"The Princess and the Goblin" by George MacDonald

What a whimsical, meandering, endearing story!  I read this because I had learned that it was a big influence on both J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, so I wanted to see what it was like.  I can definitely see some ways it influenced The Hobbit, especially the sort of "adult telling children a little story because they are cute" tone.  Which is not a tone I am fond of, so it took me quite a while to get into this book.  But I did eventually enjoy it, especially when it surprised me in one specifi...