The Princess and the Goblin characters

Appears from the start

An eight-year-old princess living in a remote mountain house while her father travels on affairs of state. Curious, candid, and determined to behave with courage, she explores beyond the rooms assigned to her and discovers that the house contains mysteries her attendants do not recognize.

Appears from the start

Irene's nurse and constant attendant. Lootie is devoted to the princess but nervous, conventional, and quick to reject anything outside her own experience. Her fear of the goblins makes her dependent on braver help when she and Irene are caught outdoors after dark.

First appears in chapter 6

A miner's young son who works beneath the mountain and knows its passages and dangers. Resourceful, cheerful, and physically brave, he has learned that the underground goblins hate verse and have unusually vulnerable feet. He rescues Irene and Lootie when goblins pursue them at night.

Also known as Irene's Great-Great-Grandmother

First appears in chapter 3

A beautiful, ageless woman whom Irene finds spinning in a hidden room high in the house. She says she is Irene's great-great-grandmother and receives the child with warmth, but she cannot be found by ordinary searching and remains invisible to people who are not ready to perceive her.

First appears in chapter 10

Irene's father and the ruler of the surrounding country. He visits his daughter with an armed escort because the mountain region is unsafe. Affectionate toward Irene and responsible for his household, he does not yet know the extent of the goblins' plans beneath it.

First appears in chapter 6

Curdie's father, an experienced miner who works in the mountain. He respects the practical knowledge required below ground and provides Curdie with a steady family home above it.

First appears in chapter 6

Curdie's sensible and loving mother. She takes her son's accounts seriously without encouraging recklessness and offers him a safe home between his dangerous explorations.

First appears in chapter 9

The ruler of the goblins who live beneath the mountain. He presides over their underground court and supports plans to strike at the people above, whom the goblins regard as enemies.

First appears in chapter 9

The forceful queen of the underground goblins. More intimidating than her husband, she pushes the royal household's hostile schemes and protects the physical weakness of goblin feet with specially made stone shoes.

Also known as Harelip

First appears in chapter 9

The goblin prince, whose altered face gives him his nickname. His parents intend him to take part in a scheme directed against Princess Irene and the royal house above ground.