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Greetings and Editorial

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The first number of North Wind appeared twenty-one years ago. The publication of volume 21 is an important milestone in the history of any annual journal and the MacDonald Society is very grateful for Barbara Reynolds' survey of the history of the journal and for the other congratulatory messages published below.

From Barbara Reynolds, Managing Editor of VII.

I first read At the Back of the North Wind at the age of about ten, that is to say seventy-eight years ago, when I was a child in America. I can still recall the sense of delighted wonder it inspired. Some books have that power. I went on to read The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie and they created my imaginary childhood world. It was many years before I discovered the enchantment of George MacDonald as a writer for adults. That, appropriately, was in America too, when I met Professor Clyde S. Kilby and learned about his collection of the works of seven British authors, of whom George MacDonald was the earliest and perhaps the most lastingly influential, since it was by Phantastes that C. S. Lewis said his imagination had been "baptised."

The George MacDonald Society, formed in 1980, issued the first number of its Journal two years later. This has continued without interruption, though with a brief wobble in direction, soon corrected, for twenty-one years. The present issue marks therefore the moment when a new adult used to be presented with "the key of the door." In the case of the George MacDonald Society Journal it is of course a golden key.

It is interesting to compare the first number with those that followed, covering the span of years from 1982 to 2002. The first, consisting of forty pages, opened with an account of MacDonald's childhood in Huntly by Sir Edward Troup. This was followed by a consideration by Raphael Shaberman of the friendship between MacDonald and Lewis Carroll, and of what they had in common as writers of fantasy, a subject to which little attention had then been paid but which has since been studied in greater depth by John Docherty. The third and final article by Kathy Triggs examined the thoughts of MacDonald on the relationship of poverty and wealth.

From the beginning, the Journal, with its well-chosen title, was committed to serious, imaginative and readable scholarship. It has grown somewhat in size but remains pleasing in format and attractive to handle. Its articles have gained in assurance and authority and now constitute valuable sources of opinion and interpretation. One of its more heroic achievements has been to compile an index, of numbers 1-10, published in number 12, and of numbers 11-20, published in number 20. As Managing Editor of Seven: An Anglo-American Literary Review, I admit shamefacedly that we have not had the courage to undertake this yet but I hope we may be inspired by this example to do so before long.

The chief attraction of North Wind, to my mind, is the sense of wonder and enjoyment which its articles continue to convey. This is rare nowadays in literary criticism and all the more to be appreciated. Ideally, such journals should not only offer information about research and publications, this being a useful but not the most important part of their functions. By far the most valuable contribution they can make is to share enjoyment and a sense of an on-going privileged relationship with MacDonald, whose works we are thereby impelled to re-read, finding if we do so that we have renewed and enlarged our understanding. This function North Wind has admirably performed throughout its twenty-one years. May it long continue to do so.

From Christopher Mitchell, Director, The Wade Center, Wheaton

Kudos to the MacDonald Society in recognition of the twenty-first issue of North Wind. The Wade Center, indeed all who recognise the importance and contemporary relevance of George MacDonald are indebted to North Wind for promoting his work as well as fostering quality reflection on it for the past two decades.

From Stratford Caldecott, Director, The Centre for Faith and Culture, Oxford.

Congratulations to North Wind on its twenty-first birthday. Indeed, all who love the Christian literary romantic and mystical tradition that he represents, and especially those who understand the human imagination to be a medium for finding the truth, should be grateful for the work of the Society expressed in this excellent journal.

From the Biblioteca Civica Internazionale, Bordighera.

Abbiamo appreso che la rivista North Wind, pubblicazione ufficiale della "George MacDonald Society," di Londra, compie il ventunesimo anno di vita e di attività letteraria e che intende celebrarlo con un'edizione speciale.

Per la circostanza, anche a nome dell'Amministrazione Comunale, questa Civica Biblioteca Internazionale di Bordighera, la città in cui lo Scrittore visse ventitre anni e che qui riposa dal 1906, ha il piacere di porgere a Lei e, Suo tramite, a tutti i Dirigenti del Sodalizio londinese e ai redattori della rivista le più vive felicitazioni e gli auguri di un operoso futuro.

Over half of the present number of North Wind is devoted to the figure of Lilith in MacDonald's Lilith. Three other papers explore themes which occupied MacDonald for much of his literary career and powerfully influenced the ultimate form of Lilith. An out-of-sequence review of the contributions brings out some of the relationships between them.

Astonishingly little was published on MacDonald between the centenary of his birth in 1924 and the appearance of the first number of North Wind. One study which did appear in that period was by William Webb, a dearly loved scholar who died this year. It is examined here by Deirdre Hayward.

William Webb, as a student, was powerfully influenced by Charles Williams' lectures at the Divinity School of Oxford University of which C. S. Lewis wrote to his brother: "It was 'borne in upon me' that that beautiful carved room had not witnessed anything so important since some of the great mediaeval or Renaissance lectures." Those of us privileged this summer to hear Stephen Prickett talking about F. D. Maurice in Maurice's own church, the beautiful eighteenth century St Peter's, Vere St, in London's West End, could not help feeling a parallel emotion. The lecture is printed here.

F. D. Maurice's church
St. Peter's, Vere Street.

Prickett's talk expands upon Maurice-related material in his new book Narrative, Religion and Science which is reviewed by Bob Trexler. The review in North Wind 15 of Prickett's last major book, Origins of Narrative, concluded by noting that he tells us little about the attitude to "the book of nature" of the authors he studies. This lack is wholly rectified in his new book. It is one of the most important of his books for the student of MacDonald, as its sub-title should indicate. Throughout his literary career MacDonald regularly employed various forms of irony in his books in his struggles with fundamentalist "binary oppositions" in the external world and within himself. Recognising how he tackled this can be of enormous help to us in learning how to cope with present day fundamentalisms. Conversely, Prickett's exploration of these modern fundamentalisms can be equally helpful in trying to understand MacDonald.

Few critics today (except the "fundamentalist" re-writers of MacDonald) wholly ignore the presence in many of his "realistic" novels of levels of powerful symbolism. In Wilfrid Cumbermede these levels dominate to the extent that it has proved intractable to fundamentalist revision and has attracted virtually no critical study. Adelheid Kegler shows what can be achieved by a Symbolist approach to this book. She is the only critic, apart from William Webb, who acknowledges the extent to which MacDonald's writing draws upon the other arts, particularly music and painting. Her approach, not least her exploration of the key role which Wilfrid's horse Lilith plays in the story, sheds considerable light upon the nature of the eponymous "heroine" of MacDonald's Lilith. Kegler's recognition that Wilfrid's Lilith, like Lina in The Princess and Curdie, is an "emanation" of the hero is of crucial importance for understanding MacDonald's symbolism. She develops this concept in her paper "Lina and Lilith" in Inklings 20, reviewed in the present volume.

The crucial importance of the MacDonald family's performances of Louisa's adaptation of Part II of The Pilgrim's Progress in stimulating the revival of the mediaeval mystery plays has often been stressed. Rachel Johnson, drawing upon unpublished research by the late Muriel Hutton, shows how important the performances were for the family themselves in sustaining a conscious awareness of their life and work together as a spiritual journey. This aspect of the performances has previously been given little attention, but it seems likely to have had a considerably influence upon MacDonald's subsequent writings.

Without the stimulation deriving from regularly performing in Dramatic Illustrations of Episodes from The Pilgrim's Progress, Part 2, MacDonald would probably never have risen to the challenge of writing Lilith. This seems to be the reality behind Greville MacDonald's remark that his father felt he had a God-given mandate to write the book: i.e., MacDonald saw himself participating in living spiritual reality, not executing an abstract mandate. A depraved conception of the Lilith myth had become popular at the time he wrote Lilith and his complex ironic treatment of this contemporary conception has mislead many critics, who have given too little attention to his spiritual outlook at that period. The paper by John Pennington on MacDonald's figure of Lilith seemed excellent as a basis for a discussion which would illustrate the range of current attitudes towards "her" and facilitate progress towards better understanding of MacDonald's aims when depicting her. Pennington readily agreed, and the response has exceeded our expectations. Because the discussion is concerned with current attitudes towards MacDonald's Lilith figure, authors are named and technical terms used that may be unfamiliar to many readers, as Richard Reis points out. But in most places this should not greatly interfere with readers' understanding of the discussion.

The discussion remains open. As with any material published in North Wind-and any MacDonald-related material published elsewhere-focused discussion is open to all on the Society's web-site and where possible will be published in a Letters section in the next North Wind.

Notes on Contributors

Dr Deirdre Hayward teaches in the Shetland Islands. The subject of her Ph.D was "George MacDonald and Three German Thinkers" (Johann Gotlieb Fichte, Novalis and Jacob Boehme). She has contributed several papers to North Wind and was also Secretary for the MacDonald Society.

Professor David Jasper is Dean of the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Glasgow and Director of the Centre for the Study of Literature and Theology.

Rachel Johnson is a Subject Librarian in an academic library. The subject of her MA degree was literacy and Children's Literature. She currently lives in Worcester. She was for many years Membership Secretary and Treasurer for the MacDonald Society.

Studiendirektorin Adelheid Kegler lives in Cologne. Translations of papers she first published in German in Inklings appeared in North Wind 12 and 14.

Dr Colin Manlove is the author of numerous books on fantasy literature. He taught for many years at the University of Edinburgh and still lives in the city. His last paper in North Wind appeared in number 18.

Professor Roderick McGillis teaches at the University of Calgary. He is active world-wide in the field of Children's Literature and has edited the definitive edition of MacDonald's Princess books and the collection of essays on MacDonald, For the Childlike. His last contribution to North Wind appeared in number 16.

Associate Professor John Pennington's first contribution to North Wind was an important piece in number 6 warning of the dangers posed by the MacDonald re-writes then appearing in large numbers. He now teaches at St Norbert College, Wisconsin.

Regius Professor Emeritus Stephen Prickett is President of the MacDonald Society. He is now a professor at Duke University, North Carolina. His first contribution to North Wind appeared in number 2.

Professor Emeritus Richard Reis lives in Massachusetts. He is best known for his book on MacDonald in the Twane English Authors series published in 1972. He contributes frequently to North Wind and Orts.

Robert Trexler is editor of C.S.L., the publication of the New York C. S. Lewis Society. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

North Wind 22 will include a section on MacDonald in Education, exploring ways in which MacDonald's writings are used in education today, at Primary, Secondary and Tertiary levels. Contributions have been promised from teachers working at High School and University levels, but are still being sought from teachers working with grades 1 through 6 and from teachers of children and others with special needs. For further information please contact the editor.

Publication of this issue of North Wind has been assisted by a donation from the Ashfield Trust.

Charities like the MacDonald Society, with their members scattered world-wide, do not have fund-raising opportunities available to localised charities, so have to rely in part upon donations to produce their publications and extend their outreach.