Schneewitchen

"Mindful of the festivals which our Church prescribes, I have sought to make these objects of floral nature the time pieces of my religious calendar. Thus, I can light a taper to our Virgin Mother at the blowing of the white snowdrop, which opens its flower at the time of Candlemas." --a Franciscan monk

Illustration by Lancelot Speed for "Snowdrop" in Andrew Lang, ed., The Red Fairy Book, London, 1890. "And the birds of the air came and bewailed Snowdrop's death, first an owl, and then a raven, and last of all a little dove."

Snowdrop, DRESSED IN WHITE, LAY ASLEEP IN HER crystal clear, ice coffin. Her cold, wicked step-mother, the Winter Queen, ruled in the land. The Queen is terrible in her fury, but when she has her good day, and lets her diamond crown glitter in the sun, then mortals may venture to approach her ice-palace unmolested. She has Innumerable castles, but the most beautiful one stands on the Hochgebirg, and there she prefers to hold her court. The primeval mountains stand like venerable court-marshals, with stiff necks and powdered wigs, around the throne, on which the queen sits, and the nixies of the mountain lakes, like trembling waiting-maids, hold the crystal mirror before their exacting mistress. She gazes at the reflection of her death-white face and says: "I am the most beautiful in all the land," and not one among the people of the court dares to dissent.

Yet the Queen's days are numbered. Knowing this, the rude raven croaks disrespectfully about the wicked queen, and the gypsy tribe of sparrows gives vent to their discontent in loud abuse among the fir trees. The little brown wren, who creeps through the dry bushes like a mouse, sings a mocking song about the severe mistress. On yonder slope, where the midday sun has eaten up the snow, a small, brown animal stirs in his den and pokes a sleepy face outside. Now the king's son returns to waken the sleeping maiden, Snowdrop, with a kiss.

Last updated: 10/20/06

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