The title story, The Portent, was originally written for magazine serialization several years prior to its release in book form in 1864.
Shorter than most of MacDonald’s novels, this spooky tale of the Scottish “second sight” is a thorough spine-tingling ghost story worthy of the twilight zone. MacDonald’s love of mysterious old castles and libraries plays a significant role in the story and is found in many of his books.
In The Portent, first person narrator Duncan Campbell is engaged as tutor in a large mansion. There he falls under the spell of somnambulist Lady Alice, who is trapped between the worlds of wakefulness and sleep.
About this title, MacDonald’s son Greville commented: “The story is different from almost any other of his books. It is weird, yet strangely convincing, and has no touch of the didactic.” Because of its mystical flavor, The Portent is often linked with MacDonald’s earlier Phantastes. Though the books are completely different, The Portent yet contains elements that appeal to readers of MacDonald’s fantasy writings, and thus spans the genres of both fantasy and realistic fiction.
The Portent and Other Stories contents:
The Portent
The Cruel Painter
The Castle
The Wow O’ Rivven
The Broken Swords
The Gray Wolf
Uncle Cornelius: His Story
(Source: The Cullen Collection)
“They say that Time and Space exist not, save in our thoughts. If so, then that which has been, is, and the Past can never cease. She is mine, and I shall find her — what matters it where, or when, or how? Till then, my soul is but a moon-lighted chamber of ghosts; and I sit within, the dreariest of them all. When she enters, it will be a home of love. And I wait — I wait.”
From Johannesen Printing & Publishing (includes six short stories in addition to The Portent)
An edition exists with an introduction by Glenn Sadler and frontispiece by Maurice Sendak that sounds most intriguing! Unfortunately, it is only available from used-book sellers.
Articles about The Portent
NORTH WIND ARCHIVE
The home page of the North Wind Archive can be accessed here.
“Endings and Meanings: A Study of The Portent”, by Rebecca Thomas Ankeny
“George MacDonald's The Portent and Colin Thubron's A Cruel Madness”, by John Docherty
WINGFOLD
Wingfold is a quarterly magazine that restores material by and about George MacDonald, in print since 1993. To subscribe, click here. To request any of the following articles that appear in back issues of Wingfold, contact Barbara Amell at b_amell@q.com.
Winter 1996
“Frederick Sandys and the legend of The Portent,” by Barbara Amell
Fall 2004
Henry Holbeach on The Portent (excerpt)
1864 review
Passages from the original version of The Portent, 1860
“Portent of Prejudice,” by Barbara Amell