of Calvinism. Indeed, if the wonder of salvation or damnation is predestined, the loss of the romantic notions of free will in my own belief system would create a strange world in which I would be forced to float aimlessly.
Melissa L.
Every time I see this illustration I'm reminded of The Twenty-One Ballons, an excellent story by William Pene Du Bois (the man who drew this picture.) Not only is it an excellent, amusing, and enjoyable story, but aspects of it seem almost straight out of fairy tales.
Most people who have heard of it heard of it through comparisons to F. Scott Fitzgerald's "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz," and while Du Bois acknowledged some similarities, they were almost certainly pure coincidence. And because The Twenty-One Balloons was written primarily as a children's book, it's much less dark, and much more amusing. But I personally identified this book much more with Jules Verne than I did with Fitzgerald - which is awesome, because I love Jules Verne's stuff.
Du Bois also illustrated this book, and he did a fantastic job. Again, I would recommend it to anyone.
I remember this story. My mom used to read this to me when I was a little boy. Yeah, I know everyone will think “But you are a guy!” I don’t know why, but my mom always read a girl stories to me. I turned out fine so I couldn’t care less.
If I remember correctly main point behind this is probably perseverance and love. Overcoming every problem to achieve what you need and what you want. Main problem would be overcoming a problem how to make someone with no feelings fall in love with you. The princess has no gravity, weight-wise and no gravity in her heart.
Very nice story for anyone to read. It has a beautiful back-story to it and my honest suggestion would be for everyone to read it.
I went straight off to read this as soon as I saw the post, and fell absolutely in love. This is the best kind of story.
I was looking for a fairy tale that seemed like it might be a little bit different from other fairy tales. What I found was the Light Princess, and I soon found out, just from the first section that it already has a similar theme to it. Another father figure who seems to, at least right off the bat, neglect the women in his life. We see another father who skips out on his duties and again puts his child in harm.We also see the villain as this old decrepit woman who is upset or jealous that she was not thought of. I’m finding it less and less surprising on how the villain usually seems to be some old woman who is upset that they are not recognized as an important figure in the lives of the people they pretend to love. Overall it was something a little different that I enjoyed. Dan S.
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