Crystal Aura Gaze

A young woman was sitting by the window and sewing on a winter day. Accidentally pricking herself with her needle, a drop of blood fell onto the black window ledge, which was covered in snow.

The woman professed, “I wish for a baby girl, with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony.”

Her wish came true when she gave birth nine months later to the exact daughter who she’d imagined. Grimhilde watched her child grow up into a gorgeous girl. The more she grew, the more beautiful she became.

(Note: in the later editions of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Snow White’s mother dies in childbirth and her father remarries — the evil queen is her step-mother. But in the first edition, the evil queen is Snow White’s birth mother.)

Grimhidle, the queen, had a magic mirror. She often asked, “mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” And her mirror always told her it was she.

One day, she asked her magic mirror the same question — but it had a different answer. The mirror said, “queen, you are very, very fair. But Snow White is a thousand times fairer than you.”

The queen was absolutely appalled. She could not stand the thought of her daughter being more beautiful than herself. Her only choice was to take revenge — and have Snow White murdered.

(Another note: Snow White’s father is absent from the story. In many versions, he is briefly mentioned in the beginning but never comes up again. It is unclear if he actually vanishes or if he is physically present while emotionally absent.)

The evil queen hired a huntsman to chase Snow White through the woods and have her killed. She demanded that the huntsman come back with Snow White’s liver and lungs — to be eaten.

While Snow White was out in the garden, the huntsman found her and attempted to attack. But Snow White was able to quickly get away, escaping into the woods and running for her life. She sprinted as fast as the could, but it would be impossible for her to outrun him. Finally, she couldn’t fight anymore, and he caught up to her and pinned her down.

“Please spare me, I beg of you!” Snow White pleaded for her life.

“I’m sorry, I really don’t want to do this,” he admitted, “I made a promise to the queen.”

Snow White realized that her mother had sent this man after her. Continuing to beg, she promised the huntsman that she would run away and never be seen again, if she could live.

The huntsman couldn’t help but actually feel guilty. With a miraculously softened heart, he let her go. Instead, he hunted a boar and turned its liver and lungs to the queen. The evil queen believed that the dead parts belonged to her daughter — and scarfed her down as a meal. She thought that she had finally defeated Snow White.

Meanwhile, Snow White continued running through the dark forest. Already drained from defending herself from the huntsman, she felt delerious and needed to find shelter quickly. As soon as she found the next cottage, she went inside – and saw that it was empty.

Completely starving, she raided the kitchen for food. And totally parched, she downed a bottle of wine. Next, she needed to find a place to rest. Surprisingly, she opened the bedroom door to find seven small beds. Testing each bed until she found the coziest, she fell into a deep slumber.

After a long sleep, Snow White opened her eyes to find seven dwarves staring at her. Instead of getting angry that a stranger had raided their home, the dwarves took pity and mercy upon the young, helpless girl. Of course, Snow needed to explain herself, so she told them everything – most importantly, how the queen was trying to murder her.

The seven dwarves were completely disgusted with the evil queen, as their hearts took sympathy for Snow. They assured her that she could stay with them, promising to keep her secure. However, they would all have to leave again for work at some point – in which they urged her to stay inside the cottage for safety.

Back at the queen’s home, Grimhilde looked into her magic mirror, and cooed, “mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?”

“You are very, very fair, Queen,” the mirror replied. She smiled, until the mirror added, “but Snow White, who lives in the cottage that is deep in the woods with the seven dwarves, is a thousand times fairer than you.”

“WHAT!?” The queen panicked. She had been sure that Snow White was long dead – now she knew exactly where she was hiding.

Taking matters into her own hands, the queen decided to transform herself into another woman who would be unrecognizable to Snow. Going deep into the woods, she found the cottage in which her mirror spoke of. Knocking on the door, there she was – Snow White.

In disguise, the queen offered Snow a corset. “You must wear this corset, it will make you look much more attractive and feminine.”

Naively, Snow agreed to try on the corset, as the queen in disguise helped her tie the strings. Lacing the strings way too tight, Snow White fainted and fell to the ground, unable to properly breathe. The queen walked away in satisfaction.

But luckily, shortly after the queen left, the seven dwarves came home in time to rescue her. Tearing open the corset, Snow was able to finally breathe again. Putting the pieces together, the dwarves could see that the queen was to blame – and once again warned Snow to stay inside and be weary of strangers.

The following day, while the dwarves were off at work, another person came to the door – this time it was a young girl selling combs.

“I’m not falling for this again,” Snow White told herself.

Yet somehow, through persistence, the young girl (another disguise of the queen) was able to make her open the door. Snow White felt bad for her and couldn’t see any harm in buying a comb.

Little did she know, the comb was actually filled with poison. And as the girl brushed the comb through Snow’s hair, she fell into a coma. At last, the queen could walk away in victory.

Shortly afterwards, the dwarves returned home. Mortified and distraught, they were able to remove the comb from her hair in time to reverse the poison. Once again, they warned Snow White to be more careful.

The day after that, the dwarves left for work, and Snow White remained home. She promised herself that she wouldn’t fall for any more tricks. Just then, she heard a loud noise come from outside. Peering out the window, she found an old woman who had fallen and lost her cane.

“Help!” The old woman cried out, “I’ve lost my cane and I can’t get back up!”

Snow White felt horrible. The old woman looked so lost. Surely, she couldn’t let her suffer, so she ran outside to help the woman stand back up.

“You saved me,” the old woman glowed, “please, let me repay you with some food.”

“No, thanks,” Snow White ferociously shook her head, “I’m really not hungry!”

“Please, it’s the least I can do,” the old woman insisted, pulling an apple from her pouch and holding it in front of her.

Snow White refused. She had a very bad feeling about this.

To prove that the apple was safe, the old woman took a bite before re-offering it back to Snow. However, what Snow didn’t realize, was that only one side of the apple was poisonous. And so, she naively accepted the apple and took a crispy bite.

Immediately, Snow fell to the ground and collapsed. This time, the queen knew that once and for all, she had defeated Snow White. There was no way that she could recover from this.

The seven dwarves were heartbroken to come home and find Snow White dead. They took three days to mourn her while they kept her body in the home. When they all determined that it was time to bury her, they noticed that she didn’t quite look lifeless. She still looked so vibrant and beautiful. So instead of burying her, they agreed to place her in a clear, glass casket.

In devastation, the dwarves carried her casket out into the woods where she would remain. On it, they engraved: “Daughter of the King.”

Not much long later, a prince found himself in the woods, in the middle of a hunting trip. That’s when he saw Snow White – laying gracefully in a glass casket. He had immediately fallen in love with her.

The prince saw that had belonged to the seven dwarves, so he found them and asked if he could take her body with him. At first, they refused, but very quickly they could see that this man was true. He wasn’t after her beauty, money, or royalty – he was genuinely in love. And so, they agreed.

The prince had his men carry Snow White’s casket back to his palace. Yet as they picked it up, one of the men had stumbled, shaking Snow’s body and causing the chunk of apple to fly out of her mouth. Suddenly, Snow White had awoken.

The princess opened her eyes to see the prince looking at her in awe. He asked for her hand in marriage. Snow White wasn’t quite sure of where she was or what had happened, but she told him, “yes.”

When the wedding day came, the queen attended the service – unknowing that Snow White was the bride. Once she got there, she was ordered by the palace to wear hot iron shoes and dance in them until she died. It was their punishment as a result of her several failed murder attempts of Snow White.

And so, the evil queen died a painful and gruesome death. Justice had been served. Snow White and The Prince went on with their wedding day and got married. The beautiful princess could finally live in peace.

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Snow White is such a universal piece about beauty and jealousy. It also speaks so much about naiveness and innocence.

Fairy tales tend to change a lot over the centuries in that they become less dark, but I don’t notice many differences in the original version verses the Disney version. Even in Disney, the queen is trying to murder the princess (except she makes one attempt instead of four.) So, that’s pretty dark.

The major difference is the connection between the queen and the princess. In the first edition, the evil queen is Snow White’s birth mother. It seems that she’s pure-hearted at first, in which she sincerely desires a daughter, but doesn’t except to end up feeing so sickly envious.

Even in the 1800s, when this was first printed, that part was heavily criticized — so by the second edition, they changed it to step-mother. I kind of prefer the first version because it draws more depth and complication. Instead of a character who is inherently evil, you see a character who becomes evil, which I just think is more interesting.

This fairy tale really captures the power of jealousy and how it can make a person become evil. The queen chose to attack Snow White simply because she felt competitive over her. Snow White did absolutely nothing to deserve that.

It also represents the obsession of beauty, how a woman relies on a mirror for self-worth. This is a lesson that fixating over being the most beautiful person alive is what leads to demonic and toxic behavior. It’s a warning that you can’t let a mirror dictate your happiness.

Another thing this fairy tale touches on is naiveness. Snow White’s overly trusting and open nature is what leads her into trouble — but ultimately, it’s what saves her. Her innocence brings on several near-death moments, yet it also grants mercy from the huntsman and sympathy from the dwarves.

The queen believes that Snow White’s beauty comes from her skin, her lips, and her hair — her appearance. And while that may be part of it, her beauty also comes from her open and trusting nature.

The story ends in the most fairy tale way of Snow White instantly falling in love and getting her happily ever after. Unlike the Disney version, the Prince does not kiss her, nor does his kiss bring her to life. He does passively save her – but by complete accident of one of his men tripping over. Honestly, both versions are a little odd! But it quickly turns the story around and brings justice.