The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen

Never fear, Wonder-Gerda is here! She cries over him and kisses him to warm him.

When Gerda finally finds Kai, he is half-frozen. Gerda's power is actually so great that a bunch of angels appear and protect her from the evil Snow Queen's guards when she enters her palace. When the reindeer asks the Finnish woman (who has some magical powers) to give Gerda some extra power, she replies: 'I can't give her any more power than she already has! … she is a sweet and innocent child' (29.190).Īs it turns out, this magical Finnish lady ain't frontin'. She wins her freedom from a robber girl who takes her prisoner, and gains the help of a Lapp woman, a Finnish woman, and a reindeer. Gerda's quest to find Kai pretty much takes her to the ends of the earth (or the north of Finland, which, to us here at Shmoop, is basically the same thing). Okay, this chick is bordering on annoyingly optimistic. But even that doesn't get her down: once it occurs to Gerda that the river might take her to Kai, 'that thought was a great comfort and she felt much happier' (29.56). That turned out to be a poor choice, since the river ends up carrying her away in a little boat. When Kai disappears, she's the one who goes looking for him, even throwing her favorite shoes into the river as an offering. She likes to sing psalms, and when Kai is pricked by the mirror shards, she 'cried out of sympathy' (29.23). Gerda, Kai, and the Snow Queen Gerda is Good, Gerda is Great

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen