pTHE PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN - A BOOK THAT INSPIRED TOLKIEN. With original illustrations.ppTHE PROFESSOR'S BOOKSHELF 5 ppProfessor J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, was a great admirer of George MacDonald's fairy-stories. When his children were young, he used to read The Princess and the Goblin to them in the evenings, before they went to bed.pp'Tolkien knew well MacDonald's children's books The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie, both of which influenced Tolkien's depiction of goblins in The Hobbit, ' writes Douglas A. Anderson in 'Tales Before Tolkien The Roots of Modern Fantasy'. Dart-Thornton's introduction notes similarities between this story and Tolkien's works, for example 'The wise, magical, prescient grandmother of the Princess Irene, seems to be a literary ancestor of Galadriel centuries old and yet looking young, a queen, a healer, a beautiful, golden-haired woman associated with water. 'Princess Irene has a magic ring which is