24.11.08

The Snow Maiden


There are many different legends about how Snow Maiden came to be. A popular children's poem claims that one winter an older couple, sad because they didn't have any children, went outside and built a granddaughter out of the snow. Suddenly she came alive, and the couple named her Snegurochka and adopted her as their own granddaughter. The couple loved Snegurochka, but when the summer came she melted.
Snow Maiden's popularity within Russian folklore is apparent from the number of poems and stories about her. She was even on a Russian postage stamp in 1994.
There is a ballet and an opera based on versions of her tragic love story. In the ballet, Snow Maiden sees a young couple, Misgir and Coupava, playing in the forest. She falls in love with Misgir and follows him into the village. When she sees him again, it is at his wedding to Coupava. The warmth of her love melts her and she dies in Misgir's arms.

The opera is also a tragic love story, but this time Snow Maiden is the sixteen-year-old daughter of Fairy Spring and Winter. Snow Maiden must be protected from the sun god, who can kill her. She and Misgir fall in love (in this version he leaves Coupava) but the warmth of the sun god eventually warms Snow Maiden, and like in the ballet, she melts.....

On the playlist..Prelude to the snow..

4 comments:

A Bit of the Blarney said...

I always get a lump in my throat when I hear/read a tragic love story. I always want them to live "happily ever after." Lovely as usual! Cathy

abcd said...

Such a timely, beautiful story, I would love to see the ballet.
I wonder if you have snow today, there is plenty on the North East coast of England but we have sadly we haven't got any here on the West! :-(

Marja said...

Oh what a wunderful story. I have seen the ballet with the tragic love stroy One of the boys in my home is a ballet dancer and so I got the oppertunity to see it. It was magic Thanks for al these magical impression.
Een hele fijne dag en veel plezier met sneeuwballen gooien (als de sneeuw er nog ligt)

Tea Time With Melody said...

You always find the most interesting things to write about. I always like to see what kind of picture you will post next.