George MacDonald occupied a major position in the intellectual life of his Victorian contemporaries. This volume brings together all eleven of his shorter fairy stories as well as his essay "The Fantastic Imagination". The subjects are those of traditional fantasy: good and wicked fairies, children embarking on elaborate quests, and journeys into unsettling dreamworlds. Within this familiar imaginative landscape, his children's stories were profoundly experimental, questioning the association of childhood with purity and innocence, and the need to separate fairy tale wonder from adult scepticism and disbelief.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Suggestions for Further Reading
• A Note on the Texts
• The Fantastic ImaginationFrom ADELA CATHCARTThe Light Princess
• The Shadows
• The Giant’s Heart
• From DEALINGS WITH THE FAIRIESCross Purposes
• The Golden Key
• From AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WINDLittle Daylight
• Nanny’s Dream
• Diamond’s Dream
• LATER TALESThe Carasoyn
• The Wise Woman, or The Lost Princess: A Double Story
• The History of Photogen and Nycteris: A Day and Night Mährchen
• Explanatory Notes