Armor up. It's about to get ugly. The closer you get to your goal, the harder the enemy fights to take you down. Can Gerda reach the Snow Queen's palace and thaw Kay's frozen heart?
Why'd you ruin the word bae?
https://www.wordsense.eu/b%C3%A6/
The symbolism of Spitzbergen.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/spitzbergen
https://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Spitz
https://www.germanveryeasy.com/bergen
Where in the world are we in Europe?
https://www.asisbiz.com/images/Map-Norway-political-geo-01.jpg
What's that disgusting fish dish again?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/scandinavians-strange-holiday-lutefisk-tradition-2218218/
Armor up. It's about to get ugly. The closer you get to your goal, the harder the enemy fights to take you down. Can Gerda reach the Snow Queen's palace and thaw Kay's frozen heart?
Why'd you ruin the word bae?
https://www.wordsense.eu/b%C3%A6/
The symbolism of Spitzbergen.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/spitzbergen
https://dictionary.reverso.net/german-english/Spitz
https://www.germanveryeasy.com/bergen
Where in the world are we in Europe?
https://www.asisbiz.com/images/Map-Norway-political-geo-01.jpg
What's that disgusting fish dish again?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/scandinavians-strange-holiday-lutefisk-tradition-2218218/
The Lost Husbands: Episode 6
“The Snow Queen” Part 3: Beware the Frozen Heart
Welcome to Lost in the Woods Fairy Tales ™. I’m your host, Autumn Woods, and I’m so excited you’re here. We’ve come to the last episode of the Lost Husband Stories, but I’ll be back in the fall with Season 4, which is called Rise Above This. Think of it as Lost and Found Revisited. In it, we’ll be covering stories of women who seem to be swallowed up by life, unable to rescue themselves from circumstances beyond their control, until they learn from their mistakes and find the courage to rise above the past, seizing new life with both hands. If you’ve been wondering why I’ve waited to cover Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, or Snow White, here’s your chance to find out. For now, we conclude our three-part episode arc of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” Last time, we travelled with Gerda as she began her quest to save Kay, only to find out that she needed to rescue herself first. After conquering her insecurities about purpose and identity and allowing the beauty of friendship to sweep away the ashes of abuse, Gerda is ready to press on toward her goal.
So, let’s get lost, as we read the conclusion of (The Snow Queen).
I love this story so much. Right up to the end, it’s filled with gorgeous symbolism and godly triumph. I mean, how many fairy tales do you know that blatantly thin the veil to show what happens in spiritual warfare? Don’t wander away from the campfire. We’re about to shed some light on the incredible treasure hidden in the conclusion of this story.
In the fifth story, things get rough. Right away, the first line of this section plunges us into a dark forest. That’s a big, flashing warning sign in fairy tale lore if ever there was one. Because this scene begins in darkness and compares Gerda’s carriage to a blazing torch that the robbers cannot bear, we are reminded of John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This verse refers to Jesus’ eternal victory over the limited power of the kingdom of darkness. He continues to shine, to be the champion, and the devil and his minions can never hope to overtake Him. As joint heirs with Jesus, sons and daughters of God through the spirit of adoption, that authority extends to us. We are licensed to “trample serpents and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy” “by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony” (Luke 10:19; Revelation 12:11). The enemy wants what he can’t have, and what he can’t have, he tries to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). And that includes us. Like Gerda in her finery, we are adorned with God’s glory, which gives us a beauty the enemy covets and will attempt to pervert or extinguish at all costs because it reminds him of the Great I AM, Whom he rebelled against.
Tempted beyond what they can bear at the sight of the golden carriage, the robbers spring out of hiding. With demonic delight, they set upon Gerda, murdering everyone in her retinue and stealing her horses. Brutally yanking her out of her carriage, their matriarch wickedly contemplate eating her, claiming that she will taste wonderful because she must have been fattened on nuts. This is a relative exaggeration because we know that Gerda comes from a poor family and has been roughing it in the woods before coming to the castle. She’s not much more well off than the robbers, financially or nutritionally, but she does not have a poverty mindset like they do. She comes from a loving home and has not had to fight and scheme for everything she has, and it shows. Remember that in “Cinderella” and “Katherine Crackernuts,” nuts are brainfood. They represent wisdom, communion with God, and consumption of His word for strength. When God’s light radiates through you, you are automatically loathed by the world, which hates Jesus and loves darkness, thinking that it hides their iniquities. Like their father, the devil, lovers of darkness are hellbent on destroying children of light, because their radiance reveals the shabbiness of the poor shadows these lost people chase rather than embracing the way, the truth, and the life. They don’t want to be convicted. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7). Like Havilah Cunnington says, “Some people will never like you. Because your spirit irritates their demons.” As a wise daughter of God, Gerda’s mere presence is an affront to the robbers, and the old woman who wants to eat her—a monstrous fairy tale trope in her own right—has no interest in benefitting from Gerda’s life, except to consume it.
Fortunately, her daughter, feral though she may be, has slightly more compassion than her mother. Leaping on the old woman’s back, she bites her ear and forces her to spare Gerda so that she may become the robber girl’s companion. We are told that the girl is intractable and spoiled. She pretty much has the run of the place because she’s raised by selfish, brutal people who only look out for themselves and are entertained by her forthrightness. The good thing that comes out of this arrangement is that the girl has had a chance to develop her own thoughts and opinions that differ slightly from those of her dysfunctional family. Even though she is course and rough, there is something about the girl that sets her apart, as Gerda is set apart, and that draws her to our heroine in a powerful way.
This is the perfect opportunity for Gerda to be a witness by virtue of her warm heart and gentle and quiet spirit. While she and the robber girl ride in the golden carriage, Gerda tells of her adventures and her quest to save Kay. Clearly, the robber girl has never experienced a healthy relationship before. She clings to Gerda because she’s pulled to the light inside of her and is fascinated by the kind of love that could encourage someone to put themself in harm’s way to rescue someone else. She’s puzzled because from where she sits, Kay isn’t worth the trouble. Why would anyone risk their life to save someone so terrible? In reality, there is still goodness in him, it’s just obscured by demonic influence and sin. Gerda remembers who he truly is, and she doesn’t want to go through life without him. Discomfort and danger are nothing to her in comparison to the hope of finding Kay and bringing him back to life. Doesn’t this sound familiar? God knows who we truly are and who He created us to be. He didn’t want a life without the people He created to have relationship with Him, but we were separated from Him and our true selves by sin nature and alliance with the kingdom of darkness. He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish in the second death but have eternal life (John 3:16). “…For the joy set before Him [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame…” (Hebrews 12:2). Through the agony of this trial, Jesus was sustained by the joy of knowing that He was making a way where there was no way to redeem us from sin and death and welcome us back into abundant life with Him.
This is the kind of love Gerda has for Kay and it stands in stark contrast to the perverse abuse and neglect that passes for love in the robber girl’s family. At first, she tells Gerda that no one will kill her unless she makes the robber girl angry, which is meant to be a comfort. After getting to know Gerda and beginning to admire her, the robber girl assures her that even if she makes her angry, no one will have the honor of killing her but the girl herself. As horrible as this sounds, it is meant to be an expression of love. It comes from the idea that it’s better to be dispatched by someone who cares about you and will remember you than by a stranger. The wounds of a friend can be trusted according to Proverbs 27:6, but this is a bit much!
From here, we are taken to the robber’s crumbling castle, the walls of which are “cracked from top to bottom.” The girl quite literally comes from a broken home. Carrion birds, representing death and devourment, fly out of every crevice, and monstrous bulldogs prowl the grounds. They are taught not to bark, meaning that you won’t know that one is upon you until it begins tearing you to pieces. A fire burns in the hall with no room for the smoke to escape, making the animalistic den dirty and smelly. The inmates of this insane asylum laugh when someone is being wounded, as in the incident of the girl viciously biting her mother’s ear, and the pair regularly torment each other to show affection. The robber girl pulls her old mother’s chin whiskers and her mother returns the favor by repeatedly popping her daughter in the nose before drinking herself into a stupor. They are the foil of Gerda and her grandmother, who are tender and respectful toward each other, just as this castle is a foil to Gerda’s garret apartment and glorious garden. She and her family steward everything that they have well, turning a tiny apartment into a fruitful, botanical paradise dedicated to godly pursuits. In contrast, the robbers live in an enormous castle that they have allowed to fall into disrepair, a fortress dedicated to cruelty, exploitation, and selfishness.
Even the robber girl’s pets suffer from her evil upbringing. She holds wild pigeons prisoner among the tame ones she has already broken to her will, and keeps a reindeer, whom she calls Bae, chained up near her bed. Before you get excited about the reindeer’s name being Bae, there’s something you should know. In Danish, bae doesn’t mean “my love” or “my boo” or anything sweet or romantic at all. It’s actually the word for excrement. Lovely, right? Andersen does this to show us just how screwed up this girl is. She names her dearest pet after poo and tortures him every night by tickling his throat with her knife. In her twisted world, selfishness and abuse are love. The wellspring of her heart has been poisoned and it overflows into all of her relationships. But for all of her roughness and bravado, she is captivated by Gerda and her story of sacrificial, everlasting love, and asks to hear it again, even as she tucks her trusty knife into bed with them.
At the sound of Gerda’s voice, the flock of tame pigeons falls asleep, but the two wild ones from the forest are wide awake and listening, hanging on every word. Remember that wildness is not a bad thing, as long as it is given the freedom to run in the right direction. The tame pigeons are complacent, representing people like the robbers who don’t care to be wooed by God’s love song. They are happy in their limitations and wouldn’t break free even if their prison doors were thrown wide open. But as Maya Angelou says, “the caged bird sings of freedom.” The wild pigeons remember who they are and refuse to give in to complacency like their comrades. Because their attitude does not conform to that of the majority, they are punished for their natural desire for freedom by being locked up in a cage. Even though the robber girl does this to them, she too is a wild thing trapped in a cage. She is brave and strong and has the potential to be a powerful influence for good, but she is locked in the only life she’s ever known, one of lies, theft, malicious threats and selfish manipulation. If she could break free from her flock and this run-down castle, who knows what kind of woman she could become? This isn’t wanting to run away and join the circus. This is a hunger for the abundant life God wants to give us if we will give Him our all.
Comforted by the thoughts of a noble, adventuresome love, the robber girl falls asleep with Gerda’s neck in one arm and her knife cradled in the other hand. Gerda lies awake, terrified, wondering if she will ever get out of this alive. Just then, the wild pigeons whisper to Gerda that they saw Kay riding with the Snow Queen. The sleigh flew over the pigeon’s nest, and these two were the only ones to survive the icy breath of the Snow Queen as she blew on their home. I hate animal death. Depending on your viewpoint, the Snow Queen, representing pure logic devoid of emotion, killing the birds is yet another example of cerebral people not appreciating art and emotion. It’s hard not to be reminded of the mole in “Thumbelina” and his disdain for the swallow and the artistic temperament both the bird and Thumbelina possess. At the same time, however, the Snow Queen is created to be what she is and nothing more. She cannot grow and change and bend for love because it would prevent her from carrying out her purpose as a marshaller of the forces of winter, which must be allowed its time on earth.
The captive pigeons explain that the Snow Queen must have travelled to Lapland, the reindeer’s native country. Wistfully, he tells Gerda of the wide-open spaces of ice and snow where he used to run and play. He explains that while Lapland is the location of the Snow Queen’s summer tent, her stronghold is located on the island of Spitzbergen near the North Pole. The name Spitzbergen is full of symbolism and foreshadowing. In German, “spitz” means pointed or sharp, something that can stab and wound you. While this does refer to the sting of the cold, mountainous landscape on Gerda’s bare feet later in the story, it also harkens back to the sharp shards of the devil’s mirror lodged in Kay’s eye and heart. “Bergen” has multiple meanings, but the primary one is “to rescue, save, recover, salvage.” As his ezer kenegdo, Gerda is coming to rescue Kay from the sharp objects poisoning his eyes, mind, and heart. She means to restore him to his rightful self and help him recover what the enemy has taken from him. “Bergen” also means “to hide, hold, or shelter.” The Snow Queen has hidden Kay away from the world. He is alone with time to think and sort out his life if he will take the opportunity, but he does not. Instead, he continues to idolize the Snow Queen and her frigid palace with its Mirror of Reason. Through her icy kisses, the Snow Queen holds him in a near state of cryogenic preservation. Remember that as a being of pure logic, the Snow Queen is not evil, but she is incapable of healing a wounded heart because she is not made to understand such things. All she can do is numb the heart with facts and order. Logic without love can save no one and it is not meant to be worshipped above the One Who created it. As long as Kay continues to unite himself to cold reasoning, he loses the best parts of himself as a son of God, a relational human being.
Eager to reach Kay before it is too late, Gerda tells the robber girl what she has learned from the animals. In a bold act of selflessness, the robber girl frees the reindeer and arranges for Gerda to escape with him to Lapland, clad in her royal boots and the old woman’s large, warm mittens. I love the exchange of the mittens and the muff. It symbolizes Gerda gaining the roughness and courage she will need to face the terrors of the north, and the robber girl beginning to treasure the soft things in her heart that she has never given voice too because they are vulnerable. This beautiful transaction is further sealed when the robber girl gives Gerda a pillow to sit on and ties her securely to the reindeer so that she won’t fall off as they bound through the snow. “I don’t do things halfway,” she says. Both a gentle heart of flesh, the pillow, and determined strength, the rope, are needed in Gerda for her to complete her mission. The same can be said for all of us. Like Jesus, we must be both bold as a lion and gentle as a lamb, wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Proverbs 28:1; Matthew 10:16). It’s the only way to survive and succeed in the spiritual warzone we’re living in.
While the robber girl keeps the dogs at bay, Gerda and the reindeer tear across the forest toward the blazing Northern Lights, and the country of Lapland. Little does the robber girl understand that by helping Gerda take the final steps of her adventure, she has taken the first steps of her own.
Ecstatic to be free, the reindeer dashes through the forest. He and Gerda make two stops—the number of judgement—for rest, confirmation, and direction. There are only two stops because Gerda is already wise and discerning. Like other righteous characters before her, she does not need a third event to occur before she breaks the pattern and saves the day. The Lapp woman confirms that Gerda and the reindeer are going the right way, and must continue travelling deep in to the Finmark, where the Snow Queen is taking a country vacation. She then directs them to their next stop and furnishes them with the resources they’ll need to get there, including food, drink, and a message to her neighbor, the Finn woman, written on a dried codfish. Like the detour with crows, prince, and princess, this stop is more about restoring body and soul than receiving mind-blowing revelations. But it does fortify Gerda and her companion so that they are able to keep going on their journey.
They reach the house of the Finn woman, the inside of which she keeps as hot as a sauna. For Gerda’s sake, this is a good thing. She’s so cold that the reindeer has to do all the talking, which suits him just fine. The old woman is practically walking around naked because of the heat, but it has nothing to do with being lewd or lascivious. Being uncovered like this means that she is open and truthful. She shares what she knows and conceals only what is most precious and private, as we see once she and the reindeer begin to discuss Gerda. She is wise and prudent, helping Gerda off with her shoes and mittens to acclimate her to the warmth, icing the reindeer’s head, and memorizing her friend’s message before throwing the dried codfish into some soup for their dinner.
My family will never let me hear the end of it if I don’t tell you that this nasty meal is that dreaded traditional Scandinavian dish known as lutefisk. As delightfully described by Smithsonianmag.com, lutefisk begins as codfish which is
“dried to the point that it attains the feel of leather and the firmness of corrugated cardboard. Water alone can’t reconstitute the fish, so it’s soaked in lye. Yes, lye, the industrial chemical used to unclog drains and dispose of murder victims, the one that explodes when it comes in contact with aluminum.”
Basically, if you want to prove that you’re a big tough Viking, this is the meal for you. It used to be a necessary evil back when preserving food to last all winter was more essential. Now, it’s a beloved ethnic joke, the meal we love to hate that binds we of Scandinavian heritage together. For Gerda, this is absolutely a meal of survival, like the bread and meat the ravens brought Elijah as he awaited the Lord’s instructions in the wilderness. Remember that carrion birds were considered unclean because they feasted on the dead. Like Elijah, Gerda is getting the nourishment she needs from what would normally be considered an unsavory source. She can withstand the poison in the lye because she is strong, a fact that is reiterated in the secret conversation between the Finn woman and the reindeer.
When the reindeer asks the wise woman if she can give Gerda a drink to make her as strong as twelve men, she all but laughs in his face. “No power that [she] could give could be as great as that which [Gerda] already has.” She understands that Gerda is a mighty woman of valor, divinely called and granted authority to carry out her mission. “Men and beasts are compelled to serve her” because of the great, godly strength and innocence in her heart. Like Ruth, she is better to the one she loves than seven sons, or in this case, twelve strong men (Ruth 4:15). The idol of cold logic cannot be defeated by brute force—love, specifically God’s love, is the only power that can cause it to crumble. Gerda’s loyalty, devotion, perseverance, and sacrificial love are her mighty “weapons of… warfare which are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The Finn woman wisely admonishes the reindeer that they must not reveal Gerda’s power to her, but allow her to go on the best way she knows how. This is because Gerda may make an idol of her power, or second-guess it, fearing that she must become something else to save Kay, thinking that her heart alone is not enough. Instead, the Finn woman conceals this precious knowledge from our heroine, freeing her to keep trusting in God alone to see her through the obstacles in her path.
Before they leave, the Finn woman instructs the reindeer to take Gerda to the Snow Queen’s garden which is eight miles from her house, drop Gerda off by the red berry bush just outside it, and quickly return. Eight is the number of circumcision, reiterating that Gerda has dedicated herself completely to her rescue mission. She has set her face like flint against the danger, determined to overcome everything in her path and save Kay. The red berry bush is the last sign of life before the deathly cold garden of the Snow Queen’s winter getaway. It reminds Gerda of the garden she has left behind and the love that grew there, the thought of which strengthens her resolve to return to it with Kay. On the way to the Snow Queen’s garden, Gerda realizes with dismay that she has left her boots and mitten’s at the Finn woman’s house. Naked her feet entered this adventure and naked will they see it through to the end. She is vulnerable and exposed, like the little mermaid, forced to endure the “knife-like” pain of the cold on her hands and feet in the name of love. The Christian walk is not an easy thing. Keeping your heart alive leaves you vulnerable and exposed and often means you are drained of the warmth and life inside of you as you pour it out for others. The only way to overcome this is deep communion with God, refreshing the wellspring of your heart with His word and sharing its innermost joys and sorrows with the One Who treasures you most. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).” He calls you and me ezer, strong rescuer and warrior, because we reflect this aspect of Him, and when we find ourselves unable to overtake the enemy, He’s the ultimate ezer we call on for salvation.
After the reindeer tenderly takes his leave of Gerda, she finds herself embroiled in one the most obvious fairy tale illustrations of spiritual warfare you will ever encounter. A belligerent army of large, living snowflakes resembling wicked looking porcupines, snakes, and bears forms rank in front of her, menacingly blocking her path. With defiant joy, Gerda begins to pray the Lord’s prayer, and her words change the atmosphere around her. Activated by her prayer, a legion of angels surrounds her and protects her, defeating the demonic creatures. This is Psalm 91 in action. Jehovah Sabaoth, the God of Angel Armies, says, “because [she] loves Me…I will rescue [her]; I will protect [her] because [she] acknowledges My name. [She] will call upon Me, and I will answer [her]; I will be with [her] in trouble, I will deliver [her] and honor [her]” (Psalm 91:14-15). Earlier in verses 11-12, the psalmist states that God “will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that your foot does not strike against a stone.” Because Gerda loves the Lord, when she calls on Him for aid, He comes running. His angel armies protect her and war for her against the forces of evil hellbent on deterring her from saving Kay. Once the enemy has been vanquished, the angels warm her hands and feet as she triumphantly marches up to the Snow Queen’s palace. Jesus, too, was ministered to by angels after overcoming the devil and his temptations in the wilderness. This contact with the heavenly realm reminds its recipient that there is a God and a destiny greater than the trials and temptations of the world and the kingdom of darkness. It spurs that person on to reach the next step in their journeys, both in the physical and spiritual realms. The victory has already been won; now we have to walk in it. Armed with this knowledge, Gerda has no fear as she approaches the Snow Queen’s palace.
Why am I so eager to call the snowflake army demonic but reluctant to call the Snow Queen evil? Notice that the Snow Queen did not send this army out to attack Gerda. It formed in the air of its own accord. She isn’t even holding Kay prisoner. She tells him that he is free to leave if he can puzzle out eternity and goes about her business. Anything and anyone can become an idol based on how it is perceived. The demonic will attach itself to even the most innocuous things, using them to keep someone ensnared and draw them further away from God. Because of the wounds in Kay’s eye and heart, he worships only logic and reason which, in his mind, are embodied by the Snow Queen. Logic itself is not wrong, but remember that it is love that makes revelation worthwhile. Love reveals the implications of logic, giving them meaning and significance. As long as Kay elevates the Snow Queen and her realm above all else, including relationship with God, true wisdom, love, and the beauty of the human heart will be lost to him. He is selling his godly identity to a god of his own making, and it will only lead to his death. The prince of the power of the air capitalizes on this, and strives to keep Kay in bondage. But this pesky girl keeps ruining his plans. Trying to trick Gerda into falling into despair and abandoning her quest has not stopped her from coming to free her friend.
Deliverance is never easy, and staying in prayer is the most important thing you can do even as you are approaching victory. Once again, Gerda is assaulted by the air, this time by the knife-edged wind which serves as the palace gate. As soon as Gerda begins to pray again, God causes the wind to be “lulled to rest,” allowing Gerda to pass through. This reminds me of Jesus commanding the storm, “Peace, be still.” Do you know when this incident occurred? Right before the Gadarene deliverance. Natural forces, the wind and the waves, were supernaturally disturbed to try to deter Jesus from reaching the other side of the sea and freeing the man Satan held prisoner through a legion of demons. The enemy didn’t want Jesus to reach the other side. If he did and set the madman free, more converts would fly out of their satanic prisons and fall on their knees before God, joining His kingdom and causing devastation to the enemy. But the devil forgot that, as the living word of God, Jesus is the one who called the wind and the waves to their places at creation. That authority hadn’t changed just because Jesus was in human form! Watching Jesus calm the storm at sea also built the faith of the disciples. If Jesus holds power over uncontrollable natural forces, what’s to stop him from having power over the demonic, which, to their eyes, also remained unseen?
Because the Lord protects Gerda from natural and supernatural forces as she nears the palace, there is no doubt in her mind that when she finds Kay, she will be equipped to deliver him. And that’s exactly what happens. When she finds him on the floor puzzling out “eternity,” Gerda greets him and throws her arms around him, shedding hot tears of relief and joy. Her tears go “straight to his heart… [melting] the lump of ice and [burning] away the splinter of glass in it.” At last, he looks at Gerda with recognition. She sings their praise song about the roses over him and his heart at last becomes one of flesh as he cries out of conviction and happiness. His free-flowing tears wash the splinter of glass out of his eye, freeing him at last from demonic oppression.
Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as “rivers of living water” flowing from the hearts of those who believe in Him (John 7:38). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and those who love Him, are “anointed… to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). Gerda walks into the palace with full authority to heal Kay and deliver him from the prison he’s been living in. Her restorative tears are an expression of the Holy Spirit’s power within her. David emphasizes the importance of praise and worship as a form of warfare throughout the psalms because they change the atmosphere in the natural and supernatural realms, making way for God’s glory and power to shine forth and causing the enemy to flee. Gerda singing about Jesus in the strength of her childlike faith and innocence is enough to call Kay out of darkness and back into the light of the One Who loves him most.
The friends’ contagious joy even causes the glass puzzle Kay has been working on to dance until it grows tired and spells out “eternity,” allowing Kay to leave the frozen palace. Because of Gerda’s ministrations, the light of eternity has been rekindled in Kay’s heart. He can dream and hope and love. The Snow Queen was right. The world is his now. No longer is he a hardened prisoner chained to his idols. Kay has been restored to his rightful place as a son of God, a human man called to partner with God and his ezer kenegdo to reign over the earth now and forever (Genesis 1:28; 2 Timothy 2:11-12). The new skates the Snow Queen promises Kay are metaphorical. Remember that Andersen constantly uses feet and shoes to examine the hearts of his characters and the way they walk through life. Skates allow you to swiftly cover perilous territory. They also give you stability while you move and protect your feet so that the icy cold does not leach the warmth from your body. Because Kay’s heart has been reactivated, he can rise above his former tendency to bury himself in logic and knowledge alone. He will now use his heart, through which the Holy Spirit teaches us, to navigate through knowledge and wisdom.
Gerda kisses him to bring him warmth, especially on his hands and feet, as the angels did for her. This also means that their relationship is restored because kisses represent covenant. There are no traces of anger or bitterness between them. As they head for home they talk about all of the wonderful things to look forward to their, just as we encourage each other to look forward to heaven and the restored earth, when Jesus will make all things new. They retrace the steps of Gerda’s journey and are aided and encouraged by everyone who initially helps her. They even catch up with the robber girl, and Gerda gets to have the blessing of seeing the fruit of her harvest. The girl has broken ties with her destructive family and made friends with the prince and princess who helped Gerda heal after her encounter with the Lady of Summer. Unfortunately, she learns that her friend, the crow, has died, but she is ecstatic to see that the robber girl’s heart has changed and that she now has healthy friendships and seeks adventure instead of taking advantage of others. By the way, did you catch that she is wearing a red cap? She’s following the passion crafted into her heart and becoming more of who she is made to be in this next phase of her life.
Don’t be discouraged if there’s someone who’s been on your prayer list for a while and you feel like you haven’t been able to sow enough seeds in their hearts to inspire them to give their lives to God. The simplest encounter can make all the difference in the world. Even though Gerda only spends one night talking to the robber girl, her testimony is enough to convince her to meet the wise prince and princess, whose good influence inspires her to leave her old life behind. That’s pretty powerful. Where one sows, another reaps, and everyone shares in the harvest (John 4:36-38).
At last, Kay and Gerda reach their home and are reunited with Gerda’s grandmother, who begins reading scripture to them as they take their places on their stools beneath the roses. They realize that they are both grown up now, but children at heart, loving the Lord and each other with everything in them. Because of this, they will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with full confidence. And as long as we do, so shall we.
It is summer, warm, glorious summer, as our third season draws to a close. While you’re waiting for Season 4, take some time to look and listen for the specific ways God uses to draw you close to Him. Keeping your heart alive, like Gerda, is crucial to your relationship with Him and the great purpose He has for your life. We have each been given a unique skillset by God to reach the people in our immediate spheres and beyond. It is woven into the foundation of the woman God calls you to be. Sharpen your sword, ezer kenegdo, and use the tools you have to set captives free and speak God’s kingdom into this earth.
Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and rate the show on your favorite podcast platform. If you’d like to see what else is going on in the fairy tale forest or support the show, check out the Lost in the Woods Buy Me A Coffee Page. I’m Autumn Woods and I can’t wait to see you on the path next time you get Lost in the Woods.
