Snow Queen

We all read the “Snow Queen” by Andersen but the origin of the Snow Queen is not clear. Andersen wrote in his memoris,
"He is dead," said my mother, addressing it; "thou needest not call him. The ice maiden has fetched him." I understood what she meant. I recollected that, in the winter before, when our window panes were frozen, my father pointed to them and showed us a figure as that of a maiden with outstretched arms. "She is come to fetch me," said he, in jest. And now, when he lay dead on the bed, my mother remembered this, and it occupied my thoughts also.

(I took it from here http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/andersen/storyofmylife/chapter1.html)

It explains Andersen’s fears but nothing more. Well, Andersen’s parents told him about Ice Maiden. But who is she? She is definitely goddess and there must be some mythology beyond all this story but I never heard about it.

More than century later Tove Jansson writes about another goddess - Lady of the Cold, “Very beautiful. But if you look her in the face you’ll be frozen to ice.”

This is better – here’s some description. Goddess who freezes by sight can be found in Japanese folklore. She is ghost there but ghosts are common for Japanese folk. Her name is Yuki-Onna.

Myths, and of cause fairytales, are concocted by people. And people use to fear of gods and make them sadistic, insane, and very unpleasant.

But there must be something except the fear in all this stuff. Let’s get back to Andersen. “When you can find out this, you shall be your own master, and I will give you the whole world and a new pair of skates.”

OK, skates are forgivable for old good Christian Andersen. The rest is more interesting. Assuming that he really adopted some myths this phrase can be the key. I’d rephrase it like this, “If you solve this puzzle you become the one who rules his own world.” This is “Hermit” – Arcanum IX. And solving the puzzle is the second initiation when the kiss of the Snow Queen is the first.

And now the fairytale.

A long time ago, there lived boy and girl. Their names were Kay and Gerda. They were about 15 years old and it means what it means. One sunny day Kay decided to tell Gerda how much loves her and to make proposition (it was a long time ago – people used to get irreversibly married when they were young then). But the girl was stupid and she said that it’s only lust and adolescent crisis. And she waits for the man who can really appreciate her beauty. Kay was upset but didn’t give up. He decided to learn to appreciate the beauty.
So one day he just went to learn. He didn’t tell anyone where is he going and when he is planning to be back. And sometime later he was declared to be drowned in the local river. Gerda cried for her failed marriage but calmed down soon. And Key came to the Snow Queen and told her about his problem. And the Snow Queen decided to help him. She gave him puzzle. It was magic puzzle. It couldn’t be solved without understanding the harmony of all of its parts. It took Kay a long time to solve it but he did. And then he’s got the next one, it was harder. And then the next… The last puzzle was himself and it was 4 years later.
He came back and he married Gerda – no one wanted to marry floaters bride, so she stayed unmarried. But 2 years later he left again. Nobody saw him ever since.