For this year’s Christmas read I’ve chosen children’s classic, The Snow Queen by legendary Danish author, Hans Christian Anderson. First published in December 1844, it’s a story I thought I knew but now having read it, it turns out no, I did not. This only made it a more exciting read as each new chapter was unexpected, in a good way!
Opening sentence: You must attend to the commencement of this story, for when we get to the end we shall know more than we do now about a very wicked hobgoblin; he was one fo the very worst, for he was a real demon.
Seven fairytale stories
While not overtly festive, The Snow Queen is set in icy Scandinavia and definitely has all the fairytale charm you would want from a book at this time of year.
As you can see from the opening sentence, there’s drama involved. Divided up into seven mini fairytales with moral messages, The Snow Queen is the story of Gerda and Kay. They are childhood friends who live next door to each other. One day, Kay is bewitched by the Snow Queen and she whisks him off to her icy palace.
She was fair and beautiful, but made of ice – shining and glittering ice.
Gerda is, understandably, devastated at the loss of her friend, so decides to try and find him and bring him home. On her way, she encounters a host of characters including talking flowers, who each tell her their stories and dreams, a robber-girl who comes to her rescue and a prince and a princess who also show her kindness.
She cannot receive any power from me greater than she now has, which consists in her own purity and innocence of heart.
As with all the traditional fairytales, The Snow Queen was darker in parts than a contemporary story for children would be but is a true celebration of imagination. It also ticks the moral message box too – there’s quite a deep one here about evil and prejudice being rooted in people’s hearts and eyes and once there, it changes who they are. Feels very relevant in today’s world.
So if you’re embracing Jolabokaflod today (don’t know what that is? Well, it’s a fantastic Icelandic tradition of gifting and reading books with your family and friends on Christmas Eve) then definitely add The Snow Queen to your list!
