15.2.15

Guest Post: The Snow Queen by Wiener-Blut

Once upon a time... Ah, that is not true, for the lady that is the hero of the story exists apart from time. 

She travels all around the globe, as fast as light, as silent as dusk, as cold as glaciers. For she is the Snow Queen, Lady of Ice and Cold, Great Duchess of Winter, The One That Sends Frost.


Alas, she was terribly lonely. Whenever and wherever she appeared, people always shut the doors and closed the windows, gathered around the fireplace and waited for her to go away.


“What shall I do? Truly, it is good they fear me, for I shall be feared; however, I need the presence of another creature to whom I may speak freely and expect an answer. Oh, how I wish there was a human who would appreciate winter like a do!” the Snow Queen sighed.



Now, my good reader, we have to leave the Snow Queen for awhile, for there is another person I wish to tell you about.


In a small village in the North of France lived a boy – or rather a young man, for he was no child, yet no grown man either – whose name was Julian. He was timid and quiet; he spent most of his days with books as his only companions. When his classmates started a snowball fight, he always backed away, saying that he had homework to do, and walked back home.



But he did not head home to do his homework, oh no! He stayed for long hours in the garden behind the house. It was a very special garden: one part of it was his late mother's vegetable garden, the second – her flowerbeds, and the third and last was an orchard. Julian liked that part the most. He always found the sight of snowy branches beautiful. Even as a child, he always played in there, pretending that he was a prince and the orchard was his palace. When he grew up, he found himself another pastime: he built castles of ice and snow, and decorated them with twigs, fallen leaves, or even holly berries.



That was what he was doing when the Snow Queen saw him. She had wandered there, tired of travelling and spreading the cold. As she was taking a walk around the village, she noticed the solitary boy. She wasted no time as she walked to him and asked:

“What are you doing?”



Julian looked up, noticing the lady. As he was a very polite lad, he answered:


“I am building a snow castle, madam.”



“Ah,”, she replied, “I see, but why are you doing so?”


“I do love snow, my lady,” Julian replied. He suddenly felt the cold breeze and shivered. He felt like he had already met her... He knew the stories of La Reine des Neiges, the mysterious lady wearing white and sending winter.

“Forgive me, my lady, may I ask you a question?”, he said after thinking for a while.

“Ask and you shall be answered,” she answered with a smile.
“Is it only my impression, or is the snow falling from under your coat...?”

The Snow Queen laughed, her laugh melodious and bright like the sound of clinking icicles.

“You are, indeed, a smart youngster. However, I do believe you meant to ask me whether I am the one who you think I am. I promised to answer you, and the answer is yes - I am the Snow Queen, and”, she smiled, “indeed, there snow is falling from under my coat. Now that I satisfied your curiosity, will you satisfy mine?”

“Of course, my lady,” murmured Julian, bowing his head.

“Very well. Do not be afraid, my dear. This is simply a friendly conversation between two polite and well-mannered beings. Now please tell me, have you ever thought of making a real castle in ice and snow? A palace so big it could befit a king with his whole court?”

Julian's eyes glowed.

“Oh, I have, my lady. It has been my dream since I was a child. Imagine the windows, thousands of windows made of purest ice, refracting sunlight; imagine the colonnade of icicles; the snow throne decorated with flowers of white frost... How marvelous, how magical would that look!”

The Snow Queen smiled.

“I must tell you, my dear, you have a vast imagination. Moreover, as I saw your snow castle, I can say you are talented. And – you have a spark,” she said, touching his cheek.



“I have an offering for you, young man. I would like you to come with me to my kingdom and build me a real ice palace. As an expression of my gratitude, I would  grant any of your wishes that lie within my power.”

“I will come with you, my queen”, Julian answered, “Even if you did not promise me to grant my wishes. My only wish is to be your official royal architect.”

The Snow Queen embraced him gently.  “So it shall be.”




~*~*~The End~*~*~


Somnifer's Note: Wiener-Blut is an internet friend and fellow doll and Poe appreciator.  She was kind enough to let me share her beautiful photostory on this humble little blog (my first guest post!), and I feel ever so privileged to be in collaboration with her.  I'll let her have the last word for this post.

Creator's Note:
"The Snow Queen" is one of my favorite fairy tales, although I have always felt more sympathy towards Kay and the Queen than towards Gerda. So here I am, writing my own version of the story (and taking photos in my garden :3 ).
The whole project would probably look a lot worse, or would not exist at all, if not for Somnifer. She inspired me, supported me, corrected all my grammar mistakes and added some magic to the photos :) Thank you, dear!

As for the dolls, Lorenzo's head is an Obitsu 1/6 doll female head 01 (white skin, silver hair), Julian's head is a Nenetl Dolls doll head N0001 (fleshtone skin, blonde hair). They both have Obitsu 1/6 doll 23 cm male bodies (it doesn't stop Lorenzo from pretending to be the Snow Queen ^^).
If you have any more questions, message me at wiener-blut.deviantart.com

Thanks for reading! I hope my story made your day a little brighter ;)

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