# The Princess and the Goblin — Character guide

> Key figures in The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald.

- [Curdie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/curdie.md): Curdie haunts the king's garden at night, tracking goblin excavators by ear and creeping on hands and knees to learn where they tunnel. When the men-at-arms catch him, he laughs at their threats and gives nothing away, b
- [Princess Irene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/princess_irene.md): Irene lives shut inside a great house, guarded from goblins even by daylight's end, and on a wet afternoon she escapes her nurse and runs up a worm-eaten stair until the corridors of doors frighten her into tears. She is
- [The Old Lady](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/the_old_lady.md): She appears only to Irene, in a high chamber reached by stairs the household has forgotten, and she spins and weaves with a patience that unnerves as much as it comforts. Her gifts, a ring that glows and a thread that le
- [Lootie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/lootie.md): Lootie keeps the princess indoors after dark and frets over every strange sight, but on the night the long-legged creatures came at them she panicked and lost her way home, earning a talking-to from the king. She half be
- [Peter Peterson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/peter.md): Peter works the mine alongside his son and, when Curdie bursts in with news of the goblins' second plan, he is already at the gang with blocks and cement ready. He is steady where Curdie is daring, and his quiet preparat
- [The King](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/the_king.md): The king keeps no fixed capital, appointing and removing officials as he finds them just or corrupt, and this care for his people is precisely what keeps him away from the princess. He arrives on a great white horse to t
- [Glump](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/glump.md): A goblin leader who counsels the goblin king.
- [Harelip](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/harelip.md): A goblin with a harelip who is a messenger and spy.
- [Helfer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/helfer.md): A goblin who assists in the goblins' plot against the humans.
- [Mrs. Peterson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/mrs_peterson.md): Curdie's mother, a kind and practical woman.
- [The Captain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/the_captain.md): The captain of the king's guard who leads the defense.
- [Sir Walter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/sir_walter.md): A knight who is turned to stone by goblin magic.
- [Nursie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/nursie.md): An old nurse who cares for Irene in the palace.
- [Mrs. Housekeeper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters/mrs_housekeeper.md): The housekeeper at the palace who manages the servants.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_princess_and_the_goblin_se/characters