George MacDonald was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
author, poet, and Christian minister.
Known particularly for his poignant
fairy taleA fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
s and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as
W. H. AudenWystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
,
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
,
C. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
,
E. NesbitEdith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
and
Madeleine L'EngleMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
. It was C.S. Lewis who wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master": "Picking up a copy of
PhantastesPhantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. It was later reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1970.The story centres on the character...
one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier."
G. K. ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
cited
The Princess and the GoblinThe Princess and the Goblin is a children's fantasy novel by George MacDonald. It was published in 1872 by Strahan & Co.The sequel to this book is The Princess and Curdie....
as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence."
Elizabeth Yates wrote of
Sir GibbieSir Gibbie is a novel by George MacDonald. It is notable for its Doric dialogue, but has been criticised, especially by members of the Scottish Renaissance, for being part of the kailyard movement. Despite this there are far more who claim the book paints a fair view of the city as well as rural life...
, "It moved me the way books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to open and first encounters with noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling."
Even
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald.
Life and career
George MacDonald was born on the 10th of December 1824 at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His father, a farmer, was one of the MacDonalds of
Glen CoeGlen Coe is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the southern part of the Lochaber committee area of Highland Council, and was formerly part of the county of Argyll. It is often considered one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in Scotland, and is a part of the designated...
, and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the
massacre of 1692Early in the morning of 13 February 1692, in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution and the Jacobite uprising of 1689 led by John Graham of Claverhouse, an infamous massacre took place in Glen Coe, in the Highlands of Scotland. This incident is referred to as the Massacre of Glencoe, or in...
. The
Doric dialectDoric, the popular name for Mid Northern Scots or Northeast Scots, refers to the dialects of Scots spoken in the northeast of Scotland.-Nomenclature:...
of the Aberdeenshire area appears in the dialogue of some of his non-fantasy novels.
MacDonald grew up by his
Congregational ChurchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
, with an atmosphere of
CalvinismCalvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
. But MacDonald never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine; indeed, legend has it that when the doctrine of
predestinationPredestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as Robert Falconer and
LilithLilith is a fantasy novel written by Scottish writer George MacDonald and first published in 1895. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September 1969.Lilith is considered among...
, show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others.
He took his degree at the
University of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, and then went to London, studying at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry.
In 1850 he was appointed pastor of
Trinity Congregational ChurchTrinity Congregational Church, later known as Union Chapel, is a former place of worship for Congregationalists and Independent Christians in Arundel, an ancient town in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Protestant Nonconformism has always been strong in the town, and the chapel's...
,
ArundelArundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
, but his sermons (preaching God's universal love and the possibility that none would, ultimately, fail to unite with God) met with little favour and his salary was cut in half. Later he was engaged in ministerial work in
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. He left that because of poor health, and after a short sojourn in
Algiers' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
he settled in London and taught for some time at the University of London. MacDonald was also for a time editor of Good Words for the Young, and lectured successfully in the United States during 1872–1873.
His best-known works are
PhantastesPhantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. It was later reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1970.The story centres on the character...
,
The Princess and the GoblinThe Princess and the Goblin is a children's fantasy novel by George MacDonald. It was published in 1872 by Strahan & Co.The sequel to this book is The Princess and Curdie....
,
At the Back of the North WindAt the Back of the North Wind is a children's book by George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered around a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind....
, and
LilithLilith is a fantasy novel written by Scottish writer George MacDonald and first published in 1895. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September 1969.Lilith is considered among...
, all fantasy novels, and fairy tales such as "
The Light PrincessThe Light Princess is a fairy tale by George MacDonald. It was published in 1864.- Plot summary :A king and queen, after some time, have a daughter. The king invites everyone to the christening, except his sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and...
", "
The Golden KeyThe Golden Key is a fairy tale written by George MacDonald. It was published in Dealings with the Fairies .It is particularly noted for the intensity of the suggestive imagery, which implies a spiritual meaning to the story without providing a transparent allegory for the events in it.-Plot...
", and "
The Wise WomanThe Lost Princess: A Double Story, first published in 1875 as The Wise Woman: A Parable, is an fairy tale novel by George MacDonald.The story describes how a woman of mysterious powers pays visits to two very different young girls: one a princess, the other a shepherd’s daughter...
". "I write, not for children," he wrote, "but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." MacDonald also published some volumes of sermons, the pulpit not having proved an unreservedly successful venue.
MacDonald also served as a mentor to
Lewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
(the pen-name of Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson); it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of
AliceAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit Alice for publication. Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children.
MacDonald was also friends with
John RuskinJohn Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with
Rose la ToucheRose La Touche was the pupil, cherished student, "pet," and ideal from which John Ruskin based Sesame and Lilies .- Introduction to John Ruskin :...
.
MacDonald was acquainted with most of the literary luminaries of the day; a surviving group photograph shows him with Tennyson,
DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
,
Wilkie CollinsWilliam Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
,
TrollopeAnthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
,
RuskinJohn Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
,
LewesGeorge Henry Lewes was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He became part of the mid-Victorian ferment of ideas which encouraged discussion of Darwinism, positivism, and religious scepticism...
, and
ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
. While in America he was a friend of
LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
and
Walt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
.
In 1877 he was given a
civil list-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
pension. In 1900 he moved into St George's Wood,
HaslemereHaslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...
, a house designed for him by his son, Robert Falconer MacDonald and the building overseen by his eldest son,
Greville MacDonaldGreville MacDonald , was the son of influential fantasy writer George MacDonald and his wife Louisa . He has provided some interesting insights into his father's life and circle of friends. Greville was a notable ear, nose and throat doctor...
. He died on 18 September 1905 in
AshteadAshtead is a village situated within the Metropolitan Green Belt of Surrey, England, and is just outside of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common.- History :...
(Surrey). He was cremated and buried in
BordigheraBordighera is a town and comune in the Province of Imperia, Liguria .-History:The city was founded around the 4th century BC by the Ligures....
.
As hinted above, MacDonald's use of fantasy as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of such notable authors as
C. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
(who featured him as a character in his
The Great DivorceThe Great Divorce is a work of allegory by C. S. Lewis that is complementary to Lewis' earlier book The Screwtape Letters.The working title was Who Goes Home? but the real name was changed at the publisher's insistence. The title refers to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell...
),
J. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, and
Madeleine L'EngleMadeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time...
. MacDonald's non-fantasy novels, such as Alec Forbes, had their influence as well; they were among the first realistic Scottish novels, and as such MacDonald has been credited with founding the "
kailyard schoolThe Kailyard school of Scottish fiction was developed about the 1890s as a reaction against what was seen as increasingly coarse writing representing Scottish life complete with all its blemishes. It has been considered as being an overly sentimental representation of rural life, cleansed of real...
" of Scottish writing.
His son
Greville MacDonaldGreville MacDonald , was the son of influential fantasy writer George MacDonald and his wife Louisa . He has provided some interesting insights into his father's life and circle of friends. Greville was a notable ear, nose and throat doctor...
became a noted medical specialist, a pioneer of the Peasant Arts movement and also wrote numerous fairy tales for children. Greville ensured that new editions of his father's works were published. Another son, Ronald MacDonald, was also a novelist. Ronald's son,
Philip MacDonaldPhilip MacDonald was an English author of thrillers.-Life and work:...
, (George MacDonald's grandson) became a very well known Hollywood screenwriter.
Theology
MacDonald rejected the doctrine of penal
substitutionary atonementTechnically speaking, substitutionary atonement is the name given to a number of Christian models of the atonement that all regard Jesus as dying as a substitute for others, "instead of" them...
as developed by
John CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
, which argues that Christ has taken the place of sinners and is punished by God in their place, believing that in turn it raised serious questions about the character and nature of God. Instead, he taught that Christ had come to save people from their sins, and not from a Divine penalty for their sins. The problem was not the need to appease a wrathful God but the disease of cosmic evil itself. George MacDonald frequently described the Atonement in terms similar to the
Christus VictorThe term Christus Victor refers to a Christian understanding of the atonement which views Christ's death as the means by which the powers of evil, which held humankind under their dominion, were defeated...
theory. MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "Did he not foil and slay evil by letting all the waves and billows of its horrid sea break upon him, go over him, and die without rebound—spend their rage, fall defeated, and cease? Verily, he made atonement!"
MacDonald was convinced that God does not punish except to amend, and that the sole end of His greatest anger is the amelioration of the guilty. As the doctor uses fire and steel in certain deep-seated diseases, so God may use hell-fire if necessary to heal the hardened sinner. MacDonald declared, "I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children." MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless?" He replied, "No. As much as they fear will come upon them, possibly far more. … The wrath will consume what they call themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear."
However, true repentance, in the sense of freely chosen moral growth, is essential to this process, and, in MacDonald's optimistic view, inevitable for all beings (see
universal reconciliationIn Christian theology, universal reconciliation is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God.Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas...
). He recognised the theoretical possibility that, bathed in the eschatological divine light, some might perceive right and wrong for what they are but still refuse to be transfigured by operation of God's fires of love, but he did not think this likely.
In this theology of divine punishment, MacDonald stands in agreement with the Greek
Church FathersThe Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
St.
Clement of AlexandriaTitus Flavius Clemens , known as Clement of Alexandria , was a Christian theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement is best remembered as the teacher of Origen...
,
OrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
, and St.
Gregory of NyssaSt. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...
, although it is unknown whether MacDonald had a working familiarity with
PatristicsPatristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers. The names derive from the Latin pater . The period is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian...
or Eastern Orthodox Christianity. At least an indirect influence is likely, because F. D. Maurice who influenced MacDonald knew the Greek Fathers, especially Clement, very well. MacDonald states his theological views most distinctly in the sermon
Justice found in the third volume of Unspoken Sermons.
In his introduction to George MacDonald: An Anthology,
C. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
speaks highly of MacDonald's theology:
Partial list of works
- Within and Without
Within and Without is a 1855 dramatic poem by George Macdonald.-External links:*...
(1855)
- Poems (1857)
- Phantastes
Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. It was later reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1970.The story centres on the character...
(1858)
- Cross Purposes (1862)
- David Elginbrod
David Elginbrod is a 1863 novel by George Macdonald. It is MacDonald's first realistic novel.-Plot introduction:A novel of Scottish country life, in the dialect of Aberdeen....
(1863) (republished as The Tutor's First Love)
- The Portent (1864)
- Adela Cathcart (1864) (contains The Light Princess
The Light Princess is a fairy tale by George MacDonald. It was published in 1864.- Plot summary :A king and queen, after some time, have a daughter. The king invites everyone to the christening, except his sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and...
, The Shadows-Plot introduction:Ralph Rinkelmann is a writer, who is selected by fairies to be the king of the fairies. While he is ill, they carry him off and crown him as king...
, The Giant's Heart, My Uncle Peter, A Journey Rejourneyed and other shorter stories)
- A Hidden Life and Other Poems (1864)
- Alec Forbes of Howglen
Alec Forbes of Howglen is a novel by George MacDonald, first published in 1865 and is primarily concerned with Scottish country life.-Synopsis:...
(1865) (republished as The Maiden's Bequest)
- Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood (1867)
- Unspoken Sermons (1867)
- Dealings with the Fairies (1867) (contains The Golden Key
The Golden Key is a fairy tale written by George MacDonald. It was published in Dealings with the Fairies .It is particularly noted for the intensity of the suggestive imagery, which implies a spiritual meaning to the story without providing a transparent allegory for the events in it.-Plot...
)
- The Disciple and Other Poems (1867)
- Guild Court: A London Story (1868)
- Robert Falconer (1868) (republished as The Musician's Quest)
- England's Antiphon (1868, 1874)
- The Seaboard Parish (1868)
- The Miracles of Our Lord (1870)
- At the Back of the North Wind
At the Back of the North Wind is a children's book by George MacDonald. It was serialized in the children's magazine Good Words for the Young beginning in 1868 and was published in book form in 1871. It is a fantasy centered around a boy named Diamond and his adventures with the North Wind....
(1871)
- Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood is a realistic, largely autobiographical, novel by George MacDonald. It was first published in 1871.- Plot introduction :...
(1871)
- Works of Fancy and Imagination (1871)
- Wilfrid Cumbermede (1871, 1872)
- The Vicar's Daughter (1871, 1872)
- The Princess and the Goblin
The Princess and the Goblin is a children's fantasy novel by George MacDonald. It was published in 1872 by Strahan & Co.The sequel to this book is The Princess and Curdie....
(1872)
- The History of Gutta-Percha Willie, the Working Genius (1873)
- Malcolm (1875) (republished as a two-volume work containing The Fisherman's Lady and The Marquis' Secret)
- The Lost Princess
The Lost Princess: A Double Story, first published in 1875 as The Wise Woman: A Parable, is an fairy tale novel by George MacDonald.The story describes how a woman of mysterious powers pays visits to two very different young girls: one a princess, the other a shepherd’s daughter...
(1875) [alternative title: * The Wise Woman: A Parable]
- Exotics (1876)
- St. George and St. Michael (1876)
- Thomas Wingfold, Curate (1876) (republished as The Curate's Awakening)
- The Marquis of Lossie (1877) (republished asThe Marquis’ Secret)
- Paul Faber, Surgeon (1879) (republished asThe Lady's Confession)
- Sir Gibbie
Sir Gibbie is a novel by George MacDonald. It is notable for its Doric dialogue, but has been criticised, especially by members of the Scottish Renaissance, for being part of the kailyard movement. Despite this there are far more who claim the book paints a fair view of the city as well as rural life...
(1879) (republished as The Baronet's Song)
- A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880)
- Mary Marston
Mary Marston or A Daughter's Devotion is a novel by George MacDonald written in 1881 and originally entitled Mary Marston....
(1881) (republished as A Daughter's Devotion)
- Warlock O' Glenwarlock (also entitled The Laird's Inheritance or Castle Warlock)
- Weighed and Wanting (1882) (republished as A Gentlewoman's Choice)
- The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales (1882)
- Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare (1882)
- The Day Boy and the Night Girl
The Day Boy and Night Girl, also referred to as The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris is a 1882 fairy tale novel by George MacDonald. A version of this story appeared in Harper's Young People as a series beginning on 2 December 1879 and completing on 6 January 1880.-Plot introduction:A boy named...
(1882)
- The Princess and Curdie
The Princess and Curdie is a children's classic fantasy novel by George MacDonald from late 1883.The book is the sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. The adventure continues with Princess Irene and Curdie a year or two older, and having to overthrow a set of corrupt ministers who are poisoning...
(1883, sequel to ' The Princess and the GoblinThe Princess and the Goblin is a children's fantasy novel by George MacDonald. It was published in 1872 by Strahan & Co.The sequel to this book is The Princess and Curdie....
')
- Donal Grant (1883) (republished as The Shepherd's Castle) Companion story of Gibbie and his friend Donal
- A Threefold Cord: Poems by Three Friends (1883)
- Stephen Archer and Other Tales (1883)
- Preface to Letters from Hell
Letters from Hell is a didactic Christian novel by the Danish priest and author Valdemar Adolph Thisted , The work was published in Copenhagen in 1866 and went through 12 editions in its first year.-Plot summary:...
by LWJS (1884)
- The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: A Study with the Test of the Folio of 1623 (1885)
- Unspoken Sermons, Second Series (1885)
- What's Mine's Mine
-Plot introduction:The story of a poor Scottish chief and his brother, and their influence for good on two English girls, daughters of their supplanter.-Literary significance and criticism:...
(1886) (republished as The Highlander's Last Song)
- Poems (1887)
- Home Again, a Tale (1887) (republished as The Poet's Homecoming)
- The Elect Lady
The Elect Lady is an 1888 novel by George MacDonald.-Plot introduction:The story is centered upon three main characters: Andrew, a poor, scholarly, godly man; Dawtie, a simple servant girl who cares for animals; and Alexa, the landlord's daughter and the landlord himself....
(1888) (republished as The Landlady's Master)
- Unspoken Sermons, Third Series (1889)
- A Rough Shaking (1891)
- There and Back (1891 (republished as The Baron's Apprenticeship)
- The Flight of the Shadow (1891)
- A Cabinet of Gems (1891)
- Life Essential: The Hope of the Gospel (1892)
- Heather and Snow (1893) (republished as The Peasant Girl's Dream)
- A Dish of Orts (1893)
- The Poetical Works (1893) (including many previously unpublished poems)
- Scotch Songs and Ballads (1893)
- Lilith
Lilith is a fantasy novel written by Scottish writer George MacDonald and first published in 1895. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September 1969.Lilith is considered among...
(1895)
- Salted with Fire (1896) (republished as The Minister's Restoration)
- Far above Rubies (1898)
- Evenor
Evenor is a collection of fantasy novelettes by 19th century Scottish author George MacDonald, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifty-third volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in November 1972...
(1972 (collection of three stories)
In popular culture
- Rock group The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
titled their album Room to RoamRoom to Roam is an album by The Waterboys; it continued the folk-rock sound of 1988's Fisherman's Blues, but was less of a commercial success, reaching one-hundred and eighty on the Billboard Top 200 after its release in September 1990. Critical response continues to be mixed...
after a passage in MacDonald's Phantastes, also found in Lilith. The title track of the album comprises a MacDonald poem from the text of Phantastes set to music by the band. The works LilithLilith is a fantasy novel written by Scottish writer George MacDonald and first published in 1895. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September 1969.Lilith is considered among...
and PhantastesPhantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. It was later reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April 1970.The story centres on the character...
are both named as books in a library, in the title track of another Waterboys album, Universal HallUniversal Hall is a 2003 album released by The Waterboys. It is named after the theatre and performance hall at the Findhorn Foundation, which is pictured on the album cover. The album shows much more influence from folk music than its predecessor, A Rock in the Weary Land...
. The Waterboys have also quoted from C.S. Lewis in several songs including Church Not Made With Hands and Further Up, Further In, confirming the enduring link in modern pop culture between Macdonald and Lewis.
- A verse from The Light Princess
The Light Princess is a fairy tale by George MacDonald. It was published in 1864.- Plot summary :A king and queen, after some time, have a daughter. The king invites everyone to the christening, except his sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and...
is cited in the Beauty and the Beast song by NightwishNightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the...
.
- Contemporary new-age musician Jeff Johnson
Jeff Johnson is a musician residing in Camano Island, WA. Stemming from a progressive-rock background, he works within a contemporary artistic-Christian framework, and precedes much of the New Age music to which much of his music would later be compared. He has made collaborations with various...
wrote a song titled The Golden Key based on George MacDonald's story of the same name. He has also written several other songs inspired by MacDonald and the InklingsThe Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction, and encouraged the writing of fantasy...
.
- Christian
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
celtic punkCeltic punk is punk rock mixed with traditional Celtic music. The genre was founded in the 1980s by The Pogues, a band of punk musicians in London who celebrated their Irish heritage. Celtic punk bands often play covers of traditional Irish folk and political songs, as well as original compositions...
band BallydowseBallydowse is a celtic punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois with a rare mix of anarchist and religious ideas infused into their music. Many of the group's members were from the Jesus People U.S.A. commune. In addition to the group's Mekons/Pogues-style Celtic punk influences, the group also draws...
have a song called "George MacDonald" on their album Out of the Fertile Crescent. The song is both taken from MacDonald's poem "My Two Geniuses" and liberally quoted from "Phantastes."
- Jazz pianist and recording artist Ray Lyon has a song called "Up The Spiral Stairs" on his CD "Beginning To See" which was released in 2007. The song features lyrics from MacDonald's 26 and 27 September devotional readings from the book "Diary of An Old Soul".
- Novelist Patricia Kennealy Morrison has a fictional rock band of the Sixties named "Evenor" in her Rock & Roll Murders: The Rennie Stride Mysteries series.
- On their 2008 release A Thousand Shark's Teeth
A Thousand Shark's Teeth is the second album by My Brightest Diamond, released on June 2, 2008, worldwide, and June 17, 2008, in the US, on Asthmatic Kitty.-Track listing:All tracks written by Shara Worden.# "Inside a Boy"# "Ice and The Storm"...
the band My Brightest DiamondMy Brightest Diamond is the project of singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. The band has released two studio albums, 2006's Bring Me the Workhorse and 2008's A Thousand Shark's Teeth, along with a remix album Tear It Down and a download-only release through iTunes...
included a track titled "From the Top of the World" that was inspired by "At the Back of the North Wind."
- Christian ambient rock band The Sleep Design released their first full-length album titled All That Is Not Music is Silence, taken directly from a quote from MacDonald's Unspoken Sermons, first series.
- Popular Christian author Oswald Chambers
Oswald J. Chambers was a prominent early twentieth century Scottish Protestant Christian minister and teacher, best known as the author of the widely-read devotional My Utmost for His Highest.Born to devout Baptist parents, Chambers did not plan to go into the ministry...
said in his 1934 book, Christian Discipline, vol. 1, "it is a striking indication of the trend and shallowness of the modern reading public that George MacDonald's books have been so neglected."
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