The Snow Queen

Gerda and the reindeer stop at a home where a Sami woman lives to ask for help. The woman can’t help, but she inscribes a message on a fish and sends Gerda and the reindeer up the road to a Finnish woman’s house. After cooking the fish, the Finnish woman explains that Kai is with the Snow Queen and describes how the pieces of a mirror have embedded themselves in his heart and eye. She warns that these shards must be removed: “[O]therwise he won’t ever be human again, and the Snow Queen will keep him in her power” (74).

On the Finnish woman’s advice, the reindeer takes Gerda to the edge of Lapland. From there, Gerda makes her way to the Snow Queen’s palace, dodging animal guards made from snowflakes. Gerda prays for help, and angels form from her crystalized breath in the air. The angels fight off the animals so Gerda can keep going.

Meanwhile, inside the Snow Queen’s palace, Kai has kept himself busy arranging ice blocks. The Snow Queen now leaves him alone to go see volcanos and spread her winter chill to warmer climates.