This is an ideal fairy tale uniquely revealing an atmosphere of spiritual peace. It is the story of a boy and a girl who live on the edge of Fairyland. The boy has been told that there is a golden key at the end of the rainbow, and this key is not to be sold and no one knows the door it can open--only that this door leads somewhere marvelous. When he finally sees a rainbow he follows it across the border into Fairyland and finds the golden key. During...

Phantastes tells the story of Anodos and his magical journey through a Fairy Land that hints at but always eludes allegory. Anodos discovers that "self will come to life even in the slaying of self, but there is ever something deeper and stronger than it, which will emerge from the unknown abysses of the soul." Published in 1858, this is the earliest novel by George MacDonald, who is generally considered the grandfather of modern fantasy. Our rejuvenated...

A king and queen have a daughter and invite everyone to the christening except the king's sister Princess Makemnoit, a spiteful and sour woman. She arrives without an invitation and curses the princess to have no gravity. Whenever the princess accidentally moves up in the air, she has to be, brought, down, and the wind is capable of carrying her off. As she grows, she never cries, and never can be, brought to see the serious side of anything. She...

"At the Back of the North Wind" is a classic children's story first serialized in England in 1868 and published into a book in 1871 by the Scottish author George MacDonald. This enchanting fairy tale follows Diamond, a sweet, innocent, and joyful young stable boy in Victorian London who goes on adventures with the majestic North Wind. The North Wind is personified as a lovely and mysterious woman, both severe and kind, who teaches young Diamond about...

"The Light Princess" is George MacDonald's 1864 fairy tale inspired by "Sleeping Beauty". It is the story of a young girl, the daughter of the King and Queen, who at her christening is cursed to have no gravity by the uninvited Princess Makemnoit, sister to the King, and a spiteful bitter woman. As a result of the curse, the princess is in constant danger of being carried away by the wind and grows up never taking anything seriously. The only time...