I'm so excited to have finally made it to the letter "I" because it finally brings with it one of my all-time favorite, and perhaps one of the most over-looked, fairy tales - The Ice Maiden by Hans Christian Andersen.
***I had previously written a long post about this but the internet ate it apparently, so this will be a little on the sparse side.
For those of you who've never heard of The Ice Maiden, it's the tale of Rudy, a young orphan boy who lives with his uncle and falls in love with a miller's daughter, Babette. When he was a baby his widowed mother set off on a journey with her son, only to fall into a chasm filled with snow. Though she didn't survive, Rudy was saved by the beautiful Ice Maiden, who kissed him and marked him as her own. Years later on the eve of his wedding to Babette the two lovers travel to an island. When their boat starts to drift away Rudy dives in after it, and the Ice Maiden, seizing her chance, kisses his. She then pulls him into the depths of the water, claiming him as her own forever more.
It's a sad tale, with Rudy's death marked out from infancy. But a fascinating one too, with the Ice Maiden's total obsession with a small child that follows him throughout his life. I think it's a lovely story and I'm sorry it's not more well known.
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This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme (in case you didn't already guess) is Fairy Tales. Stay tuned for the rest of the alphabet, and if you'd like to check out the other participants, simply click here.
I remember a fairy story about a boy with an ice crystal in his eye so he cannot love, but I hadn't heard this one before (or I could just be muddling it all up, it was a long time ago :)). This one is sadly beautiful, All of Hans Christian Andersen's tales seem to have such tragic endings.
ReplyDeleteTasha
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the one you're thinking of is the ice queen.
DeleteI don't know this story at all. I'm going to have to look it up, though, because it really does sound fascinating.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that story either. She was certainly obsessed.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful tale. Maybe Universal can do it? You would think with all the hype of Frozen, there would be a market to retell this one--but with a more positive spin for the kiddos. Eh, just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI have an old book of Anderson's stories, but this one is not in it, though The Snow Queen is.
ReplyDeleteSo Hans had a thing for "ice queens"?
ReplyDeleteThat is a lovely story. Hans always made very thoughtful stories and this is one of the lesser known ones.
ReplyDeleteLove Hans Christian Andersen. Most of his tales are so sad, I keep wondering why I go back and read them. :)
ReplyDeleteI've never read this one, but I'm going to rectify that soon; it sounds like a great tale.
ReplyDeleteSuch a tragic story - Hans Christian Andersen had a penchant for that :)
ReplyDeleteSophie
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I have never read this book. It does sound interesting however. I love fairy tales and fantasies! Great I post.
ReplyDeleteHi! *waves* I've just discovered your blog and this series on one of my internet research/hunts and am really enjoying your A-Z posts and theme. (Please excuse my asking this question in the comments but I couldn't find a way to email you directly.) I run Once Upon A Blog (daily fairy tale news - http://fairytalenewsblog.blogspot.com/) and was going to point my readers in your direction but then wondered if perhaps I could do more, with your permission. Wondering if you'd be OK with my posting the intro part of your post as you put them up, with links to send people to your site to keep reading. I think a lot of my readers would enjoy your style and other posts as well. If not, I understand. Would you mind letting me know via email? (You can contact me via fairytalenews AT gmail ) Either way, I'd like to alert my readers to your series sooner rather than later, so they can enjoy your daily fairy tale reveals. Cheers! And thanks for the great posts.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this tale. Sounds typically awesome though.
ReplyDeleteI must read this one. Hans Christian Anderson must have been dealing with bi-polar disorder-hahahaha-ok just a joke but so many of his tales are sad at the end. I have to read this as I love Fairy Tales and have his book on them
ReplyDeleteWow, this tale sounds amazing. I can't believe I haven't heard of it before!
ReplyDeleteWow- I've never heard of this before, either.
ReplyDeleteHad heard of Ice Maiden but not this one. Good one....
ReplyDeleteHere is my take on the letter I.
http://musenmotivation.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/i-is-for-the-i-me-myself/
I've heard of this one because I remember studying Hans Christian Andersen for some reason, but I don't think I ever read it. I will have to now!
ReplyDeleteRandom Musings from the KristenHead — I is for iPhone (and Indian Food)