Being Scottish myself and loving anything related to myth, fantasy and symbolism, I decided recently to give George MacDonald's complete collection of fairy tales a try. I'd heard quite a lot about his influencing other authors. One must certainly take one's time reading these stories as they're very cryptic and laden with symbols and images. By no means for children alone. I've struggled, and at times enjoyed, reading their deeper meanings in theory papers. My favourites so far have been The Light Princess, The Shadows and the Golden Key. But can anyone tell me--and this thread is obviously for those who have read this book or are acquainted with the stories in other editions--what is the meaning behind the entire At the Back of the North Wind section? The publisher/editor seems to have not considered how difficult it'd be for someone who hasn't read that frame-work novel to understand the short stories involved. The short tales of Nanny's Dream and Diamond's Dream are so perplexing to me. These are dream stories told by characters from a completely distinct novel and one of them is told by a kind of second-hand narrator in that novel. There are far too many layers of remove. And GM's prose and imagery is cryptic enough. So, for anyone who has grappled with these shorts, can you enlighten me?
I'm sorry. The only MacDonald I've read is one of his Scottish novels, and his The Princess and the Goblin duology. I have Phantastes, but I haven't finished it yet.
That's no problem. I ended up finishing the collection and the last two or three stories were great. The History of Photogen and Nycteris is essential for anyone who likes fantasy and fairy tales.
