SOURCE: The Princess and Curdie (1882) by George MacDonald

DESCRIPTION: "Presently what seemed a quarrel arose between them, and stranger noises followed, mingled with growling.  At length it came to a fight, which had not lasted long, however, before the creature of the wood threw itself upon its back, and held up its paws to Lina. She instantly walked on, and the creature got up and followed her.  They had not gone far before another strange animal appeared, approaching Lina, when precisely the same thing was repeated, the vanquished animal rising and following with the former.  Again, and yet again, and again, a fresh animal came up, seemed to be reasoned and certainly was fought with and overcome by Lina, until at last, before they were out of the wood, she was followed by forty-nine of the most grotesquely ugly, the most extravagantly abnormal animals imagination can conceive.  To describe them were a hopeless task." (The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald)

NOTES: Curdie and Lina pick up the pack of 49 Uglies in a dark forest on the way to the king's castle. Lina makes herself queen of the uglies and forever after they follow her command. They may be left overs from the goblins' hideous animals or they maybe humans who have slid down into the animal state. The author suggests both but never definitively says either. The uglies help Curdie to route the evil servants from the king's castle and then fight with him in the battle with the Borsagrassian army. The evil men who try to kill the king were made prisoners in the Uglies' forest.  Some of the 49 who stand out include Ballbody, Clubhead, the giant centipede and giant scorpion, the giant spider, the legserpent, and the tapir.

HISTORY: Macdonald seems to be obsessed with ugly creatures. First the goblins had their hideously indescribable animals and then Curdie picks up a pack of them. Fortunately he does tell us about a few of them, giving them some individuality. No doubt, for Macdonald, there is a Bible lesson in this somewhere. Perhaps he wanted to contrast an ugly exterior with a good interior. Maybe he wanted children to realize some things in nature are hideous but not evil.