Post date: Jun 22, 2016 9:38:25 AM
☞ Public‐domain character. Literary, possibly folkloric. First appearance, possibly The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 84, no. 3, Mar. 1814. (But see also Chione, Miöll.)
The Snow Maiden or Snow‐Maiden is a girl who is made from snow or who serves as a personification of snow and who, by many accounts, melts away upon exposure to warmth, although she nevertheless appears repeatedly in subsequent works. Some texts indicate that her parents are normal mortal human beings, usually said to be childless commoners or peasants, but other texts instead give her a more mythological pedigree, depicting her parents as themselves personifications of one thing or another. Different sources in English variously give her name as Sally Snow, Snow‐Image, Betty Snow, Snow‐Child, Niègette, Snyegurka, Miss Snowdrop, Old Sis Snow, Snow‐White, Miss Snow and Princess Snowbound among others.
A man witnessing her apparition in 1814 says that “Pale as a snow‐ball was its face, / Like icicles its hair ; / For mantle, it appeared to me, / A sheet of ice to wear” (“Apparition”). According to the 1864 poem “The Snow Maiden,” “Her shoulders bare, gleamed white, / And were bright, but cold to see; / The curve of her shape was wavy / As snow‐wreaths curling free. // Icicles were her eyes, / And her body glittered fair; / What, but wreaths on the frosted pane, / Could gleam as gleamed her hair?” The 1877 poem of the same title describes her as “A dainty maid … / All in a feathery robe of white, / Decked o’er with green and berries bright; / And round about her braided hair / A wreath of myrtle doth she wear.” The 1921 poem “The Fir Tree and the Snow” describes her as the tree’s “fair white bride” wearing a “fleecy gown,” and that “Her robe was white as the folds of a shroud.”
A number of sources describe her as singing: In 1861, by singing about how her girlfriends had tried to destroy her, Snyezhevinochka is able to alert her family to her continued existence and thus return to life (“Wondrous Pipe”). An 1877 poem states that the Snow‐Maiden “sings a song for men to hear, / Of purity and purpose high, / And deeds of unknown chivalry” (“Snow‐Maiden”). In 1922, Snow sings an air to the melody of “Sweet and Low” (Queen Christmas).
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Antiquity. Chione. Miöll.
In 1590, book three of the epic poem The Faerie Queene describes …. False Florimell.
In The Gentleman’s Magazine for March 1814, Sally Snow says of her parents, “My Father is the Northern wind, / My Mother’s name was Water” (“Apparition”).
According to a source from 1861, Snyezhevinochka is brought to life when an old man puts a lump of snow on the stove under a fur coat and she thereby comes to live with him and his wife (“Wondrous Pipe”). According to a source in Russian from 1862 or earlier, the Snow Maiden is born from snow placed in a pot by a childless old couple after they wish they had a child as white and plump as a snowball. This version of the Snow Maiden lives through a number of summers and is in no danger of melting; in fact, the snow wherefrom she is formed is placed on a windowsill in springtime and the sunlight even contributes to her coming to life (“Little Snow Girl”).
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In 1590, The Faerie Queene recounts a past adventure wherein ….
In 1596, The Faerie Queene recounts a series of past adventures ….
In March 1814, The Gentleman’s Magazine records what is apparently a wintertime occurrence wherein a man witnesses Sally Snow and even interacts with her before she melts away (“Apparition”).
In 1840, … (“Snyegurka”).
A text from 1849 describes the death of a woman named Ebba by saying that “she had melted away like the snow‐maiden in the first rays of the sun,” but it is possible this is merely a reference to the feminine equivalent of a snowman rather than to any supernatural being (Evelyn).
In 1850 … (“Snow‐Image”).
In a text from 1853, … (“Maiden Who Was Swifter than the Horse”). In December 1853, Moskvityanin recapitulates in verse the Snow Maiden’s 1840 origin story, but asserts that she melts away after merely leaving her house in springtime, omitting any mention of her attempting to leap over a fire with her friends (“Snyegurka”).
In 1858, the book Jack Frost and Betty Snow, with Other Tales for Wintry Nights and Rainy Days is published but, as of this writing, does not seem to available online to be read; however, the 1863 text “Jack Frost and Betty Snow” may perhaps be a reprint of the relevant adventure therein.
A text from 1860 records an adventure of a girl named Снѣгурушка (Snyegurushka) who becomes lost after getting separated from her friends and then is subsequently approached by a series of different wild animals that try to trick her into believing that they will escort her home before she is eventually taken safely home by a kind and trustworthy fox (“Snyegurushka and the Fox”). Snyegurushka is apparently an ordinary mortal girl whose name, although etymologically referring to snow, does not indicate her origin but rather, like Sneewittchen (Snow White), her snowy complexion, and so would not logically be the same being as the Snow Maiden. However, another text (of uncertain date but likely from the 1860s) attributes a nearly identical adventure to a girl explicitly said to be crafted from snow, the only significant difference being that it is her family dog that finds her, scares off the other animals and brings her home (“Little Snow Girl”).
In a text from 1861, the Snow Maiden, this time called Снѣжевиночка (Snyezhevinochka), goes out with girlfriends to pick berries but they jealously kill and bury her when she picks the most. Some workers later make a pipe from a reed that has grown on her burial site and then coincidentally play for Snyezhevinochka’s parents, but a voice emanating from the pipe sings the story of how she was killed. Snyezhevinochka then miraculously emerges from the pipe when it is broken in two and so resumes living with her family (“Wondrous Pipe”).
In a text from 1862, … (Snyegurushka).
In “The Little People of the Snow,” the Snow Maiden is a fairy character who befriends a mortal girl named Eva in 1863 and guides her through the snow; however, the Snow Maiden forgets that a mortal cannot withstand the low temperatures in which she thrives and is horrified when Eva unexpectedly perishes. This is a reversal of the usual storyline, one in which the Snow Maiden survives and her loved one dies.
In September 1876, a man hiking in the French Alps meets and falls in love with the Snow‐Maiden, who introduces herself as Niègette. When he attempts to carry her from her snowy mountainous home to wed her, she gradually melts into nothingness (Guernsey Magazine, “Snow‐Maiden”).
In 1886, a man has obsessive visions of the Snow‐Maiden and sets off to find her, but when he finally meets her, her gaze freezes and kills him (“Secret”).
In a text from 1891, … (“Snow‐Daughter and the Fire‐Son”). This text marks the last time, other than in retellings of earlier adventures, that the Snow Maiden melts away.
In a number of poems and plays, the Snow Maiden is little more than an allegorical personification of snow, like the character of Miss Snow in The Christmas Chain, and of Snow in Queen Christmas.
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Public‐domain bibliography
The Faerie Queene, book 3, canto 8, by Edmund Spenser, 1590. (Internet Archive) (Bartleby)
“The Apparition” (poem), by John William Smith, The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 84, no. 3, Mar. 1814. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted as “Jackey Frost and Sally Snow,” Terrors of Imagination, and Other Poems, 1814. (HathiTrust)
“Снѣгурка: Руская сказка,” by Mykhaylo Maksymovych, Kievlyanin (Кіевлянинъ), no. 1, 1840. (HathiTrust) (Google Books) (Internet Archive)
“The Snow‐Child,” Slavonic Fairy Tales: Collected and Translated from the Russian, Polish, Servian, and Bohemian, trans. John T. Naaké, 1874. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive) (Wikisource)
“Snyegurka,” Folk‐lore and Legends: Russian and Polish, by Charles John Tibbitts, 1890. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow‐Maiden,” in Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar: Collection of Russian Stories, by Edith Hodgetts, 1891. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
“Snowflake,” probably translated by Mrs. Lang (Leonora Blanche Alleyne) (d. 1933), The Pink Fairy Book, 1897. (Internet Archive)
Evelyn; or, A Journey from Stockholm to Rome in 1847–48, ch. 2, by Selina Bunbury, (May) 1849. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow‐Image: A Childish Miracle,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Memorial: Written by Friends of the Late Mrs. Osgood, (Oct.) 1850. (HathiTrust)
The International Miscellany of Literature, Art, and Science, vol. 1, no. 4, Nov. 1850. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted in The Snow‐Image, and Other Twice Told Tales, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1851. (Internet Archive)
“Дјевојка бржа од коња,” Српске народне приповијетке: Скупио их и на свијет издао (Serbian Folk Tales), by Vuk Karadžić, 1853. (HathiTrust) (Wikisource)
“The Maiden Who Was Swifter than the Horse,” Slavonic Fairy Tales: Collected and Translated from the Russian, Polish, Servian, and Bohemian, trans. John T. Naaké, 1874. (HathiTrust) (Wikisource)
“Снѣгурка,” by Grigory Danilevsky, Moskvityanin (Москвитянинъ), vol. 1, no. 23, Dec. 1853. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted with alterations, 1890 or earlier. (HathiTrust)
Jack Frost and Betty Snow, with Other Tales for Wintry Nights and Rainy Days, by J. Mill Chanter and Charlotte Chanter, 1858.
“Epithalamium: John Frost and Sally Snow,” by James Amphlett, The Salopian Journal, reprinted in The Newspaper Press, in Part of the Last Century, and up to the Present Period of 1860: The Recollections of James Amphlett, Who Has Been Styled the Father of the Press, Extending over a Period of Sixty Years in Connexion with Newspapers, London and the Country, (July) 1860. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
“Snyegurushka and the Fox” (Снѣгурушка и лиса), Народныя Русскія сказки [Russian Fairy Tales], by Alexander Afanasyev, (Oct.) 1860. (HathiTrust)
Variation of “Чудесная дудка” (The Wondrous Pipe), Народныя Русскія сказки [Russian Fairy Tales], by Alexander Afanasyev, (Oct.) 1861. (HathiTrust) (Wikisource)
“The Little Snow Girl” or “The Snow‐Maiden” (Дѣвочка‐Снѣгурочка, Dyevochka Snyegurochka), by Vladimir Dal (d. 1872), 1862 or earlier?
“Снѣгурушка” (Snyegurushka), Великорусскія сказки, by I. A. Khudiakov (И. А. Худякова), 1862. (HathiTrust) (Wikisource)
“Jack Frost and Betty Snow; or, A Winter Piece for the Children,” The Ladies’ Repository, vol. 23, no. (3?), Mar. 1863. The same as 1858 work above? (HathiTrust)
“The Little People of the Snow,” Thirty Poems, by William Cullen Bryant, (Dec.) 1863. (Internet Archive)
Reprinted in The Little People of the Snow, 1872. (Internet Archive)
“Crocuses and the Snowdrop,” ch. 4 of Mary’s Garden and How It Grew, by Frances Duncan, 1904. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow Maiden,” The Return of the Swallow and Other Poems, by Goodwyn Barmby, 1864. (Internet Archive)
Retelling of “Снѣгурушка и лиса,” Христоматія къ опыту историческаго обозрѣнія Русской словесности, by Orest Miller, 1866. (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
The Slavs’ Poetical Views of Nature / The Poetic Outlook on Nature by the Slavs (Поэтическія воззрѣнія Славянъ на природу), vol. 2, by Alexander Afanasyev, 1868. Two versions of the story? (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
The Snow Maiden (Снѣгурочка) (play), by Alexander Ostrovsky, music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, (May) 1873.
Published in Vestnik Evropy (Вѣстникъ Европы), (Sept.?) 1873. Дѣдъ‐Морозъ, Весна‐Красна. (HathiTrust) (HathiTrust)
“The Snow‐Maiden: A Legend of the Alps,” The Guernsey Magazine, vol. 4, no. 9, Sept. 1876. (HathiTrust) (Google Books)
“Schneewittchen: Eine Legende aus den Schweizer Alpen (Nach dem Englischen),” Cillier Zeitung, vol. 2, no. 22, 20 Feb. 1877. (Google Books)
“The Snow‐Maiden,” Robin and Other Poems, by George Percy, 1877. (HathiTrust)
The Daughter of the Snows (Дочь Снѣговъ, La Fille des neiges) (ballet), libretto by Marius Petipa (d. 1910), music by Ludwig Minkus (d. 1917), (Jan.) 1879.
The Snow Maiden (opera), by Nikolai Rimsky‐Korsakov (d. 1908), 1882, English libretto by Frederick H. Martens, 1921. (Internet Archive)
Too Soon: An Operetta in One Act, for Young Performers, libretto by Charles Barnard, music by Alfred Cellier, 1883. Includes a personification of snow called Miss Snowdrop. (HathiTrust)
“Frija, the Ice‐King’s Daughter,” by Mrs. W. J. Hayes, Harper’s Young People, vol. 6, no. 297, 7 July 1885. Similar character Frija, or “Little Snow‐flake,” is the daughter of the Ice King. (Internet Archive)
“The Secret,” The Shrine of Death and Other Stories, by Emilia, Lady Dilke, 1886. Although called the Snow‐Maiden, the character probably more resembles the Snow Queen or Yuki‐Onna. (HathiTrust)
“The Snow‐Daughter and the Fire‐Son” („Die Schneetochter und der Feuersohn“), by Heinrich von Wlislocki (d. 1907), Märchen und Sagen Bukowinaer und Siebenbürger Armenier, 1891. (HathiTrust)
English translation in The Yellow Fairy Book, 1894. The translation may not be in the public domain in its country of origin (the UK) as the book’s multiple translators are credited (“translated by Miss Cheape, Miss Alma, and Miss Thyra Alleyne [d. 1954], Miss Sellar [Eleanor C. or May?], … Miss Blackley, Mrs. Dent, and Mrs. Lang”) without indicating who translated which story. (Internet Archive)
“What the Ice‐King Saw and Did,” by Sydney Wyatt, The New Fairy Book, ed. William Andrews, 1895. The Ice‐King has three daughters, all called snow maidens. The story cannot be reliably confirmed to be in the public domain as Sydney Wyatt’s year of death is not known. (HathiTrust)
Stories from The Faerie Queene, by Mary MacLeod (d. 1914, per HathiTrust), illustrated by A. G. Walker (d. 1939), [1897]. (HathiTrust, US access) (1905, Internet Archive)
Some Welsh Children, ch. 6, “Nursery Myths,” [by Mabel Holland Grave (d. 1929),] 1898. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“Old Sis Snow,” The Giant and the Star: Little Annals in Rhyme, by Madison Cawein, 1909. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (AmVerse)
“Snow‐White,” Folk Tales from Many Lands, by Lilian Gask, 1910. The illustrations by Willy Pogány might not enter the public domain until 2026. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow Maiden,” Old Russian Tales Retold for Children, by Georgene Faulkner, illustration by Frederic Richardson, The “Story Lady” Series, 1916. (HathiTrust)
“April on the Lower Mississippi,” Plantation Songs and Other Verse, by Ruth McEnery Stuart, 1916. Mere mention, notable only because of name Sis’ Snow.(Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Snickerty Nick, by Julia Ellsworth Ford and Witter Bynner, illustrations by Arthur Rackham, 1919. One of Winter’s gnomes is a girl named Snow who tosses snowballs. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
The Christmas Chain, by Lilian Pearson, 1921. Includes a personification of snow called Miss Snow. (Internet Archive)
“The Fir Tree and the Snow,” The Melody of Childhood, by Lydia Avery Coonley Ward, 1921. (Internet Archive)
King Winter’s Court and the Miss Springtime Company: A Play of One Act in Two Scenes; Can Be Given by a Dramatic or Dance School, by Alma Mater Wilson Shafer, 1922. Princess Snow, also known as Princess Snowbound. (Internet Archive)
Queen Christmas: A Pageant Play, by Carolyn Wells, 1922. Includes the character Snow, a personification of snow as a girl who tosses snowballs and sings one of the songs (music by Joseph Barnby). (Internet Archive)
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http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0703.html
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1095790342&disposition=inline
http://www.cheloveknauka.com/skazochnyy-syuzhet-snegurochka-i-ego-interpretatsiya-russkimi-pisatelyami
https://www.petipasociety.com/the-daughter-of-the-snows/
— “The History of the Snow‐Maiden,” by John Count Mailáth, Spirit of the English Magazines, vol. 4 (new ser.), no. 11, 1 Mar. 1826, HathiTrust, is actually about Snow White/Sneewittchen. The girl repeatedly called “Daughter of the Snows” in “The Cross on the Snow Mountains,” The Dublin University Magazine, vol. 33, no. 194, Feb. 1849, HathiTrust, is also a different character. In The Faerie Queene, the false Florimell, made primarily from snow and animated by a sprite, might be considered a precursor character if it is to be considered a character at all.
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Snow Queen
“The Snow Queen” (»Snedronningen«), Nye Eventyr; Første Bind; Anden Samling, by Hans Christian Andersen, 1844.
“The Snow Queen,” Hans Andersen’s Story Book …, 1849. (HathiTrust)
“The Snow Queen: In Seven Parts,” Danish Fairy Legends and Tales, trans. Caroline Peachey, 1861. (HathiTrust)
“The Snow Queen,” Andersen’s Tales for Children, trans. Alfred Wehnert, 1861. (HathiTrust)
“The Snow Queen: In Seven Stories,” Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales; First Series: Adapted to Children Reading the Third School Reader, 1886. (HathiTrust)
“The Snow Queen: In Seven Stories,” Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales: A New Translation … Specially Adapted and Arranged for Young People, trans. Mrs. H. B. Paull, 1888. (HathiTrust) (Sandman)
“The Snow‐Queen,” Hans Andersen’s Stories: Newly Translated, The Riverside Literature Series, 1891. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow‐Queen,” trans. Alma Alleyne (year of death unknown), The Pink Fairy Book, 1897. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow Queen,” Neighbors, by Mary E. Laing and Andrew W. Edson, The Edson‐Laing Readers, book 3, 1913. (HathiTrust)
King Winter, by Gustav W. Seitz, ca. 1859. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust) (Library of Congress)
“Winter,” Songs of the Seasons and Other Poems, by Thomas Tod Stoddart, 1873. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow‐Queen” (poem), A Light Load, by Dollie Radford (pseud. of Caroline Maitland, d. 1920), 1891. (Internet Archive)
Santa Claus’ Daughter: A Musical Christmas Burlesque in Two Acts … to Which Is Added Description of the Costumes—Cast of the Characters—Entrances and Exits—Relative Positions of the Performers on the Stage, and the Whole of the Stage Business, by Everett Elliott and F. W. Hardcastle, Ames’ Series of Standard and Modern Drama, no. 309, (Dec.) 1892. Queen of Snow‐fairies. (Internet Archive)
The Frozen Heart (or, The Snow Queen) (operetta), by Mary C. Gillington [May Byron] (d. 1936), music by Mary Grant Carmichael (d. 1945), 1898.
“Christmas Chimes Cantata or Santa Claus’ Dilemma,” by Maude M. Jackson, Practical Programs for School and Home Entertainments …, 1899. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Snow Queen” (poem), as part of “Peter’s Pilgrimage,” by St. John Lucas (d. 1934), Temple Bar, vol. 127, no. ?, June 1903. (HathiTrust)
Reprinted in Poems, 1904. (HathiTrust) (Internet Archive)
“The Snow Queen and the Magic Bees,” Once Upon a Time Tales, by Mary Stewart, 1912. (HathiTrust)
“On Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘Snow Queen’,” The Falconer of God and Other Poems, by William Rose Benét, 1914. (Internet Archive)
The Snow Queen: A Fairy Play for Children in Two Acts, by Elizabeth B. Grimball, 1915, published 1920. (Google Books)
“The Amateur Stage,” by M. E. Kehoe, photograph by Jenie Tarbox, Theatre Magazine, vol. 35, no. 252, Mar. 1922. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Snow Queen” (song), Second Year Music, by Hollis Dann, Hollis Dann Music Course, 1915. (HathiTrust) (also Little New Year, Easter Hare, God)
“Mr. S. Claus’s Predicament (Prelude for a Christmas‐Tree Distribution),” by J. D. Whitney, illustrated by Norman P. Rockwell, St. Nicholas, vol. 43, no. 2, Dec. 1915. (Internet Archive)
“Billy Foster and the Snow Queen,” The Wages of Honor and Other Stories, by Katharine Holland Brown, 1917. (HathiTrust)
The Baby’s First Christmas Tree: A Christmas Play for Children, by Gertrude Farwell, music by Arthur Farwell, 1922. The Beggar Woman character is also called the Snow Queen, the Angel of Christmas and Snow Angel. (HathiTrust) (also Santa Claus)
“Jack Frost’s Court,” Parties Plus: Stunts and Entertainment for Wartime Recreation, ed. Ethel Bowers, 1942. (HathiTrust)
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Of Yuki‐Onna (a.k.a. Woman of the Snow, O‐Yuki, Snow‐Woman, Snow‐Spectre, Snow Ghost, Oyasu)
“Of Ghosts and Goblins,” ch. 25 of Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, vol. 2, by Lafcadio Hearn (d. 1904), 1894. (Internet Archive)
“Yuki‐Onna,” Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, 怪談, by Lafcadio Hearn, 1904. (Internet Archive)
“Yuki‐Onna,” The Romance of the Milky Way and Other Studies & Stories, by Lafcadio Hearn, 1905. (Internet Archive)
“The Snow Ghost,” Ancient Tales and Folklore of Japan, by Richard Gordon Smith (d. 1918), (June) 1908. The illustration cannot be confirmed to be in the public domain as Mo‐No‐Yuki’s year of death is not known. (Internet Archive)
The Japanese version of the character is the snow spirit Yuki‐Onna, who can kill mortals by breathing on them.
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In some public domain translations, the Snow Maiden has been called Snow‐White and Snowwhite. She is of course not to be confused with Snow White (originally Sneewittchen) the princess who lives with dwarfs, or with the Snow‐White (originally Schneeweißchen) who is the sister of Rose‐Red.
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Of the Frost Maiden
“The Frost‐Maiden,” by Jane G. Austin, Fairy Dreams; or, Wanderings in Elf‐Land, 1859. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
Pageant of Roses synopsis, anonymous, reprinted in A Truthful Woman in Southern California, ch. 6, “Pasadena,” by Kate Sanborn, 1893. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
In a Car of Gold, ch. 5, “Mr. Jack Frost,” by P. L. Gray, 1902. (Internet Archive) (HathiTrust)
“The Frost Elves,” Nature’s Allegories and Poems, by Maud Dunkley, 1903. (Internet Archive)
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Of a girl that is a symbol of Christmas (a.k.a. Little Miss Christmas, Mary Christmas)
“Little Miss Christmas,” Happy Children: A Book of Bed‐time Stories, by Ella Farman Pratt, 1896. (HathiTrust)
“The Coming of ‘Mary Christmas’,” by Margaret E. Sangster, Jr., The Christian Herald, vol. 35, no. 52, 25 Dec. 1912. (Internet Archive)
Reprinted in Friends o’ Mine: A Book of Poems and Stories, 1914. (Internet Archive)