Tammy’s Reviews > The Princess and the Goblin > Status Update

Ch. 11 It’s now winter (death). There’s a cycle of rain all day and clear skies all night. Very melancholy weather. Irene is bored of everything and Lootie comes up with different things to entertain her. She talks to everyone (all primarily lowborn, very CM). She wishes her old grandmother had not been a dream but that is what she believes. One day, she is with the old housekeeper, who has a pile of old objects.

He is the impotent father, of course. Even thought he leaves six attendants, three to stand watch outside of the house every night. Something undoubtedly will happen.

It is an unusual garden because it’s cultivated but because the mountain mingles with it there is heather. It’s like the horizontal meeting the vertical!!! The king talks to her about the night they were out. He will have to talk to Lootie but Irene blames herself. She explains that Lootie has been so careful ever since. The king is worried that it only takes once. He goes and talks with Lootie who cries.

The king does not acknowledge the grandmother in the attic, no matter how carefully Irene describes her. When Irene says it must have been a dream, a white pigeon lands on her head. When her father tries to take it, it flies toward the sun and disappears in a flash. Later, when they walk, Irene invites him again and he declines for the grandmother must invite him. They sit in the garden.

Ch. 9 It is fine weather that has moved from cold and wet. Irene thinks sometimes of the goblins and always of her debt to Curdie. Her father the king pays a visit with all his soldiers and much heraldry (quicksilver). The kig has an air of Jupiter: blue eyes, nose like an eagle, long beard. The line about their hair mingling reminds me of Faramir and Eowyn. After he eats and drinks, she talks about grandmother.

The king has devised an ingenius plan to destroy those who live upstairs. The meeting seems to be breaking up and Curdie is no closer to learning about the plan. He decides to get out first. His fear is getting lost, rather than getting caught. He is able to get back through the hole before the goblin’s return. He’s able to block up the hole and get home safely. He informs his father about what he learned.

He continues to follow father and son goblin. He hears water moving inside the rock. They walk into a large cavern that amazes Curdie between the size, decoration, and the potential echo if he shouts one of his rhymes. Curdie has more sense than that. The goblin king sits on his throne made of green copper ore. He is making a speech about the difference between goblins and humans and why it is time to do something.

Ch. 9 The way Curdie goes into action (like a tiger) after the goblins left ris like sulfur. The goblin room has a tiny stream of water (hint). He slowly follows and when too close he waits and then darts like a greyhound. Very active here, like sulfur. Some passages seemed to be carved out by water. There are lots of stalactites. It looks like one brother is carrying a feather bed. How? He almost bumps into them.

Curdie overheard them talk about the goblin weakness (their feet). This is like THAHB! Hoblin heads are strong, but their feet are soft. Goblins find shoes unfashionable except for their queen. The goblin king's first wife was human, so she wore shoes. She died after giving birth. This might be a duplicate.

The goblin also hints at a secret calamity about the miners (like THAHB). Their new table has seven legs and three legs on the chairs. He wants to know more and he’s so courageous. It’s also very much like sulfur--impulsive and rash. Wait! If they have a tinderbox, they use sulfur matches! He has some close calls. He plans to follow the father who is going to the meeting. He might learn their plans.