How many words are in The Princess and the Goblin?

by George MacDonald · 1872 · Fantasy

50,960
Word count
3 hr 34 min
Reading time
204
Est. pages
1872
Published

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald is approximately 50,960 wordslong. At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, that's about 3 hr 34 min of reading spread across several sittings. First published in 1872, it sits in the Fantasy category.

Typical fantasy novels run 70,000150,000 words, with a sweet spot around 90,000–120,000. At 50,960 words, The Princess and the Goblin comes in below the typical range — closer to a novella in length.

Source: Word count computed from the Project Gutenberg plain-text edition (eBook #708, public domain) · referenceVerified 2026-06-21

Fantasy novels of similar length

TitleAuthorWord count
Peter PanJ.M. Barrie47,268
A Wizard of EarthseaUrsula K. Le Guin56,533
The Wind in the WillowsKenneth Grahame58,426
The Marvelous Land of OzL. Frank Baum41,878
The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank Baum39,649
The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeC.S. Lewis36,363