The Princess and the Goblin

Grandmother’s thread is a symbol that embodies Faith in the Mystical. Grandmother spends many days spinning Irene a magical thread made out of spiderwebs, “the finest and strongest of any” (67), which she has her pigeons collect for her. The threads are extremely fine and delicate, and Grandmother also uses her magic to imbue the thread with the light of the moon. Grandmother attaches the thread to Irene’s mother’s fire-opal ring, thus imbuing it with fire and the power of generational love as well. For all its power, however, the thread can only be seen by those who fully believe it is there. Furthermore, it requires Irene to trust where it is guiding her, even if it does not make sense right away.

The thread ultimately leads Irene to Curdie, enabling her to save his life. Since Curdie proves pivotal in saving Irene and the farmhouse from the goblins, it is likely that Grandmother foresaw this and knew that Irene would have the courage and faith to follow the thread and save him. Curdie does not share Irene’s trust in the unseen and finds it difficult to believe that she followed a thread to save him. Once he develops his own faith, however, he follows the thread to find Irene at his mother’s house.

Threads and textiles are common symbols in folklore and myth. As a tool that prevents one from getting lost, Grandmother’s thread especially recalls the thread that the Greek hero Theseus uses to find his way out of the Labyrinth. Many cultures also associate spinning with fate (e.g., the Norns in Norse myth, the Moirai in Greek myth), so the activity suggests Grandmother’s godlike wisdom and power.