The Snow Queen

Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) - was a Danish writer, poet, and playwright, best known as the author of some of the world’s most widely read fairytales. Born into poverty in Odense, Denmark, Andersen began his career as an aspiring actor, but turned to writing while at the University of Copenhagen. Although he first achieved literary recognition in the 1830s for his plays and novels, it was his fairytales that eventually made him an international literary figure. Andersen was an innovator in children’s fiction, writing most of his tales in a spoken rather than literary idiom, and depicting suffering and unhappy endings while still staying connected to a child’s perspective. Among the best-known of his over 150 children’s stories are The Princess and the Pea (1835), The Little Mermaid (1836), The Emperor’s New Clothes (1837), The Ugly Duckling (1844), and The Little Match Girl (1848). Andersen’s story The Snow Queen (Sneedronningen, in Danish) was first published in 1845 in his fourth collection of Eventyr (or Tales). One of Andersen’s longest stories, it is also regarded by some critics as his masterpiece, and has remained one of his most popular tales over the years.