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Snow Fairy - Known All Over The World

Snow Queen Fairy by Krystof Ferreira

The snow fairy is a very special one. When winter comes on, we all have our own associations with the cold weather, and one thing that we might think of is magic! Although when people think of fairies, they might think of warm summer forests and springtime meadows, the fact is, fairies are fairly common and active during the winter months as well.

There are a wealth of fairies that are famed for their activity during the winter, and reflecting the short days and the bitterly cold nights, the fairies that are known to love the winter are notably more savage and less friendly than their summer counterparts.

One famous snow fairy would definitely be the Snow Queen, who appears most famously in Hans Christen Anderson's tale of the same name. She appears as a beautiful but cold woman who is the queen of the snowflakes, and she steals a young boy named Kay away from his grandmother and his playmate Gerda.

The Snow Queen gives Kay a kiss to numb him to the cold, and a second kiss to make him forget his human life, but she does not give him a third kiss, because it would kill him. It is clear that the Snow Queen herself is frightening, even if she is quite beautiful.

Another beautiful but deadly snow fairy would be the Yuki-onna, who hails from Japan and whose name is translated to “snow woman.”

The Yuki-onna will wander around in snowstorms, and she is generally depicted as a beautiful woman in a fancy kimono, who leaves no tracks in the snow. When touched, or when invited in, she will freeze anyone nearby to death, and occasionally even drain them of blood.

In another legend, the Yuki-onna spares a young boy who has seen her, making him promise never to reveal who he's met to anyone. When the boy grows up and gets married, he breaks his promise, telling his wife of his frightening experience, and is shocked to realize that his wife is actually the snow fairy in disguise.

She departs in a rage but spares his life, telling him that she will return to kill him if he is not a good father to their children.

There are also quite a few male snow fairies of note. First among them would probably the mysterious Jack Frost, whose origins are often disputed. Some people say that his name is a derivative of two Norse names, Jokul, which means “icicle” and “frosti,” which means frost.

Other people believe that Jack Frost is actually descended from the Russian Morozko, who is the king of winter. Jack Frost is typically given the credit for the beautiful patterns of frost you see on your window panes on a cold morning.

As you can see, there are plenty of different fairies lurking about, whether it's summer or winter, so keep a sharp eye out!

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