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The Ice Maiden

From Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, by H. C. Andersen

This reader is an abridged retelling of one of Hans Christian Andersen's longest and most serious fairy tales, first published in the mid-nineteenth century. The Ice Maiden is a supernatural force dwelling in the glaciers of the Swiss Alps, claiming those who venture into her realm. Andersen sets this tale against the backdrop of the industrial age—railways cutting through mountains, steamboats crossing the lake of Geneva—and poses an implicit question: can human love and ambition defy the powers of nature, or are we all subject to forces beyond our control? The text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. This story is worth a reader's time because it engages profound themes—fate, free will, the tension between human aspiration and natural law, and the mystery of providence—through the vehicle of a Romantic tragedy. Andersen leaves his reader not with a simple moral, but with a vision: that what appears as catastrophe from one vantage may, from another, be completion.

Band

Silver · First-year university levelTypical starting range: adult

Length

long · about 1603 words in 5 sections · 1 picture

Source

Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen, H. C. Andersen

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

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