--- title: "The Snow Queen" story_id: "d3984f55-aaa5-41b6-966a-e7ce283529db" text_id: "25404a57-a39e-48f8-b504-68be49b38a6d" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 7 part_count: 7 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?part=7" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The Snow Queen > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen) Version: Modernized ## Seventh story — What happened in the Snow Queen’s palace, and what happened afterwards. The walls of the palace were made of whirling snow, and its windows and doors of biting winds. There were more than a hundred halls, formed as the snow drifted. The largest stretched for many miles. All of them were lit by the brightest northern lights, and they were so large, so empty, so icy cold and so gleaming. There was never any merriment here. Not even a little bear-ball where the gale could blow and the polar bears walk on their hind legs and put on airs and graces. Never a small card party with slaps and blows to the mouth. Never the slightest sign of a coffee party for the young white-fox ladies. Everything was empty, large and cold in the Snow Queen’s halls. The northern lights gleamed so precisely that one could tell when they were turned right up and when they were screwed right down. In the very middle of the empty endless snow-hall there was a frozen lake; it had cracked into a thousand pieces, but each piece resembled the next one completely, so that it was nothing less than a work of art. In the middle of it the Snow Queen sat when she was home. She said she sat in the mirror of reason, and that this was the only and best thing in the world. ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/08e5eb8b-6d99-4bdc-80d9-7941677bd4a1) Little Kay was quite blue with cold, yes, almost black. But he didn’t notice it, since her kiss had stopped him shivering with cold, and his heart was practically a lump of ice. He dragged some sharp, flat pieces of ice around and put them together in all sorts of ways, for he wanted to make something from them. It was just like when we make figures from small wooden pieces, in the puzzle called the Chinese Game. Kay was also trying to make figures, the most ingenious of all: it was the Ice Mind Game. To his eyes, the figures were excellent and extremely important. It was the speck of glass in his eye that made him see them like that! He put together figures that formed a written word. But he could never form the exact word he wanted: Eternity. The Snow Queen had said: ‘If you can compose that figure for me, you will be your own master, and I will give you the entire world and a pair of new skates.’ But he was unable to. ‘Now I’m going to swish off to the warm countries!’ the Snow Queen said. ‘I want to look down into the black cauldrons!’ – These were the fire-spewing volcanoes called Etna and Vesuvius. – ‘I’m going to give them a white coat of snow! That’s all part of it; it’s good on top of lemons and grapes!’ Off flew the Snow Queen. Kay sat all alone in the empty ice-hall, miles long, looking at the pieces of ice and racking his brains till they creaked. He sat stiff and still, looking as if he had frozen to death. At that moment little Gerda entered the palace through the great gate made of biting winds. She said an evening prayer, and the winds lay down as if they wanted to sleep. She entered the large, empty, cold halls. Then she caught sight of Kay, recognised him, threw her arms round his neck, held him tight and called out: ‘Kay! Dear little Kay! At last I’ve found you!’ But he sat quite still, stiff and cold. Then little Gerda cried hot tears. They fell on his chest and entered his heart, thawing the lump of ice and destroying the tiny fragment of mirror inside. He looked at her and she sang the hymn: The roses are in blossom in the vale; There the Christ child too speaks without fail. Then Kay burst into tears. He wept so hard that the speck from the mirror rolled out of his eyes. He recognised her and cried out with joy: ‘Gerda! Dear little Gerda! – Where have you been all this time? And where have I been?’ And he looked around him. ‘How cold it is here! How empty and huge it is here!’ He held on tight to Gerda, and she laughed and cried with joy. It was so wonderful that even the pieces of ice danced with joy. When they were tired and lay down, they formed exactly the letters the Snow Queen had told him to find. Now he was his own master, and she would have to give him the entire world and a pair of new skates. Gerda kissed his cheeks, and they started to bloom. She kissed his eyes, and they shone like hers. She kissed his hands and feet, and he was strong and healthy. It made no difference if the Snow Queen returned home: his charter of freedom, the promise that he was free, stood written there in gleaming pieces of ice. They took each other by the hand and walked out of the large palace. They talked about grandmother and the roses up on the roof. Wherever they walked, the winds died down and the sun came out. When they reached the bush with red berries, the reindeer was waiting for them. It had another young reindeer with it, its udder full of milk. The young reindeer gave the children its warm milk and kissed them on the lips. Then the reindeer carried Kay and Gerda first to the Finn woman. They warmed themselves in her hot living room and were given directions for their journey home. Then they went on to the Sámi woman, who had sewn new clothes for them and got her sleigh ready. The reindeer and the young reindeer ran alongside, accompanying them right to the border of the country. There they could see the first green signs of spring, and said goodbye to the reindeer and the Sámi woman. ‘Goodbye’ they all said to each other. The first small birds started to chirp, and the forest had green buds. Out of it came a young girl on a magnificent horse, which Gerda recognised: it had been hitched to the gold carriage. The girl wore a shining red cap and held pistols in front of her. It was the little robber girl. She was bored with being at home and wanted to head north first, then in a different direction if that didn’t please her. She recognised Gerda immediately and Gerda recognised her – and there was great joy. ‘You’re a fine fellow to go wandering off!’ she said to little Kay; ‘I wonder if you’re worth running to the ends of the world for!’ But Gerda patted her on the cheek, and asked about the prince and princess. ‘They’ve left for abroad!’ the robber girl said. ‘But the crow?’ little Gerda asked. ‘Well, the crow’s dead!’ she answered. ‘His tame sweetheart is now a widow and wears a small piece of black wool round her leg. She complains so pitifully, and it’s nonsense, all of it! – But tell me how things have gone for you, and how you managed to find him!’ And both Gerda and Kay told her. ‘And snip-snap-clover-song-is-over!’ the robber girl said. She took them both by the hand and promised to come and visit if she ever passed through their city. Then she rode off into the wide world, but Kay and Gerda walked hand in hand. As they walked along, it was a wonderful spring with flowers and greenness everywhere. The church bells rang, and they recognised the tall towers, the great city: that was where they lived. They entered it and went to grandmother’s door, up the stairs, into the living room, where everything stood just as before, and the clock said: ‘tick, tock’ and its hands turned round. But as they went through the door, they noticed that they had become adults. The roses from the gutter bloomed into the open windows. There were the small children’s chairs, and Kay and Gerda sat down on them, holding hands. They had forgotten the cold, empty splendour of the Snow Queen’s palace, as if it were some heavy dream. Grandmother was sitting in God’s bright sunshine and was reading out loud from the Bible: ‘Unless you become as little children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven!’ And Kay and Gerda looked into each other’s eyes, and suddenly they understood the old hymn: The roses are in blossom in the vale; There the Christ child too speaks without fail. There they sat, two grown-ups and yet children, children at heart, and it was summer, warm, wonderful summer. ## Modernization notes - Lapp → Sámi: Lapp is an older name for a Sámi person, now often considered offensive. The modernized version uses Sámi, the people’s own name, while keeping the original in the source view. - Lapp → Sámi: Lapp is an older name for a Sámi person, now often considered offensive. The modernized version uses Sámi, the people’s own name, while keeping the original in the source view. ## Parts - [1](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown) — First story (a fairy tale in seven stories) — which deals with the mirror and the shards of glass. - [2](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown&part=2) — The second story — A little boy and a little girl. - [3](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown&part=3) — Third story — The flower-garden of the woman who knew the art of sorcery - [4](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown&part=4) — Fourth story — The prince and princess. - [5](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown&part=5) — Fifth story — The little robber girl. - [6](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown&part=6) — Sixth story — The Lapp woman and the Finn woman. - [7](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown&part=7) — Seventh story — What happened in the Snow Queen’s palace, and what happened afterwards. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales and Stories, 2022, The Hans Christian Andersen Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Odense - author: Hans Christian Andersen - translator: John Irons ## Illustration [Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/41a689dd-903b-47a0-b7c7-4205bb4d35e6) — Stories from Hans Andersen, 1911, Hodder & Stoughton, New York and London [Edmund Dulac](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/08e5eb8b-6d99-4bdc-80d9-7941677bd4a1) — Stories from Hans Andersen, 1911, Hodder & Stoughton, New York and London ## Reading music The Four Seasons — Winter: Largo Antonio Vivaldi John Harrison (violin) Robert Turizziani (conductor) Wichita State University Chamber Players (ensemble) [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ## Quiz ### What is a snowflake made of? - Cotton - Ice crystals (Correct answer) - Glass - Salt Water vapour forms ice crystals in the air. [NOAA — How do snowflakes form?](https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/k-12-education/ice-snow/how-do-snowflakes-form) ### How many directions repeat in a snow crystal’s symmetry? - Three - Five - Six (Correct answer) - Eight Snow crystals have six-fold symmetry. [NOAA — How do snowflakes form?](https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/k-12-education/ice-snow/how-do-snowflakes-form) ### Which star is responsible for polar auroras? - The Sun (Correct answer) - The Moon - Polaris - Sirius Particles from solar activity interact with Earth’s atmosphere. [NOAA — What is an aurora?](https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/k-12-education/optical-phenomena/what-aurora) ### Which reindeer can grow antlers? - Only males - Only females - Neither - Both males and females (Correct answer) Both male and female reindeer can grow antlers. [National Park Service — Caribou](https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/nature/caribou.htm) ### What lies beneath the sea ice at the North Pole? - A desert - An ocean (Correct answer) - A forest - A city The Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land. [NASA — Arctic and Antarctic sea ice](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/climate-change/arctic-and-antarctic-sea-ice-how-are-they-different/) ## Other languages - [Français](https://www.openclassics.org/fr/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown) - [简体中文](https://www.openclassics.org/zh/stories/the-snow-queen?format=markdown) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)