Character guide

Curdie

major

Also known as The Mountain Curdie, IV Curdie, young Curdie, Master Curdie, VIII Curdie, IX Hands Curdie, XX Counterplotting Curdie

Curdie arrives in Gwyntystorm with no instructions beyond the gift of reading hands, and finds a palace where servants steal, a doctor's flesh feels like a creeping thing, and the king lies poisoned by his own wine. His blunt honesty and miner's stubbornness set him against a household that smiles while it rots. What he must learn is patience: to trust the princess, to wait for the grandmother's plan to unfold, and to act without knowing the shape of the danger he is in.

Lina

major

Also known as XI Lina, Poor Lina

Lina belongs to Curdie alone, and her loyalty is total, silent, and slightly terrifying to anyone who does not know her. She sleeps coiled and springs to her feet the instant he speaks, then flies out of Gwyntystorm's gate on his errands with her mighty legs. In a palace full of whispering servants and poisoned cups, she is the one creature whose devotion cannot be bought or faked.

Peter

supporting

Also known as Peter the miner

Peter is a working man whose honesty is so plain that a princess takes his horny hand and calls him friend. When she asks him to give up Curdie for a while, he answers only that it will not matter much so long as the boy still loves them. His quiet faith in his son, and his willingness to be separated from him, is the moral bedrock Curdie carries into the corrupt city.

Princess Irene

major

Also known as the Princess Irene, Irene

Irene has become her father's only nurse, sitting under the lamp to mark every change in his sleeping face and refusing to leave him even to greet the friend her grandmother sent. She is brave but young, and the news that Dr. Kelman is a snake shakes her badly. Her tenderness is the one honest thing left in the palace, and Curdie's task depends on her holding to it.

The Doctor

supporting

Also known as the doctor

Dr. Kelman arrives tumbling through the king's door, all apology and soft palms, and the princess cannot believe ill of him. But Curdie, whose gift tests hands, finds no foot in his grasp, only the body of a serpent coiled inside a man's shape. He is the smiling face of the corruption Curdie has come to uproot, and the reason the king's wine must never again pass through any hand but Irene's.

Old Mother Wotherwop

supporting

Also known as Mother

The men of the mine trade foolish tales about Old Mother Wotherwop without knowing she hears every word, because she is present wherever she is spoken of. She is one of the grandmother's many shapes, and her role is to test whether Curdie can recognize a friend in an unfamiliar dress. Those who know her well know her whatever name or form she wears; those who do not, mistake her for a story.

Derba

supporting

Also known as XV Derba, Poor Derba

Derba belongs to the ordinary folk of Gwyntystorm, the kind of woman whose love and womanly tenderness go straight to Curdie's heart as she tends the ailing king with peacock fans and whispered comfort. Her devotion stands in stark contrast to the court's lying, selfishness, and inhospitality, making her one of the few honest souls Curdie can trust. She matters because she proves that goodness survives even in a city rotting from within, and her care helps keep the king alive long enough for Curdie's mission to unfold.

The Servants

minor

Also known as the servants

The palace servants who are complicit in the corruption and mistreatment of the king.

Dr. Kelman

supporting

Also known as XXIII Dr. Kelman, Kelman

Dr. Kelman moves through the palace as the trusted doctor attending the ailing king, his face and tongue both false according to Curdie's testing hands, which feel not a foot but the belly of a creeping thing. He embodies the court's corruption, dispensing wine that makes the king worse while wearing the mask of solicitude. His presence forces Curdie and Irene into secret vigilance over the king's food and drink, turning the sickroom into a quiet battlefield where trust itself is the first casualty.

The Colonel

supporting

Also known as the colonel, The poor colonel , who was yet hardly able to stand

The poor colonel, hardly able to stand, belongs to the dwindling company of men in Gwyntystorm who remain true to their sovereign despite the court's rot. His physical frailty mirrors the kingdom's condition — wounded, neglected, yet not quite extinguished — and his allegiance gives Curdie a rare foothold of trust inside a palace of liars. He matters as proof that honor persists among the ruins, and as a quiet counterweight to the smooth treachery of men like Dr. Kelman.

Barbara

supporting

Also known as Barbara Meantime, Little Barbara, little Barbara, XXIX Barbara

Little Barbara is one of the few people in Gwyntystorm who seems to know, when no one else has a notion, whither the mysterious old princess has vanished — a sign of her quiet attunement to hidden things. She shows kindness to Curdie in a city that has forgotten hospitality, and her loyalty places her among the humble few whose goodness the story quietly rewards. She matters because she represents the remnant of decency in Gwyntystorm, the ordinary souls whose faithfulness makes the city worth saving at all.

A Stranger

minor

Also known as a stranger

A mysterious figure who appears briefly and interacts with Curdie.

Queen Irene

supporting

Also known as the Queen Irene

Queen Irene — once the old princess — is the mystical thread binding MacDonald's two Curdie books, a gray-haired woman who keeps a room of burning roses, sends white-winged pigeons with messages, and knows of goings-on that no one else can see. She sends Curdie to Gwyntystorm without telling him what he must do, trusting his courage to discover the task, and her authority over even the beast Lina marks her as something far stranger than a mere royal ancestor. She matters because she is the story's hidden hand, the source of Curdie's gift and the moral gravity toward which the whole narrative bends.

Ballbody

minor

A strange creature encountered by Curdie during his journey.

Her Master

minor

Also known as her master

The master of one of the creatures, mentioned in passing.

Sir Bronzebeard

minor

Also known as Bronzebeard

A legendary knight mentioned in the story, possibly a historical figure.

Joan

minor

A minor character mentioned in the narrative.

The White Pigeon

minor

A mystical bird that appears to guide or symbolize the princess.

Gwyntystorm

minor

Also known as XIV The Dogs of Gwyntystorm

The city where much of the later action takes place, personified in the chapter title.

The Attorney-General

minor

Also known as the attorney - general

A corrupt official in Gwyntystorm who is part of the conspiracy against the king.

The General

minor

Also known as the general

A military leader in the king's army who participates in the final battle.

The First Priest

minor

Also known as the first priest

A religious figure in Gwyntystorm who is part of the corrupt establishment.

Mrs. Peterson

minor

A minor character mentioned in the story.

Clubhead

minor

A creature encountered by Curdie, likely one of the strange beings.

Jabez

minor

A minor character mentioned in the narrative.