The Sorceress in Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” as a Trial for Gerda, Not an Enemy

The old witch combed Gerda's hair with a golden comb and told her: "You will stay here for ever, my little angel"

Illustration by the Scottish artist Eleanor Vere Boyle for an edition of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen", 1872.

In truth, the sorceress is no enemy to Gerda; in essence, she is a trial. The witch does no physical harm to the girl and has no mind to eat or kill her, but wants to keep her for ever, forming a psychological dependence and lulling her into an illusion of comfort and calm.

This is a story about the attainment of inner maturity: Gerda yields to temptation, loses her inner freedom, and forgets her goals and dreams. The wicked crone, it turns out, symbolises the socio-psychological traps that lie in wait for us on the road to self-realisation.

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The Sorceress in Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” as a Trial for Gerda, Not an Enemy

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

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