Tag: #FairyTaleTuesday

There has been so much talk of snow falling upon much of North America, I thought it would be appropriate to introduce a vibrant Fairy tale written by the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen called “The Snow Queen.”  It was first published on December 21st, 1844 and focuses on good and evil seen through the eyes two children named Gerda and her loyal friend Kai. The Snow Queen is one of Andersen’s most popular tale and has been included in various storybook collections. It has been famously portrayed in film, theatre and video games. A certain delight for children and adults.

The tale incorporates mainly Scandinavian and Sami mythology weaved throughout the tale with a twist of Christianity. It includes the devil in Christian Bible and in the Norse and Sámi Mythology it involves an evil troll, an Enchanter, the Snow Queen, a reindeer named Bae, a Finnish woman, a Sami woman and a magical mirror.

Note: The Snow Queen is made up of seven tales that are woven within the fairy tale.

The Snow Queen

Once Upon a time the devil decided to transform into an most malevolent troll. The devilish troll crafted a magical mirror. This was not just any mirror it was a dark, evil mirror. The nasty mirror reflects only the negative attributes of the onlooker. This mirror will never show true beauty only ugliness. The devil disguised as a Troll is also the headmaster at a school, he decides to journey the Earth with his students carrying his evil mirror. He uses the mirror to reflect back upon the folk and surroundings twisting and distorting the environment making it all look horrific.

The evil troll with his students attempt a journey to Heaven to use the nasty mirror on God and his Angels. The goal is to make God and his Angels appear hideous so the devil could have a horrendous chuckle. Each time the students lift the mirror higher and higher into the heavens it shakes with laughter. The students try to elevate the mirror up into heaven the mirror chuckles so hard it shakes out of their hands and falls to the earth smashing the mirror into hundreds of pieces. Some of the broken mirror’s pieces are a small as a grain of sand. The mirror’s splinters are caught up by the wind and whipped throughout the earth, blown into folks eyes, freezing their hearts like a chunk of ice and their eyes as cold and piercing like the devilish troll, seeing only the bad and ugly in everyone and everything.

Several years later, a young boy named Kai and a little girl name Gerda dwell beside each other in garrets of buildings, connected by the roof tops. The two children visited each other daily stepping back and forth over the gutters of each building.

Their families grow roses and vegetables in the window boxes hung on the gutters.

Gerda and Kai play in a window box garden each day, they are best friends.

Kai’s grandmother sits with the children to share her tale about the Snow Queen and her Snow bees which are snowflakes that look like bees. As one knows bees have a Queen that is the head of their hive. Snow bees follow and protect the Snow Queen, wherever there is a cluster of blustering snow there you shall spot the Snow Queen.

One cold winter Kai is looking out the window when he spots the Snow Queen, she beckons him to ride with her but Kai was a bit frightened so he withdraws from his window to the back of his room.

The next spring, Gerda shares a song with Kai: Roses flower in the vale; there we hear Child Jesus’ tale! Glancing at the roses in the window box reminds Gerda of her love for Kai.

On a warm breezy summer’s day the evil troll’s mirror splinter’s fly directly into Kai’s eyes and heart turning him mean and nasty. Kai demolishes the window box and teases his grandmother, he no longer loves or cares for Gerda since everyone and everything looks horrible to him. To Kai only the snowflakes appear lovely.

One snowy winter day Kai who was enjoying his sled pulling it around the market square. He decided to hitch his sled to a vibrant white sleigh carriage. Kai looks up and sees the Snow Queen in a brilliant white fur coat. Kai was surprised to notice the Snow Queen is the driver of the vibrant white sleigh carriage that Kai had hitched his sled to. The Snow Queen takes Kai for a ride outside of town, she kisses him two times, one to numb him from the cold and the second kiss makes Kai forget all about Gerda and his own family. A third kiss would kill him.

The Snow Queen rides with Kai on her sleigh to her ice palace.

Meanwhile back in town the folk have searched for Kai and could not find him so they assume Kai fell into the river and drowned.

The next summer, Gerda misses her best friend, she persists in searching for him. Gerda begins to question the folk about Kai’s disappearance. The town folk do not have any new information about Kai so Gerda offers her new red shoes to the river in exchange for her friend Kai. The river refuses her gift to let Gerda know Kai never drowned. Next, Gerda jumps into a boat and the river rushes her away to start her on the right path it takes her to an old enchantress who cares for her breathtaking garden of eternal summer. The enchantress feels lonely she decides to place a spell on Gerda to make her forget Kai and stay with her. She also sinks her roses beneath the garden’s soil so Gerda will not see the roses and be reminded of Kai. Later while the enchantress was gardening and Gerda was playing in the garden, Gerda spots a rose on the enchantress’ hat, remembering Kai she begins to cry. Her tears fall on top of the soil where the roses were buried. The rose bush rises out of the soil, it informs her that it could see all the dead when it was under the dirt and Kai was not among them. Gerda asks the other garden flowers and They concur with the rose bush.

After this Gerda runs from the garden of eternal summer, only to realise the season is now Autumn. Gerda feels a chill up her back as the Autumn wind blows down the path, she has no warm clothes to wear. Journeying down the path Gerda meets a crow. The large crow tells her Kai has been taken by the Snow Queen to her ice palace. Gerda runs to a palace and runs into the Princess and the Prince.

The Prince appearance is similar to Kai, Gerda begins to explain about her best friend and how he went missing. The royals feel sorry for Gerda and provide her with warm winter wear and a lovely coach.

Gerda while travelling in her new coach is held up and captured by robbers.

She is brought by the robbers to their castle and there she chats with a little robber girl, whose pet doves explain how they saw Kai whisked away by the Snow Queen in the direction of Lapland (Northern Finland.)

The Captive Reindeer named Bae tells Gerda he knows the way to Lapland as it his home. Gerda and the Reindeer say goodbye to the little robber girl and travel North to the Snow Queen’s ice palace.

They make two quick stops at the Sámi woman’s home and then the Finn woman’s home.

The Finn woman informs the reindeer that Gerda’s unique power to save Kai is Gerda’s kind and innocent heart:

” I can give her no greater power than she already has,” said the woman; “don’t you see how strong that is? How folks and animals are obliged to serve her, and how well she has got through the world barefooted as she is. She can not receive any power  greater than she has now, which consists of her own purity and innocence of heart. If she can not obtain access to the Snow Queen and remove the glass fragments from Kai we can do nothing to help her.”

Upon approaching the Snow Queen’s ice palace, Gerda is stopped by the snowflakes guarding it. She says the Lord’s Prayer  which shapes her breath like angels who hold back the snowflakes to allow Gerda to enter the Snow Queen’s palace.

The Snow Queen has a frozen lake called the “Mirror of Reason,” where her throne sits. Kai is busy with a task for the Snow Queen. He must use pieces of ice like a puzzle to form characters and words. If Kai can spell out the word with the ice pieces the Snow Queen will grant him his freedom, release him from her power and give him a new pair of skates.

Gerda is so happy to see Kai she runs to him and kisses him, Kai is saved by the power of her love. Gerda cries warm salty tears that melt Kai’s frozen heart melting the troll mirror’s splinters. Kai is so joyful he too cries and melts the splinter from his eye and becomes happy and healthy once more. Kai and Gerda begin to dance with joy and the ice pieces dance with them and then fall down to spell “eternity, which was the correct word Kai was trying to spell.

Kai and Gerda leave the Snow Queen’s ice palace with the help of the Finn woman. Sami woman and Bae the reindeer. They meet up once more with the little robber girl  and from there say thank you and farewell to those that helped them.

Gerda and Kai return home just in time for summer, the two have grown up.

Kai’s grandmother reads a Bible passage:

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 18:3

The End.

 

 

 

Source & Reference:

H.C. Andersen Centre online https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/register/info_e.html?vid=68

https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/198/the-snow-queen/

Featured image: The Snow Queen by Elena Ringo in Public Domain.

Illustrations by Vilhelm Pedersen in Public Domain